Brotherly Love

MADISON

“So how was it? I noticed the kids were ~way~ too full of energy today,” Ezra said while keeping his eyes on the road.

From the flagship gym to the Silverside location, it was almost forty-five minutes by car this time of day, but at least the other gym was close to the twins’ office.

“Jesus, yes. I don’t know what they all ate before coming to class, but it took me fifteen minutes to get them in line and concentrating. Jamie, always such a sweetheart, had to help me to get his friends’ attention.”

“Things going okay with the twins? I haven’t really seen them much since…” Ezra trailed off, his teeth playing nervously with his lips.

She stretched out her arm to rub his shoulder. “Hey…It’s only been a few days, and we’ve all been…busy.” She bit back a laugh as she thought about her definition of busy: having sex like bunnies anywhere and everywhere.

Her brother smirked, definitely thinking of how “busy” he and Sam had been. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

He smiled at her before looking back at the road. “But have you noticed Liam’s been kind of weird lately?”

“I know, right? He hasn’t been himself for weeks. Do you think it’s just the phone calls from our parents? Or something more? Wait! Do you think he could be seeing someone?”

“I certainly hope so! After Sienna he didn’t want anything to do with love anymore.”

“Yeah, I know.” She frowned. “Even if I never got what actually happened between them.”

She’d always wondered if Liam’s college girlfriend had dumped him because he had to move home and take care of his little sister.

“That’s his story to tell, Maddi. Anyway, does Sam talk about me?”

Her brother sounded like a teenager with a crush.

“Too much! Luckily, I set up an important rule—don’t tell me about having sex with my brother. Otherwise, I’m sure she’d never shut up.”

He grinned. “What can I say?”

“Oh, ~please~ shut up.” She reached for her snowflake pendant and rolled it in her fingers. “Have you guys had ‘the talk’ yet?”

She thought about her own “talk” with the twins quite often. It made her happy and wet at the same time.

“Well, not really. I’ve never said that word to anyone but you, Maddi. It’s difficult. Sometimes I feel it on the tip of my tongue, but then it just stays there and I can’t get it out.

“But I’m sure she knows,” he said, pulling into the gym’s parking lot. “She’s probably just waiting for me to say it first…right?”

Madison giggled when her eyes met her brother’s. She wished she could take a picture of the bashful expression on his face—and then send it to Sam, of course.

“Ezra…she’s had a crush on you forever!”

“Trust me though, Maddi. She made me sweat for it when we first started seeing each other.”

“I can imagine. Sometimes I wonder if I’ve been too nice with the twins. I probably should have played harder to get.”

“They would have waited.” He was silent for a moment, then sighed. “Even though I got super mad—and I will ~never~ forgive myself for that—the truth is, I also wasn’t that surprised.

“They always adored you. And when you left for college, Ethan acted weird. Sullen and withdrawn. Easily pissed off.

“At first me and Liam thought it was because of him being so protective and distrustful of the world, but then… I don’t know, something changed. Also with Levi.”

“I wondered why they never came to visit, even though they kept in touch quite well.”

“That was mostly Levi, I think. Every time you’d video chat with us, Ethan would just leave the room.

“But when Liam had to cancel his plans to go and pick you up, Ethan offered right away. I guess he wanted some time with you. Or maybe he just wanted to vet that boyfriend of yours.”

Madison slipped her hand into her brother’s. It had been ages since they’d spoken so openly to each other, and it felt good. “But if you’d already considered the possibility, why did it upset you so much?”

“Because I didn’t expect ~both~ of them to be in love with you. One was easy to accept. Two… I guess it got to be too much.

“Also, I never thought you’d be interested in either of them, let alone both.”

She could hardly bear the sadness in his eyes. “Oh, Ezra. I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you about it.”

“It’s okay, Maddi. So long as you know you can talk to me now.” He flicked her nose playfully. “Shall we go?”

Inside the gym they found Liam just leaving a class, sweaty and tired.

“What are you two doing here?” The way his face lit up made Madison happy they’d come to surprise him.

“Nothing. We finished work early, and since we don’t get to see you that often, we thought we’d come and say hi,” she explained.

“Thanks!” He hugged them.

“Ew!” Madison teased, pretending to shake herself off after his sweaty hug.

“Did you have something specific in mind?” he asked as they strolled toward the changing rooms.

“I was thinking we could go down to Club16 for happy hour.” Madison fluttered her lashes at both her brothers, which was how she’d always been able to convince them to go along with what she wanted.

“Sounds good to me.” Ezra looked at Liam for his answer.

“Sure. Levi can come too. It isn’t too far from their office.”

“Levi told me he won’t be finished for a bit, but he’ll come by when he’s done. To start, though, it’ll be just us three, like the good old days.”

“Fair enough. I’m glad you decided to stop by.” They had reached the changing room. “You two can wait down in the bar if you want. I won’t take long.”

***

“So what brought both of you here today? I’m sure it wasn’t just because you missed me,” Liam said. He alternated his gaze between Madison and Ezra as he sipped his whiskey.

“Actually, it ~was~ just to see you.” Madison raised her margarita in a toast. “We’ve been like ships passing in the night since I got back, and when we do talk, you seem like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders. We’re concerned about you!”

“Yeah, and now that the twins and Sam are going to be around even more, we have to make a point to spend time together, just us,” Ezra added, then took a sip of his rum and coke.

“Well, you know a lot of that stress was from the delayed gym opening…and our parents. But not ~all~ of it. And I agree about spending more time just us…

“Especially since Sam and the twins aren’t the only ones who’ll be hanging around more.”

“What?”

“Yeah, you two haven’t been the only ones keeping secrets.”