Odis
By the time I hear my brother walking down the hall toward the kitchen, I have everything pretty much ready to go. For the past hour, I’ve been juicing oranges, brewing coffee, washing, and cutting up fruit. There’s bacon sizzling in the oven, making my mouth water. Now the pancake batter is ready to pour, and the griddle’s hot. “You’re a lot of help,” I mutter as Denver pours himself a cup of coffee.
“How was I supposed to know you were gonna get a hair up your ass and decide to make a big breakfast? Besides, you’re the domestic one.” At least he gets plates and stuff out of the cabinets and sets everything up on the island before calling up the stairs for Gemma to come down.
She can’t pretend she didn’t have fun last night, though I’m sure she’ll try. This breakfast is sort of a bribe. Maybe if she sees how normal things can be, she won’t freak out so much.
Besides, I want her to feel wanted. Both in and out of bed. I want to spend time with her—we both do. We both want her to be in our lives, which means doing dumb, boring things like having breakfast together.
She takes her time getting downstairs. Denver’s already through his first round of pancakes before she appears in the kitchen wearing an oversized tee and sweatpants. What’s she doing, trying to hide her body now that we’ve seen, touched, and tasted it? “You’d better hurry up if you want any of these.” I flip a pair of pancakes onto a plate and push it her way rather than comment on her wardrobe.
“Thank you.” She eyes the fruit, the bacon, and the fresh juice. “You really went out of your way.”
“I figured you deserve it.” When she shoots me a guarded look, I grin. “Come on. Loosen up and eat. We never even had dinner last night.” Though something did get eaten. I’d add that part, but I’m not stupid. There are too many knives in this room for me to take my life into my hands.
Her appetite wakes up in a hurry after she takes the first bite. “This is good.” What, did she think, they were poisoned? I sit down with my own stack and a handful of bacon. I deserve it after the work I put in last night.
“I guess they decided to spend the night in the city,” she muses before sipping her juice. “I wonder when they’ll be back.”
“Afraid to be alone with us?” Denver glances my way. “I thought we settled that.”
“No, I didn’t mean it that way. I was just trying to think up something to say so we’re not sitting here in silence.” I doubt it, but it’s not worth arguing about.
“There are plenty of things to talk about.” Denver looks out the window toward the pool. “Like how it’s the perfect day for the pool. Just the three of us this time.” He even holds up his right hand like he’s pledging.
“No, thanks. I’ve had enough of the pool.” I can’t help but die a little inside. That’s my fault. How was I supposed to know?
“We’ll teach you how to swim.”
Gemma laughs—then looks at me and realizes I’m not kidding. “No way.”
“Why not?” I raise an eyebrow. “Don’t trust us?”
“You know the answer.”
“Right. And there’s no reason for you to think that way.” When she rolls her eyes, I ask, “What, do you think we’d drown you in our own pool? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.”
“Especially after waiting for our parents to be out of the house.” Denver shakes his head like he’s disappointed. “You talk about us like we’re villains, but you don’t give us any credit.”
“I never said you were smart villains.” She’s looking down at her plate, but I can see her mouth twitching like she’s trying not to grin.
“Come on. We’re going swimming today.” I hold up my hand before she can say anything. “No more arguments.”
* * *
“Aren’twe supposed to wait two hours after eating?” Gemma stands at the edge of the pool, one arm crossed in front of her. She sucks her bottom lip under her teeth and bites down hard.
“For one thing, we’re in the shallow end right now, so I think we’re okay.” I’m trying to be patient. I really am. “Nobody’s gonna make you go in the deep end until you feel ready. You can learn the basics on this end, where you’ll be able to put your feet down if you have to.”
Even she must see how much sense this makes. She puts a hand down on the edge and hops in.
Denver and I exchange a look. “Okay,” I start, turning toward the pool’s edge and putting my hands on the concrete lip. “First thing you have to learn to do is kick. You can hold on to the edge here and straighten your body out behind you.”
She doesn’t even want to do that, but Denver offers to hold her up from underneath. “You’ve got to do it until you get comfortable. The only way you’ll be able to float is if you’re relaxed.” She makes him promise to keep his hands on her stomach and nowhere else before kicking off from the bottom of the pool and stretching her legs out behind her.
“This is easier than I thought.” Pretty soon, she doesn’t need any help to hold her up, and her kicks are smoother than before.
“Now,” I turn to her with my hands out, “do that while you’re holding my hands.”