26

Spencer Cypress

I noticed that Graham seemed to be happier now that his sister was here. Part of me felt bad because of how rarely he sees them.

Dinner had been served and we ate outside on the patio.

"I don't recall this place being as well decorated as when we last came here." Rebecca mentioned.

"That's all Spencer's work. He picked out everything. Claimed that my house was 'too bachelor'." Graham hugged my torso and brought me closer.

"Keep training him, Spencer. Maybe you'll finally get him to start using a duvet." She said.

"Oh, I already have. Took a bit of training." I said.

Amir entered the patio. "Alright. Angela is watching Octonauts on the TV." He said. He kissed his wife on the lips and sat. "Chamberlain called me about some planning."

"Babe, what did I say?" She told him.

Amir looked down but still smiled. "No politics. I know, I know." He shook his head. "She never lets me bring up my work."

"Why?" I asked.

"Cause I think it's best to keep work and family separate." Rebecca replied. "It can work for some couples. But for us, we'd like to keep that box closed."

"Could we work well together?" I asked Graham.

Graham choked on his seltzer. "Uh, what?"

"Relax, I'm joking." I patted his pec.

"You two are so adorable." Rebecca said. "I was a bit weary when Graham first told me that he was starting to grow feelings for you. But it seems to have worked out."

"Yeah, it did." Graham said. He kissed me on the head.

"Right, babe! You should tell that about what your parents said when we went to visit them a while back." Amir said.

Rebecca's face dropped into a scowl. "Right," She sighed.

"What did she say?" Graham asked. I felt his arm around me grow stiff.

"Mom and dad are threatening to withhold my inheritance if I don't help you get back in contact with Clancy." She said.

"Inheritance?" I questioned.

"Our parents are quite well off." Rebecca told me. "They paid for our education and helped us get good jobs. I'm sure you know what happened on that day a few years ago, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Graham told me."

"Because Clancy is our parent's favorite, they felt he did no wrong. And when Graham refused to reconcile with him, he was cut off. He became a persona non grata. But it wasn't until about three years back when they suddenly piqued an interest in Graham again."

"Why?" I asked. Graham and Rebecca both shrugged their shoulders.

"Beats us." Graham said.

Amir drank the rest of his wine. "I have a theory." He said.

"What do you think, baby?" She asked.

"I have a few connections in Portland. I asked around and supposedly, Clancy's business that your parents gave him has been on shaky ground." He spoke.

"What? And you never told me?" Rebecca asked.

"I was waiting for confirmation. That's what the phone call was with Chamberlain about. But word has it that Clancy's business might go down. He owes some people some money and the banks may foreclose on him soon. There's a reason we call him the Builder of Pisa."

I saw Graham's face. I knew he wanted to crack a smile.

"But, that's not all. Because this is where my theory comes in." Amir then said. "What I think is your parents are noticing that Clancy is a failure, to put it bluntly. And since they know that Graham is quite successful, they might try to get back in touch with him."

"So..." Rebecca said.

"They bet on the wrong kid. And now they want to fix it. I don't think they're looking for money. I think they just want to reattach their name onto something meaningful. That's why they're threatening you with your inheritance. Because they desperately want to see Graham again."

Rebecca glanced over at Graham. "I wouldn't put it past them." She said.

"Me neither."

"Don't do it, Graham." I told him. "They don't want to reconnect because they realized they were in the wrong. They only want to do it for their own ego."

"I agree with Spencer." Amir said.

"I wasn't going to trust them regardless." Graham said. "But at least we now know that something fishy is going on."

"What do you mean?" Rebecca asked. I stood up and brought the charred remains of the photo album. Graham explained what his brother had sent him and the fact that his address was now known.

"Jesus-fucking-Christ." Rebecca muttered.

"Just when I thought I couldn't hate my in-laws even more." Amir jokingly said.

"Why don't we talk about something else?" I suggested, feeling the atmosphere drop.

"Right. Well, have you two decided to live together now?" Rebecca asked.

"No. What made you say that?" Graham said.

"I went to use your bathroom and saw there were skincare products and Gisou hair oil. I'm 99.99% sure that you don't use all those products." She stated.

I nodded a bit. "Yeah, I just like sleeping here." I replied.

"Mhm." She winked at me.

"It's true." Graham tried saying.

"Amir, can you start planning the wedding?" Rebecca asked.

"Of course. Do you want a spring or summer one? Or how about winter?" he then asked, playing along with his wife.

"I–" I said.

"Summer." Graham replied. I pushed him and he just placed his hand on my hair and rubbed it.

"I guess summer could be fine." I muttered. Rebecca and Amir both let out a loud chuckle.

The door opened and Angela walked out onto the patio. "Can we play Uno?" she asked while holding the box.

"Oh, well, that's Uno: No Mercy. I don't think that's suitable–" I was cut off by Graham who stood up.

"Let's do it!" He said.

Angela was surprisingly good at the game. I wasn't, however. Out of the five of us, I never won.

It went well into the night. By 11, Angela had fallen asleep next to Juniper and Holly on the couch. Amir and Rebecca left for the guest room.

"What did you think of them?" Graham asked as we both settled into the bed.

"They're really nice. I had fun with them." I replied.

"Yeah? I'm so glad you guys got along. Now everyone that I love is close." He said.

He spooned me from behind. I could feel Graham's nose smelling my hair. His hands hugged my torso.

Graham began to lick parts of my neck slowly as I stifled my moans.

"Graham." I whispered. "We're not alone."

"Relax, Spencer. I won't do anything." He replied.

I rolled my eyes. This giant hunk was already hard down there. He wasn't going to be able to go to sleep without it going down.

By the time morning came around, I got up early and began to make breakfast. Everyone joined soon.

When it was early noon, I heard a car pull up into the driveway. I quickly looked at Graham.

"Is someone else coming?" I asked him.

He shrugged his shoulders. "No."

I ran to the front door and saw a dark blue car parked next to Amir's. I saw the license plate also had Oregon on it.

The first to step out was a woman. She has black hair and large brown eyes. The next was a man. He had light brown hair and blue eyes. I knew who he was. It was Clancy, Graham's older brother.

"Fuck!" I said.

Just when I was going to close the door, Graham and Rebecca appeared from the front door. The two of them looked at the visitors.

"Hi, Graham." Clancy said in a short smile. He approached the front door.

I don't know if he was stupid. But it didn't surprise me when Graham landed a punch on his face. I pulled Graham away while the screaming began from Rebecca and Clancy's girlfriend.

This was supposed to be a relaxing weekend. And yet, things always have a way of not going to plan for us.