The Rules My Brothers Made

Chapter 18

I woke up to the sound of the phone ringing loudly, piercing through my hungover brain.

Groaning, I reached over and picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Good morning, this is Sarah from the front desk with your morning wake up call.”

“Thank you, Sarah.”

I managed to get out.

“Have a wonderful day!”

She said cheerfully before hanging up.

I hung up the phone and rolled over, disappointed to find the bed empty.

This is something Evan does.

For some reason, he is always up before me if we nap after, and he disappears on me.

I sat up quickly, pulling my shorts and tank top I was meant to wear as pajamas back on.

I threw my hair up in a messy bun and went to check the bathroom.

It was empty, so I went the bathroom and brushed my teeth.

Still no sign of Evan, so I went back out into the room and got dressed.

I wasn’t up for getting dressed, and the weather was much cooler than yesterday, so I pulled on my baggy red lacrosse sweatpants with a white tank top.

If I had to sit in the car for a few hours with a hangover, I was going to be comfortable.

I’m sure Evan won’t mind.

Speaking, he still hadn’t made an appearance.

That was when I remembered he had the balcony.

Sure enough, when I pulled the curtains back, Evan was out there sitting on a lounge chair.

He was leaning forward with his head in his hands.

I gingerly stepped outside and he looked up and smiled at me.

I saw he was on the phone, so he held one finger up to me, signaling he’d be done in a minute.

I crawled onto the lounge chair behind him and tucked my knees under me, massaging his shoulders as he finished his phone call.

He visibly relaxed under my touch, and even after he hung up, he stayed quiet and just let me ease out the kinks for him.

“You okay?”

I finally asked.

He sighed.

“Yeah, it’s just this stuff with my dad.

He’s coming into town next weekend to see me for my birthday, and he has no idea I’ve been living alone all this time.

He’s going to freak out when he finds out my mom has been in rehab all this time.

He’ll probably press charges against her or something.”

I hugged him from behind.

“What if he doesn’t find out?”

“How do you suggest I hide it from him?

He’ll want to see her, and me.

There’s no way we can hide that I’ve been in that house alone for three months.”

“Move into my house.”

He laughed.

“I hardly think that will help anything.”