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He took a sip of his coffee as he eyed me, a look in his eye.

I knew it.

He was trying to read me, trying to get a feel for where my brain was at but the truth was, I didn’t know. Not really.

Even though I had been with the company for years, they wouldn’t hire me back, not that I wanted it. But they also wouldn’t give me a letter of recommendation, which was bullshit. But I understood their reasoning. Not that either man here would go for that.

“No dreams, sis? Nothing you’re dying to do while you can?”

“Read. I didn’t get a lot of time for that, and I want to spend some time doing that. I want to spend some time detoxing and resting.”

“With Eddie?”

I threw a napkin at him, making him laugh.

“Well, you can teach Eddie to read, he needs all the help he can get.”

“Hey, asshole,” Eddie yelled, glaring at him.

I couldn’t help but laugh at their exchange, but it was great. This is what I had seen for years, this is what was comfortable for me, and this was what I didn’t want to lose. But I guess I wouldn’t.

“Going to deny it?”

“I hate you,” he grumbled, rolling his eyes at my brother and I kissed his cheek.

“It’s okay. You’re way better with your hands anyway. Unlike my brother. I mean, didn’t you build this cabin too?”

“I did. Thank you for acknowledging my skills.”

This time, I felt my brother roll his eyes, hating how I was praising someone else. Which it was fun to tease the living daylights out of him.

“I think, on second thought, I’m going to refuse you two dating on the grounds that I’m going to hate it far too much. You’re going to make me sick.”

“Don’t worry Peyton, you’ll still be my favorite brother.”

“Doesn’t count,” he pretended to pout before drinking the last of his coffee and standing. “Since you both are here, I’m staying the night at the local B&B. I won’t kick you out.”

I stood up, frowning slightly at him.

“Why did you come up?”

“Take a few days off from work, enjoy the air up here, check on you to make sure you were really okay.”

I smiled at him before walking around the table to hug him.

“You’ll always look out for me, won’t you?”

“It’s my job,” he told me, wrapping me up in a big bear hug. This is the one thing I would miss. His hugs. Okay, well, him if he lived so far away. We were only a few years apart in age. Could I leave him back home, which was a couple hours away?

“Hey,” he told me, nudging me slightly.

“What?”

“Are you zoning?”

“Thinking,” I told him.

“Don’t. Because you and I are far too close for that, you know that.” I sighed because I did. “But I do have to tell you something, Justice.”