My Brother's Best Friend

Chap. 31

"We've got a game tonight," Emmett reminded me, as I buttered my toast.

"I'll be there," I said.

"Have you seen my belt?" Parker called from his bedroom.

"Nope!" Emmett and I called back in unison.

"Don't do that," Parker called.

I took a bite of my toast, taking a seat at the counter as Parker came out into the kitchen, holding his pants up.

"I need to borrow a belt," he said to Emmett.

"You need to buy more than one belt," Emmett retorted.

"Not too high on my To Do list," Parker snapped. "I need a belt."

"Chill," Emmett said, taking a bite of his muffin before heading back to his bedroom.

"Good morning," I said, as he poured himself a cup of coffee, still holding up his pants with one hand.

"All of this stress lately has taken its toll," Parker informed me, turning to face me. "And my jeans don't fit."

"Well you're just going to have to eat a lot of McDonald's in the next week."

"My coach is going to love this," Parker muttered.

"Here," I said, handing him my second piece of buttered toast. "At least eat this."

"It's fine."

"It's not fine. Dropping that much weight during Christmas break is unhealthy. Now eat this piece of toast before I go all therapist on you."

Parker rolled his eyes, taking a bite of the toast.

I pulled out a yogurt for myself to be sure to get a balanced breakfast.

I don't think my therapist, or Emmett for that matter, would be happy to hear that I ate a piece of toast for breakfast.

"Here," Emmett said, tossing Parker a belt.

He looped it around his waist, thanking Emmett before finishing off the toast.

"The tension is suffocating in here, so I'm going to go and pretend I have something to do in my room," Emmett said, after a few minutes of silence in the kitchen. He disappeared back into his bedroom.

I took a sip of my coffee.

"I'm sorry," Parker stated.

"You can't just say you're sorry and expect that to fix everything," I said, looking over at him.

"Well it's a starting point."

"I don't want to be your rebound Parker," I said, my chest tight.

Parker tightened his jaw. "That's not what you are."

"Really? Because that's the second slip."

"My ex-girlfriend died," Parker stated, in a monotone voice. "Sorry if I slip up sometimes."

At least he said ex-girlfriend this time.

"If you're upset then talk to me," I said, staring into his eyes. "If you're hurting, then let me in. But God Parker, just say something."

"I'm not good at this, any of it."

"I can't be Annalise for you," I said, quietly.

He froze.

"I can't compete with her," I continued. "Because she was beautiful."

"You looked her up?"

I nodded.