Filed to story: My Life with the Walter Boys Book (I & II) PDF Free
“Fine, but if I have to put up with your smelly feet, then you have to pay a cheese tax.”
Nathan handed the bag over. “Can’t sleep?”
“Not at all.” I took a heaping handful of cheese puffs before passing them back. My mom had refused to keep junk food in the house, so when I first arrived in Colorado, I’d gone a little wild, trying all the options Katherine stocked her pantry with. These were by far my favorite. “It’s weird being in Parker’s room.”
“Who is Howard Garns?” Nathan muttered, eyes locked on the TV. Then he glanced over at me and said, “I can’t believe you agreed to move in with her.”
“You and me both,” I told him.
“So why did you?”
“Cole provoked me,” I confessed, heat staining my cheeks. On screen, the Daily Double was revealed.
“Into giving up your room?” Nathan asked. “How’d he pull that off?”
Instead of answering, I stuck out my tongue and snatched the cheese puffs back.
“If you’re gonna eat the entire bag, the least you can do is fill me in. What happened with you two? And don’t say nothing,” he added before I could protest. “I saw the way he glared at you during dinner Sunday night. He’s been avoiding you since.”
I stuffed a handful of cheesy goodness into my mouth to avoid answering. To tell him or not? The situation was messy, but if there was one person in the house who would listen without bias, it was Cole’s mini look-alike, ironic as that was. “Okay,” I said after swallowing, “but only if you tell me what’s going on with you.”
Nathan stilled. “What are you talking about? I’m fine.”
“Really?” I tossed a cheese puff at his face. “That’s strange, because you haven’t joined me on a single morning run since I got back. What’s up with that?”
“Oh crap!” He scrambled into a sitting position, eyes wide and regretful. “I’m so sorry, Jackie. I totally forgot.”
“About running?” That didn’t make any sense. Nathan had cemented his morning exercise routine long before I moved to Colorado.
He shrugged. “It wasn’t the same without you, so I decided to take a break.” His expression was apologetic, and maybe he truly was, but something about Nathan’s words didn’t ring true. He was lying, but about what and why, I wasn’t sure, so I decided to let him off the hook for now. Hopefully he would open up to me when he was ready.
“Well, your vacation’s over.” I brushed the cheese dust off my hands, unfurled my legs, and stood. “I’m going back to bed. See you in the morning.”
“Wait, weren’t you going to tell me about Cole?”
I flashed him a cheeky grin. “I’ve decided to withhold that story as incentive. If you really want to know what happened, then I better see you on the porch at our usual time tomorrow. Only running buddies get classified information.”
***
“Breakfast?” I asked when Nathan and I crested the final hill of our run. The house came back into view, backlit by the rising sun.
“Yeah, and a gallon of coffee,” he grumbled. After three months of lying about and sleeping in, Nathan was out of shape. Not only did he nod off during stretches, but he barely kept pace with me on our run. We had to stop for a break halfway through so he could catch his breath, but I didn’t mind. It gave me an opportunity to update him on the Cole situation.
Which was why he backtracked as soon as we reached the kitchen and discovered Cole was the only person up. “On second thought, I need a shower,” he muttered, spinning around before I could stop him.
“Coward,” I hissed at him quietly, but Nathan had no qualms about abandoning me.
The moment he was gone, I could feel it—the tension building in the room, filling the space between me and Cole. How was I supposed to live with him if this was our new normal? I couldn’t stand it, so I took a steadying breath and faced him with a smile.
“Morning, Cole.”
He was leaning back against the counter in nothing but gray sweats and sleep-mussed hair, a fresh cup of coffee steaming at his side. When he dragged his gaze away from his phone, the indifferent expression on his face doused the hope flickering in my chest that this time would be different. He surveyed me for a single moment before returning to whatever he was doing without acknowledging my greeting.
I mentally sighed. Cole’s attitude was disappointing but not unexpected. I’d hoped we could at least be polite to each other if not friends, but I could handle the silent treatment. Realizing it would be more pleasant to enjoy my breakfast on the porch, I grabbed a muffin and thermos before turning toward the coffee maker, which Cole was still standing in front of.
“Excuse me,” I said with more courtesy than he currently deserved.
It was if I hadn’t spoken at all, because he didn’t budge.
“Cole,” I snapped, losing my patience. “Get out of the way.”
He continued to ignore me.
So this was how it was going to be? Fine. As I reached around him for the coffee pot, I made a point of elbowing his ribs. Not too hard but enough for him to feel my frustration. He let out a quiet grunt but otherwise remained silent.
Just as I finished stirring milk and sugar into my thermos, Alex stepped into the kitchen.
“Morning, Alex,” Cole said cheerfully. “Want some coffee?”
Oh, what a petty bastard.
Alex froze midstride and slowly turned to stare at his brother. It took him a solid three seconds to recover his composure. “No thanks,” he replied, opening the fridge. He shuffled some Tupperware out of the way and extracted a can of Kickstart. “I’ll stick to this.”
Cole shrugged, unbothered by Alex’s response. “Hey, you busy on Saturday?”
“Why?”
The response Cole gave was cryptic. “The waterfall.”
While I knew what he was talking about—I’d visited the waterfall on the far end of the Walters’ property a handful of times before—Cole’s response lacked enough context for me to follow why he’d mentioned it. What made the situation even more frustrating was the fact that he was doing it on purpose.
Alex understood, though, because he tilted his head in consideration. “Who’s all coming?”
“Isaac and Lee are in, and I’m sure most of the little monsters will tag along too.”
“So pretty much everyone, then.” He cracked the tab of his drink and took a sip as he deliberated.