brother
Chapter 65: Penny
The first thing I register is pressure. Heavy, warm, and completely wrapped around me. A weight across my waist, an entire body pressing into my back, breath brushing against the back of my neck in a slow, even rhythm.
It takes me half a second to remember where I am.
Tyler’s arm.
His entire arm–plus one knee that’s somehow made its way over both of mine, effectively pinning me like a weighted blanket made of muscle and poor boundaries. For a moment, I just lie there, letting the morning light spill through the blinds in soft, golden streaks across my wall. The storm is gone, the sky outside looks pale and washed clean, and there’s a stillness in the house that feels almost… foreign.
Peaceful.
But it doesn’t last. Because–school.
Responsibility. Class. Reality.
I groan softly, wiggling just enough to jostle Tyler. “Ty,” I murmur.
He doesn’t budge. Typical.
“Tyler,” I try again, nudging my elbow gently into his ribs.
He just groans and burrows closer, pulling me in like I’m the one keeping him anchored to this plane of existence. “We should skip,” he mumbles, his voice thick with sleep. “Live here forever. Off the grid. Just you and me and DoorDash.”
“Tempting,” I mutter, pressing my face into my pillow. “But unless DoorDash brings degrees now, I have to go to class.”
He lets out a dramatic sigh. “I feel like your education is ruining our relationship.”
“Your clinginess is ruining my circulation.”
He grins sleepily and kisses the back of my shoulder before finally letting go. I wiggle out from under his arm and sit up, groaning as I stretch my arms overhead. My hair is a bird’s nest, tangled and falling out of my braid. I shuffle to my dresser and grab the essentials–light–wash jeans, a soft lilac long- sleeve, and fresh socks. Comfort with a sprinkle of “I’m trying.”
After brushing my teeth, I tie my hair into a sleek ponytail, spritz on a bit of facial mist, and stare at myself in the mirror for a beat.
Okay. Functional. Passable. Slightly presentable.
Meanwhile, Tyler has rolled over onto his back and is muttering nonsense about “the betrayal of the sun.”
I don’t even try to wake him again. I figure he’ll start panicking and wake up soon.
I pad downstairs, stretching again as I reach the kitchen–and stop short.
Asher is already there, leaning against the counter like he’s posing for a magazine cover he has no idea he’s in. He’s wearing a clean white t–shirt that clings to his frame in a way that should be illegal this early in the morning, and dark jeans that hang perfectly low on his hips. His damp hair is slightly tousled, a few strands falling across his forehead. One hand holds a coffee mug, the other rests casually on the spine of a well–worn paperback.
He doesn’t look up when he speaks. “Morning.”
“Morning,” I reply, a little too quickly.
He glances up, and I swear he sees the way I’m staring because his mouth quirks–just the faintest pull at one corner.
“I hope you don’t mind,” he says, nodding at the coffee pot. “Helped myself.”
Chapter 65: Penny
“Of course not,” I say, stepping into the kitchen. “This is your house this week ton, remember?”
That gets another flicker of a smile from him. He reaches behind him and pours me a cup, sliding it across the counter without a word.
I sip it. “This is really good.”
“I used the nice beans.”
I raise an eyebrow. “You can tell the difference?”
“Can’t you?”
“Not before 9 a.m.,” I mutter.
He leans back against the counter, arms crossed, coffee in hand. He looks so at ease here, like he belongs in my kitchen in the early morning light, like this isn’t something completely foreign and new and intimate.
“Do you have class today?” he asks after a minute.
“Just one,” I reply. “This morning. Tyler has a full day, though. I figured I’d stop for groceries afterward. The fridge is a crime scene.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“You don’t have to-”
“I know.”
I blink, trying to gauge his expression, but it’s the same neutral mask he always wears. Still, something in his tone softens it. “Okay,” I say. “Thanks.”
He nods and takes another sip. We stand in silence for a bit, just sipping our coffee, and it’s… nice. Simple. Easy.
“You couldn’t wake Tyler?” he asks after a beat.
“I tried. He’s basically dead to the world.”
Asher sets his mug down. “Let me try.”
I hear the creak of the stairs as he goes up, then-
“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”
A pause.
“You absolute menace-”
Another pause.
“You did not have to throw my pillow, man!”
I stifle a laugh and take another sip of coffee.
Asher returns, calm and collected. “He’ll be down/in a minute.”
I raise both eyebrows. “What did you do?”
“Motivation.”
Tyler appears a minute later, hair wild, shirt half–tucked, glaring at both of us. “I was having a great dream about waffles. Then this psychopath bursts in like he’s breaching a bunker.”
Chapter 65: Penny
“You were late.”
“It’s eight–forty–five!”
I hand him a piece of toast I just made. “Eat, Grumble less.”
He mumbles something that sounds like betrayal, but eats the toast anyway,
Ten minutes later, we’re ready to go. I grab my small grocery notebook and jot down a few essentials–bread, ezzs, spinach, at mille, he were getting into the car, I turn to Tyler.
“Anything you want from the store?”
“Snacks. Cinnamon rolls. Pizza bagels. Cereal,”
“Be more specific.”
“Frosted Flakes. The good kind. Not the healthy knock–off.”
I write it all down, amused.
We drive to campus and part ways for our respective classes. Mine is quiet, simple. Zoe’s in it. She gives me a brief smile halfway through the lecture, and i smile back cautiously. No fire, no sarcasm. Just a simple human smile.
It’s strange. But maybe… not awful? Maybe she is trying to be nice.
When the class ends, I pull out my phone and text Asher:
Me: Done with class. Meet you at the grocery store?
Ash: On my way.
Short. Direct.
But somehow, it still makes my heart skip.
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