Summer

Chapter 29

Luckily, when I got home from Justin's, I had missed Howard walk in by a few minutes, even though his shift didn't start till 6 am. My brothers were still sleeping, so I tiptoed to my room and somehow managed to get 2 more hours of sleep in, bringing my total for the night to 4. I'm pretty much a walking zombie right now.

"Tired much?" Jacob says as I take the seat next to him at breakfast. Liam was on a conference call when I swept by his office, and I'm grateful for that. I'm too tired to play 21 questions.

"I barely slept last night," I complain.

"No shit. You look disheveled."

"Well, good morning to you too, baby bro," I sarcastically say as I reach for the pot of freshly brewed hot coffee.

"Sorry," Jacob chuckles. "You know I love you."

I roll my eyes at him, and he changes the subject. "So, what's your plan for today? I spoke to Liam and he has work calls for the next 100 hours. I was thinking we head into town for some S and J bonding time. What do you say?"

"Lunch and shopping?" I propose with a smile.

"Ugh, shopping. Really?" Jacob whines as he rolls his eyes.

"Yes, shopping. I missed Cassie's birthday, so I want to buy her something, What do you get someone who has everything?"

"Wait a minute, I thought Cassie's birthday is next month." Typical Jacob. I'm not surprised by his cluelessness. He once wished me a 'happy birthday' on December 28th, which would've been nice if my birthday wasn't a month before.

"June 22nd, genius," I correct him. "Maybe I'm better off putting together a photo book? You know, something more sentimental."

"That could be nice," Jacob says, but I can tell that he could care less. He dabs his mouth with the napkin before dropping it onto his plate. "Okay, I'm going to change and get ready. Let's meet back down here in an hour?"

I give him a thumbs-up and finish scarfing down my pancakes.

Thanks to a basic Google search, I was able to find a printing shop in town. For growing up in different states, Cassie and I surprisingly have tons of pictures together saved on my iCloud. I mean, they're mostly childhood pictures plus a few recent ones, but it'll do.

The lady who works at the shop is extremely helpful and suggests a simple yet fun design to use. She lets me know that I can pick up the finished product by the end of the week, and I cross out 'birthday gift for Cassie' on my mental to-do list. Now, it's off to J. Crew.

I love how Jacob complains about shopping, yet here we are in the men's section browsing for t-shirts.

"Is this necessary?" I whine as he stacks another short sleeve Henley shirt onto the pile that's already in his hold.

"I need some basic tees," Jacob explains.

"Jacob, you have like a closet full of these."

"Hey, you can never have too many."

After we check-out, we decide to hit up the pastry shop across the street for a snack.

"So, thoughts on Charleston, so far?" Jacob asks as he bites into his crumb cake.

"I like it," I say, leaning back in my chair. "You?"

"It's alright, I guess."

"Just 'alright'? You're not having a good time here?"

"I am. It's just, I don't know," he crosses his arms, "a little...boring."

"Really? I don't think so."

"Yeah, well that's because we're very different. Don't get me wrong, I love you to death, but you and I couldn't be more opposite."

"Don't I know it," I widen my eyes and chuckle as I blow on my hot coffee before taking a sip.

"There's nothing wrong with it. In fact, I think it's why we're so close. But I need more...I don't know...amusement. You, on the other hand, could sit in a cardboard box and have a good time."

"That's not true!" I exclaim, and he chuckles.

"You know what I mean."

"I do," I admit, and I'm not ashamed of it.

Jacob and I spend the next hour cracking jokes when my phone buzzes with a text from Noah.

Noah: Make sure you're by your phone at 6 o'clock.

I can't help but grin from ear-to-ear, which catches Jacob's attention. "I'd like to know who's responsible for making my sister smile like that." I begin to type out a message to Noah, but stop when Jacob calls out, "Fee?"

"Huh?" I finally bring my head up and say.

"Who's texting you?"

"Oh, it's...it's um...Cassie," I bluff as I tuck my phone in between my thighs. Damn, I'm such a bad liar.

"Sure it is," Jacob smirks. "You don't want to tell me, that's cool. Just...be smart about whatever it is that you're doing."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He detects the distress in my tone and dismisses his thought. "Nothing," he chews on his bottom lip and says. I can't help but give him a pestered look. "Nothing," he repeats, "nothing."