Page 2 of Stuck with the Grump

“How could he complain about a baby? By the time I was old enough to go to school and be a pain in the ass, both of you were building a company.”

“Why do you have to make it weird?” Clarke shook his head and readjusted the towel hanging dangerously low on his hips. For a moment, I considered crossing the room and sinking to my knees in front of him.

The thought was gone as quickly as it came the second the cork flew out of the bottle. I grinned in triumph and took a swig before setting the wine back on the nightstand. The wine coursed through me, my empty stomach doing nothing to hold off the buzz that would be coming quickly.

“Classy.”

“At least I don’t have a stick up my ass.” I pushed my bag off the bed and fell back into the pillows. “I think you should probably find something else to do now. Maybe go home, take your Viagra, and find a bimbo for the night.”

Clarke grunted and turned on his heel, slamming the door behind him. I watched the pictures on the wall shake for a moment before I reached for my bottle again. The wine was sharp on my tongue, but it slowly started to chase the headache pounding into all corners of my mind.

Good,I thought as I took another sip of the wine.If it’s dulling my headache, it’s doing its job.

If Clarke wanted to be alone, he could leave. I wasn’t going anywhere. I took another swig of the bottle and tried to remember what Tyson had been telling me before I arrived. My brother was nothing if not driven, and he often moved from one business idea to the next without a second of rest in between. It was what had made his company a bunch of money over the years—well, his genius mind and the website flipping he said Clarke did in high school.

There were times that I was sad there were so many years between me and my brother. If we had been closer in age, I would have had a built-in friend while growing up. I would have had someone there who understood why my parents were upset that day and what the kids in school were talking about. Tyson had never been home to scare away any boys who showed up. He had never been around to teach me how to sneak in and out of the house.

As much as he wasn’t around, he had also never hesitated to show up when I called. I looked at the bottle of wine again before sighing and running a hand through my hair.

Call my brother or drink my way into oblivion?

I grabbed my phone and scrolled until I found Tyson’s number. The phone rang twice before he picked it up.

“What do you want, Leigh?”

“People normally say hello, but I guess I can make an exception for my favorite brother.”

Tyson sighed. “I’m your only brother, Leigh.”

“You love me. How many bottles of wine do you think it would take to forget my life?”

That got a laugh out of him. “Leigh, nothing is as bad as you’re making it seem. You walked out on a loser who didn’t respect you. You should be celebrating, not moping, and hiding at the lake house.”

“You left out the part where I got fired from my job.” I drummed my fingers on my thigh. Losing my job seemed like a large fact for him to forget.

“Yeah, because you refused to let your boss stick his hand up your skirt. Are you sure you don’t want to sue him?”

I sighed and leaned back into my pillows, staring at the ceiling as I sipped from the bottle. For a short period of time, I had considered suing. In the end, nothing would change. There was no physical evidence I could provide, and witness testimonies only went so far.

“I’m fine, Tyson. Although I might murder your business partner if he doesn’t get his ass out of the lake house.”

“I thought you were there alone?”

“So did I, but apparently Clarke decided he needed to be up here too.” I took another sip of the wine. “How am I supposed to stay in a house with someone I barely even know? You know, the only times I have ever talked to him is when we’ve argued.”

“Yeah, I know. You two always embarrass the hell out of me. Stay out of his way, and he’ll stay out of yours. That’s all that I can recommend.”

“You’re no help.”

“Love you too, Leigh.”

“Have fun running a capitalist empire.”

Tyson laughed. “I will.”

The call ended, my brother’s laugh still ringing in my ears, and the feeling of missing him more present than ever. After a few more moments of wallowing, I set the bottle on the nightstand and scrolled through the music on my phone. There was a small beep as my phone connected to the speakers in my room. I pressed play, and one of my favorite songs came on, the heavy bass rattling the pictures on the wall.

With a deep breath, I pushed myself to my feet and started dancing. After all, I heard it was impossible to feel like your life was ending if you were dancing.

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