It all started with a game

Chapter 19

A girls' date? I'd never been on one of those. I'd actually never been to the movies with someone other than my brothers and Ryder. It sounded like fun. It sounded like a lot of fun. "I'd love to."

"Perfect! Girls' date it is. But don't worry, Richard, I'll make sure Ryder knows I'm not trying to steal his girlfriend. Although if he uses up all the hot water again, I just might." She giggled, spinning on her heel to take a look at something Sonny had been working on and left on the kitchen counter.

My smile dropped a bit at the mention of Ryder's name. I know I said I didn't want to see him, and I didn't, but sometimes I would find myself thinking about him. I'd see something on tv that looked interesting and I'd want to tell him about it, or I'd find something at the store that he'd like and I'd want to get it for him, or I see a recipe that I think he should try, or I'd hear a song that I know he would love and I'd wonder if he'd heard it before. I would find myself thinking about him at the strangest times, replaying our memories together on a loop, without even realizing it. I'd be eating dinner at the kitchen table and suddenly be thinking about the time the two of us tried to play War without actually knowing how to play War. It turned into a huge argument, the two of us too busy throwing cards at each other and laughing to actually get a valid statement in. I'd never loved anyone's laugh so much, but his, I could have listened to his on repeat. Three weeks without hearing it was agonizing.

Sonny trotted down the stairs, jacket in hand. I recognized the outfit immediately. He'd drawn it up a week ago and spent every moment since making it. It looked like something straight out of a magazine, flawless as usual.

The jacket had been Alexia's idea; she had seen the sketch before Sonny finished it and suggested the idea, he loved it. The two of them got along great; Alexia loved looking at Sonny's new designs and was always happy to help when Sonny needed an opinion deciding between two options. It was nice for him to have someone to ask; Klaus and I were not fashionably inclined and usually ended up just staring at Sonny when he asked if he should go with eggshell white or cream white—they looked the same to me but were apparently very different according to Sonny and Alexia.

Alexia had yet to meet Klaus. I had to say, I was a bit relieved about it. At least now I know she's not coming over here just to see my brother; that was usually the reason people hung out with me at our old schools. They'd pretend to be my friend for a week until I finally let them come over, and then they'd try to make a move on my brother, which usually worked until we implemented the 'thou shall not sleep with the friend of thy sibling' rule, which didn't stop people from hanging out with me to get to him but did make them very upset when their plan didn't work, which, not going to lie, brought me a little bit of serotonin.

"I love the fit!" Alexia squealed, taking a walk around Sonny to examine it. "Look, I'm just saying if you ever decided to turn this into a business, please let me be your first customer. I will literally buy your entire stock."

Sonny blushed, turning his face away slightly. "Unfortunately Beatrice and Klaus already took that spot."

"Ugh, I'm jealous." Alexia turned to me, smiling. "Klaus is your other brother, right. The smaller one with the shark tooth necklace?" She asked, referring to the picture I'd shown her.

Sonny's nose scrunched. "The smaller one? Smaller than what, the Eiffel Tower?"

I tried not to laugh. It was hard to believe the tiny little guy from the picture is shown Alexia turned into the Klaus we know now. I'm fairly certain Klaus could lift our refrigerator by himself if he tried to. "That's him." I answered Alexia.

"Did you show her that old picture you keep as your lock screen?" Sonny sighed. He hated that picture. All three of us did. It was just a reminder of what things used to be, which is exactly why I kept it.