The Brick Wall

Chapter 9

Collins POV

  "Wanna come over and see the kids?"

  I read the text message from my sister in law for the third time, casting a glance at the mess in front of me.  I'd been sitting in the middle of my living room, an IKEA bookshelf begging to be put together, but for the life of me I can't figure it out because you guessed it, there's no directions included!

  "You just had to get the one that's all weirdly shaped," I can hear my brother muttering and he's not even in my apartment. But those are words that I know I'll hear when I see him tomorrow and beg him to help me out. 

  Instead I decide I'm determined to make this work on my own because I do not want to depend on him more than I need to. It's bad enough that I moved here during my last semester, I still haven't answered his question as to why, and I'm not planning on it.

  "Better not. I've got big plans."

  In no time flat there's a little grey bubble with three dots popping up as Mak types out a response. "Big plans??? Who is he? Will your brother approve? Will the kids like him?"

  I roll my eyes and groan, because of course that's where her brain went. "Hot date with a bookshelf. I'll be sure to send you a wedding invite."

  Mak responds with a face palm emoji. "I'm sure the kids will be more fun than that, they want to bake cookies and have their favorite aunt come help."

  My eyes narrow at the phone screen as I read a little further into the simple text, inferencing skills coming into play. "First off, I'm their only aunt." It's true, Mak is the oldest with three younger brothers. "Where are you wanting to go? And why don't you just ask if I can babysit?"

  It's a good couple of minutes before she responds. "I'm not going out..."

  Those three periods at the end really make me question what she's going on about.  "Then why are you being so persistent?"

  "Look, the kids just wanted you to come hang out, bake some cookies and play board games. Okay?"

  Not okay. They only pull out the board games when her brother comes into town.  "Cut the crap, Makenzie." I plop a poop emoji behind the sentence. "He's in town isn't he?"

  But she doesn't text me a response. Nope. I get a photo of the kids setting up the Monopoly board with Mak's brother, Paul, all three of them grinning widely at the camera. 

  I fall flat on my back against the carpet with a groan, my head barely missing a bag of screws as my ponytail keeps me from banging my head too hard. 

  It's not that I have issues with her brother. Paul Diskant is a great guy, police detective in Georgia. He was even the ring bearer in Mak and Mark's wedding, holding my hand as we walked down the aisle together. He's seven years older than me. Looking back at the wedding photos, my tiny self must've thought he was the greatest thing ever as it looks like I'm giving him heart eyes.  There's even a photo of us dancing together with me standing on his shiny black dress shoes.  Mak once told me that their grandmother was hoping he'd hold out for me when I was older. 

  Guess what, ladies and gentlemen? He's single.

  Paul is incredibly handsome. Tall, slim but has muscles, too. He's fun to be around when we have family gatherings, but he's also wound a little too tight in my opinion. Not to mention, at twenty-nine, I imagine he's probably ready to settle down and that's just not happening in my twenty-two year old brain.

   I won't act like we haven't flirted in the last couple of years, but for me, that's all it was.  I'm also just not sure that I could handle dating my sister-in-laws brother. I mean, I know that's not incestuous but, still...you catch my drift, right?