Page 42 of Ms. Lead

BIANCA

CURIOUS/FURIOUS

“Enzo, what the heck are you doing here?” I whisper, trying to keep my voice low, so Oliver doesn’t hear us upstairs. “I told you we were coming here this weekend.”

“Exactly. That’s why I came.” He shrugs his shoulders and shoves more scrambled eggs into his mouth. “As your big brother, I needed to check this guy out for myself. I can’t let just anybody date my baby sister.”

I roll my eyes at him. He’s incorrigible.

“Enzo, I am nearly thirty years old. I do not need my older brother checking up on me or my boyfriends. We’re a little too old for that, don’t you think?”

While I appreciate the sentiment, I don’t like him inserting himself into our alone time like this. We don’t have much time to spend together, and I don’t want my brother to take any of it away from us.

“You’ll never be too old for me to look out for you.” He kisses the top of my head and then pushes on my shoulder playfully.

Damn it. I can’t stay mad at him for any length of time.

“Well, you’re not staying, are you?”

His eyes widen, pretending offense.

“Wow. You are so rude. Grandma and Grandpa Torino are rolling in their graves right now. Disparaging your big brother in their house. Tsk tsk.”

“Oh, stop it. They are not.” I push him back, maybe a little too hard. “And you’re the rude one, showing up uninvited.”

This back and forth continues until we’re caught up in a full-blown slapping fight that only stops once we notice Oliver sitting on the couch in the great room, watching us with extreme amusement. I don’t think I could be more embarrassed. Two adults slapping at each other like children.

“Don’t stop on my account,” Oliver laughs. At least he’s entertained by our spontaneous immaturity.

“No, no,” I say, straightening and tidying myself up again after getting tousled by my brother. “Enzo isn’t staying. He was just leaving, actually. Isn’t that right, Enzo?” I glare at him pointedly, making sure he understands this is actually an instruction for him to leave.

“I was just about to leave. That’s true. I’m meeting some buddies in Reno, but I wanted to stop by and meet you since I knew you’d be here.” He glares back at me as he heads toward Oliver, who stands to shake his hand. “It was nice to finally meet you, Oliver. Don’t hurt my sister, or I’ll have to kill you. You know, as her big brother, I have to say shit like that.”

Oliver looks panicked for a minute but then sees that it was just a joke and relaxes, taking my brother’s hand.

“Of course. It was a pleasure to meet you as well.”

“Man, that’s a great accent,” Enzo laughs, winking at me as he heads to the garage.

“Goodbye, brother!” I call after him as the door shuts.

I see Oliver standing at the windows along the back wall, facing the lake. He seems incredibly pensive, an abrupt change from how jovial he seemed with Enzo.

I walk over to him and slide my arms around his waist.

“Penny for your thoughts,” I say, suddenly unsure I want to hear them, and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because the last time we stood like this in his hotel room, our lives exploded when he told me he had MS.

He takes his time to answer, which only increases my anxiety.

“Oh, nothing much. I just wanted to take in the view since I hadn’t seen it. It was too dark last night. It’s beautiful here.”

“It is. It’s why I love coming here so much. Enzo and I usually alternate weekends here.”

“Your brother loves you very much.” He sounds melancholy as he says this, and I wonder about his not having siblings. What a lonely childhood that would be. I can’t imagine not having Enzo in my life.

“He does.” I pull away, and, spotting my coffee mug on the kitchen counter, I move to retrieve it. “But sometimes he goes a little overboard with the whole big brother thing and turns into a real ‘Big Brother,’ if you get my meaning.”

That gets a chuckle out of him. Good. I hope he’s coming out of whatever funk he’s fallen into. I’m still not quite sure how to deal with his mood swings. Just when I think I know how he’s feeling, it changes, and I have to figure it out all over again.

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