He let out another sigh. “Honestly, Erica? I didn’t expect to stay in Columbus this long.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but I was cut off by another voice. One that wasn’t Hunter’s.
It was my brother.
“Hello?” Brad called from the foyer. “You guys around?”
Pure, unrestricted terror passed between Hunter and I. Without thinking, I darted away from the couch and ducked down behind the recliner, still totally nude.
“What are—” Brad suddenly cut off. “Dude. What thefuck?”
“Oh, hey, man,” Hunter said, more awkwardly than I had ever heard him. “What are you doing back so soon? I thought you were getting drinks.”
“The bar we’re going to is on this side of town,” Brad replied. “I came home to change clothes real quick. Speaking of clothes, where’s your shirt? Are you naked under that blanket?”
“I was just… watching porn,” Hunter blurted out.
“You were watching porn,” Brad repeated, deadpan.
“Totally. I can’t get enough of the stuff. Big, fake tits and plumbers offering to clean a woman’spipes.”
For a second—one hopeful second—I thought it might work. Brad would laugh it off and leave, and then Hunter would be the butt of jokes forevermore. I clung to that hope in the silence that followed.
But then Brad demanded, “Whose bra is that? On the ground. And those pants… What thefuckis going on, Hunter?”
Hunter sputtered for an answer. “I… uh… I don’t…”
With no other option, I rose my head above the back of the recliner. “Hi, Brad.”
When I saw my brother’s reaction, a piece of me died inside. His eyes widened with shock, then confusion, then finally betrayal.
“No,” he breathed, shaking his head as if that would make it all go away. “This isn’t happening. Come sit down and tell me that this is all a misunderstanding.”
I remained where I was, concealed behind the recliner. “I’m not wearing any clothes.”
Hunter grabbed my pants and shirt and tossed them over to me. I hastily pulled them on and then rose from behind my hiding place. Brad hadn’t moved at all, and he stood completely still.
“How long?” he whispered.
“How long what?” Hunter asked.
Brad’s eyes widened with fury. “How long?”
“Two weeks,” I answered. “If you sit down, we’ll explain everything from the beginning.”
“I’m fine standing,” he said, biting off every word.
Hunter adjusted the blanket over his crotch. “I wanted to tell you sooner.”
I whipped my head toward him. “Oh, throw me under the bus why don’t you?”
“That’s not what I’m doing! I’m trying to explain everything to him.”
“By starting with the part that absolves yourself?”
“Neither of you are absolved of anything,” Brad said in a voice like acid. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because the timing was bad,” I explained. “You’ve been struggling since Mom and Dad died. You’re fragile. You told me yourself that you haven’t been handling it well. If you found out aboutus, I knew you would be upset.”