Page 2 of My Brother’s Best Friend

Harvey had dumped me on Tuesday. It was Thursday now. I’d only been home for twenty-four hours, but that was more than enough to remind me of why I’d left.

“Look at you,” Levi said half an hour later, interrupting my gloomy thoughts. “Jordan Miller Brooks, barista superstar.”

He beamed with pride as I handed over a pumpkin spice latte to a customer.

“I don’t know if I’d go that far,” I told him. “It’s not that hard to add a shot of pumpkin spice syrup to a drink. Though I do have to question the wisdom of offering pumpkin spice in July.”

“I’m but a humble cafe owner, here to give the people what they want,” Levi said with an expansive shrug. “And what they want is year-round pumpkin spice.”

“Yeah, but you actually sell good coffee here. Adding pumpkin spice is a desecration.”

“Not everyone can have your fancy New York palate, Jordy.”

“It’s not fancy, and it’s not New York either. I just don’t get the point of ordering coffee if you can’t even taste the coffee by the time you take a sip.” I frowned. “And no one’s called me Jordy since I was twelve.”

In a way, it made sense that Levi still called me that. After all, he still saw me as my sixth-grade self. Someone who needed to be protected, scolded, and kept out of trouble.

But that didn’t mean I liked it.

“Fuck, yes, you’re right.” He shook his head. “You’ve said that before, and I forgot, and I’m an asshole. I’m sorry. I am trying, I swear.”

He looked so regretful, so pained, that I regretted mentioning it.

Levi tried his best. He really did. He’d started raising our sister’s kids after Taylor had—well, a long time ago. He was the reason they had a place to stay, and the reason I did too. He’d had to be the responsible one from way too young an age, and I supposed that gave him the right to be a little overbearing.

Hell, he hadn’t even yelled at me for trying to talk a customer out of her peppermint caramel raspberry frappuccino earlier. That flavor combination was an affront to God, if you asked me, but making patrons feel bad about their choices probably wasn’t a good business strategy.

“It’s okay.” I smiled. “I know you’re stressed with the festival this weekend, and you’ve been working for twelve hours straight at this point. Not just working, but teaching me the ins and outs of The Roastery. My brain would be fried too.”

“Shit, is it five already?” Levi glanced up at the clock.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing. I just—well, it’s okay. I’ll tell him I can’t make it.”

“Tell who you can’t make what?”

“It’s fine.” Levi waved my question away. “Really.”

“I didn’t ask if it was fine, I asked what it was. You shouldn’t have to cancel something just because I descended into your life without warning.”

“Yeah, but…” He trailed off and gave me an assessing look. “Are you okay here on your own for a bit? Holly will be back in an hour to help close, but I can call Cam and tell him I’ll be late if you’d rather I stay.”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Seriously, go. I don’t want to mess up your—wait.” I cocked my head to the side. “Did you say Cam? As in Cam Starling?”

“Yeah. You remember him?”

How could I not? Cam Starling had been my first crush. The guy who’d helped me realize I was gay. He still featured in a recurring sex dream of mine, not that I’d ever admit it to anyone.

When I was a kid, I thought I just liked Cam in that way that younger kids do, idolizing older ones. He was quiet, and thoughtful, and much less obnoxious than the other guys Levi was friends with.

Our family life was such chaos, but Cam was this rock-solid mountain of calm and safety whenever he came over. Which wasn’t that much. For obvious reasons, Levi didn’t like having friends over often. But that didn’t stop me from hanging around him, whenever he was there.

Cam was nice to me when he didn’t have to be. He’d talk to me about books, and he didn’t mind when I’d babble nonstop about my day, just excited for a chance to be near him.

I liked how tall he was, how blue his eyes were, and how his glasses made him look like an owl when he was reading really intently. He let me try them on once, and the prescription was so strong, I smacked into a wall. He didn’t even get mad that I bent the frames when I fell.

Cam never showed the slightest bit of interest in me, obviously. With the age difference, why would he? I was just his friend’s kid brother. He was kind to me because he was a genuinely kind person, nothing more.