A man.
Julian always acted older than he actually was, though. Our parents said it was from him having to grow up fast.
Sitting in the passenger seat, he turned around to look at me. “When you see my new baby, you’ll know why we drove so far away, kid.”
I smiled.
I loved it when he called me kid. It was his nickname for me. No one else called me that, only him.
It was our thing.
“Is it like Christian’s baby?”
I’d learned at an early age what cars and trucks meant to boys and how they called them their babies. Both of them loved vehicles since we lived in Fort Worth, Texas. Near NASCAR and street races, but Julian really loved them.
Cars were his everything.
He worked at a junkyard by our house, close enough he could ride his dirt bike through the woods before he got his driver’s license a month ago. He’d been working there for the last four years helping Big Ben with all his classic cars.
Most of the time he wore a black cowboy hat or some sort of backward hat with a white t-shirt and jeans. His clothes were usually covered in oil or grease, and his hands and nails were normally stained with it too.
He smelled like gasoline and motor oil, and it was one of my favorite smells because it reminded me of him. I even stole one of his hoodies, and he never asked for it back.
Julian didn’t like to feel like a burden on our parents, so he always tried to help out whenever he could. Buying random things at the grocery store or ordering food for us for lunch and dinner.
One time he tried to help out with the water bill, and it made our mom very sad. She started crying, telling him he didn’t have to worry about adult responsibilities, and it was their job to provide for us.
A couple of years ago my parents wanted to adopt him, but Julian said no. Saying what they already did for him was enough. I still had nightmares about the time he’d shown up at our house with bruises on his face and body. I thought he’d been in a fight at school. Sometimes that happened. He had a short fuse and bad temper which got him into trouble a lot.
Especially with his foster parents.
In this situation, his foster dad beat him up pretty badly, and Daddy got really mad.
Since he was a super important and successful district attorney, he was able to pull strings and get him out of that placement. They put him in a home closer to ours, and that made us all very happy.
Christian met Julian in preschool, and from the moment they exchanged fist bumps they were best friends.
All my friends were in love with my brother and his best friend. But Julian was mine; he just didn’t know it yet. The thought alone made my belly flutter and my face flush. I had to look out the window so Christian wouldn’t see. He was very protective over me, even when it came down to his best friend.
Julian was the most handsome boy I’d ever seen. He had bright blue eyes that spoke for themselves. I could always tell his mood through his eyes. They would change to all different shades of blue depending on his feelings. His eyes were my mood ring.
He was tall, way taller than me. Big and with lots of muscles because he worked out a lot. His hair was dark, and he had the most perfect nose and teeth. They were straight and super white.
I thought he looked like Eric from the Little Mermaid—my favorite Disney movie. I wanted him to be my Prince Charming, and right now I was too little, but one day I wouldn’t be little anymore, and we could be together forever and ever.
My brother’s good looks had girls falling all over him since the day he was born too, but it didn’t matter. He already had a girlfriend, Kinley. They’d officially been together since last year. Whatever that meant.
They’d known each other since middle school, though. She was pretty and nice to me, and I liked her; the whole family did.
“Julian, can I use your cell phone?”
He handed it over to me. I wasn’t allowed to have one. Daddy said maybe next year when I was eleven.
Swiping over his locked screen, a text message appeared from Katie.
Who’s Katie?
I can’t wait to see your new car. Maybe you could take me for a drive… I mean, I’d love to ride you too.
“Julian, some girl named Katie wants you to take her for a ride in your new car and she said she’d love to ride you too.”
He choked on his drink, and Christian’s eyes widened. I could see the expression on his face through the rearview mirror.