Losing her virginity to her brother's best friend will forever be Kallie Miller's biggest regret. That's why she's spent three years successfully avoiding him. You can't run from the truth forever, especially when your bedrooms share a wall. Living...
Now that my brother and I live in the same place, we can officially bring back my favorite childhood tradition.
Sunday Sibling Brunch. It started when I was eight and he was eleven. Our parents had been fighting and we were hungry, so being the smart eleven-year-old that he was, Landon suggested that we go get our own food.
We stole a stack of twenties from our mom's purse, hopped on our bikes, and rode to the local diner. After brunch, we decided to stay, so we ordered milkshakes and talked. We talked until it time for another meal and then we had dinner.
After dinner, we decided it was time to go home, so we hopped on our bikes and rode home. Our parents hadn't even noticed that we were gone. They spent the entire day arguing and assumed we were in the backyard playing or something.
That day, we vowed to spend every Sunday at that diner. It continued until he graduated and left for college. We've tried to do it at least once a month since then, but it was hard with our schedules.
Now that we live together, we don't have to try to fit it in. The diner near campus isn't quite the one from back home, but it's good enough.
It's the first Sunday since I moved in and as I slide on my shoes, I can't help but smile. I've missed my big brother so much. We may not always get along, but at the end of the day, he's my big brother and I love him.
I looked in the mirror and smiled, it's still warm outside, so I put on a blue and white striped one-shoulder dress and some cute sandals. I skipped makeup but made sure to curl my hair. We may be eating at a cheap diner, but Sunday Sibling Brunch has always been a classy affair.
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Landon had an early morning work thing, so we decided to meet there at eleven. Unfortunately, it's 11:33 and he's still not here.
I'm already on my third alcohol-free mimosa. Just as I'm texting him to let him know I'm ordering without him, he plops down across from me.
"You're late." I locked my phone and looked up.
"Sorry, just found out about it," Hayden replied. No, that's not a typo. Hayden Young is currently sitting across from me.
"What the hell are you doing here and where is my brother?" he smiled and I hated it.
"He's hung up. He sent me in his place." I scoffed.
"So, my brother, rather than texting me that he couldn't make it to our weekly Sunday Sibling Brunch, sent you? I'm officially disowning him." I flagged down the waitress.
"Are you ready to order?" I smiled.
"Yeah, can I get the build your own breakfast, with the pancakes, the waffles, the french toast, the eggs over easy, the bacon, the hashbrowns, and the sausage? Oh and another mimosa."
"So, one of everything and an orange juice?" She clearly wasn't amused.
"Yep, and whatever he's having," Hayden ordered, pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon, with a coffee. A normal-sized breakfast.
"I'll get that right out." She smiled before leaving.
"It's supposed to be my week to pay, but since Landon couldn't be bothered to show up, you're paying. You can make him pay you back if you want."
"Got it. So, do you always pretend straight OJ is a fancy mimosa?" I glared.
"Yes, I've been doing it since I was like ten. Landon thinks it's annoying."
"Not as annoying as you ordering literally the whole menu." I gave him a sarcastic smile.
"It's Landon and I's special weekly brunch, we always eat way too much. It's part of the experience."
"So, time to talk about our feelings?" I rolled my eyes.
"Not happening." We did the usual smirk and glare thing.
"You and Landon used to spend hours talking about life at Sunday Sibling Brunch, so, let's spend hours talking."
"We have nothing to talk about." He gave me a serious look.
"Yeah and apparently you and Landon haven't since your parent's divorce." I furrowed my brows.
"What?"
"I grew up with you guys and after the divorce, your brunches went from three or four hours to not even an hour. You guys should have been talking more than ever, but you shut him out. He didn't notice, but I did." I blinked a few times.
"What are you talking about?"
"I know the divorce was a bigger deal to you, you still lived at home, Landon didn't." I didn't say a word.
"You know nothing." He sighed.
"I know that you spent most of high school, post-divorce, partying. Before, you were a sweet innocent young girl. So, why did you suddenly become a borderline alcoholic?" I glared. Hard.
"What do you want me to say, Hayden? That I got a front-row seat to my parent's" non-existent custody battle. That I know my dad didn't want me. You want me to tell you that I'm a mess and have been for years." He smiled.
"If that's the truth then yes."
"Well, if you want the truth, then yeah, the divorce screwed me up, but so did you. You and I had sex and it screwed me up just as much as the divorce. So, if this is some dumb attempt at making it up to me then you can go now because I don't give a shit."
"Kallie-"
"Don't." he ignored me.
"Your brother is too self-absorbed to see how much of a mess you are, but I'm not. You need help, Kallie, you went through something traumatic and you refuse to deal with it. You need to talk to someone. A therapist, your brother, me, it doesn't matter. Just talk through it. If you don't you're just going to continue to self-destruct, until there's nothing left to destroy." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
"I don't need a therapist, Hayden."
"You need someone, Kallie. If you aren't willing to do something, I'll talk to your brother and he will force you into therapy." I glared.
"Fine, then I'll talk to you. If you're so desperate for me to 'get better' then you can be my therapist." He blinked a few times.
"Ok, then. We are going to have weekly talk sessions."
"As long as you bring alcohol." He sighed.
"Fine, one drink, but you can't tell Landon and you have to agree to that being the only time you drink." I sighed.
"Deal." I flagged the waitress down and had her box up my food, "I'm not in the mood to deal with you, so I'm going to eat at home. See ya." I walked out weirdly feeling better.
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Thanks for reading guys! I'm so happy with how this book is going so far.
Make sure to follow my Instagram, because I've spent the past couple of days remaking a lot of my book covers and I'm so excited to show you all.
Plus, I have an exciting announcement to make about another book.
