The Rebound Agreement ✔

nine

[unedited]

Liam raps on my parent's door with his hand that isn't holding mine. I'm becoming increasingly self-conscious about how sweaty my hand is when Liam is gripping it as tightly as he is. Tapping my foot impatiently and nervously, we wait for the door to be answered.

To my relief, Cole is the one who finally swings the door open to let us in. He greets Liam with a solid man hug and steps back to hug me. Some of my stress evaporates the second I'm in his arms.

"I missed you," I tell him.

Cole pulls back and laughs at me. "You saw me only two days ago."

I shrug and smile. "I know." There was something about my brother that was extremely comforting, and heaven knows I could have used him these last couple of days to tell me what an idiot I'm being for being so nervous about everything.

But then again, maybe he would tell me that I was smart for being nervous because a million things could go wrong. He wasn't necessarily sold on why Liam and I were dating, after all.

"You're late," he doesn't forget to remind me.

I roll my eyes. "We're fifteen minutes early."

"Yeah, late," he tells me before smirking smugly and walking away.

We walk in and Kira waves to us from the floor where she sits. Cole has returned to the spot behind her on the couch and seems to be attempting to braid her curly mane.

"What exactly are you doing to my hair?" she asks him, apprehension in her voice.

"Well, I'm attempting corn rows," he tells her, grinning as he twists a piece of hair under another.

"Cole," she complains. "Corn rows look so ugly on me." She attempts to turn her head to face Cole while she complains, but he gently turns her head back to its previous position, adjusting the hair in his hands to tighten what Kira had messed up.

"Oh hush," he tells her. "You can take them out when I'm done."

When Kira crosses her arms and sticks her bottom lip out, Cole leans down and whispers something in her ear that causes the edges of her lips to turn upwards. He plants a kiss on her forehead before returning to concentrate on braiding her hair.

I smile at the sight of them. Playful antics were so typical of them, and I loved to see my brother happy, something that Kira was very good at making him feel. Even if he found his happiness in Kira through unusual ways; last time I checked, guys braiding their girlfriend's hair wasn't necessarily normal.

I glance over at Liam who seems to also be watching the couple. If I wasn't looking at him as closely as I was, he would probably seem fine, but I don't miss the glimmer of longing in his eyes as he watches them talk.

Coming up with a distraction, I grab his hand and tug him to the kitchen, where I'm sure my parents are.

"Mom?" I ask as I turn the corner and spot her. She's chopping a red pepper that matches the peppers on the blue apron she is wearing. The bangs of her graying auburn hair are pulled back with bobby pins, although a few strands make it free here and there, covering her eyes.

While I got my golden eyes and dimples from my dad, I got my round facial features from her. Of the two of them, I resemble her more.