The other Brother

Home again, home again

By the time all the customers had left and I’d finished cleaning my station, balancing the drawer, and counting my tips for the night, it was almost 4am. Granted, I was likely moving a little slower than usual due to being tipsy. I’d made out pretty well, close to $400 just in tips alone, though I would be taxed on almost half of that because they had been card tips rather than cash. But going home with $200 cash in hand wasn’t so bad at all.

“You think about my offer, Ava?”

My gaze flickered over to Hank as he took a seat at the bar. He reached over the counter, grabbed two clean shot glasses and a bottle of vodka. He filled each glass to the brim before setting the bottle back in its spot and offering me one of the shots. I liked working here, we were all pretty close, like a family. It wasn’t a rare occurrence that we took what we called a ‘family shot’ where everyone would start or end a shift with a shot we all took at the same time.

I took the glass from him, raised it in the air in a silent toast and then brought it to my lips, swallowing back on the foul tasting liquor. “Mhm,” I admitted, licking my lips. I waited for him to take his shot too before I grabbed both of the empty glasses and started washing them.

“And?” He was waiting for my answer.

“I’m undecided.” I answered honestly, glancing back over at him. “And drunk.”

Hank chuckled and stood up from his seat. “C’mon. I’ll drive you home. Last thing I need is for my best girl to get in a wreck.”

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I stumbled into the apartment at just after 4:30am. I was four or five shots deep and on a completely empty stomach, the room seemed to be spinning. “s**t,” I cursed beneath my breath when the front door shut much louder and quicker than I had anticipated. I had wanted to come in undetected, unannounced. I wanted my peace. I wanted to come home, get something in my belly and go straight to bed but my luck had other plans.

“Jesus Ava, you scared me.” Tyler appeared in the hallway, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. I caught myself staring for a little too long. It wasn’t fair, he was carved to perfection with his perfectly sculpted six pack and the small straight line of hair that started at the end of his naval and trailed down to his lower region, creating the perfect ‘glory trail’. His hair was perfectly messy and even tired, he was out of my league. God, I wanted so badly to remember why I had ever been so upset with him.

“Sorry.” I hung my keys on the key hook. I’d have to take a taxi to work tomorrow since I’d left my car in the parking lot for the night. I was grateful for Hank, I’d been in no position to drive anywhere tonight. “Go back to bed,” I had to make a conscious effort to try and get my words out clearly but even then, I could hear the slight slur.

I’d wanted him to go back to his room so he couldn’t see the way I couldn’t walk in a straight line but he remained in his spot, arms folded across his broad chest, green eyes laser focused on me. So I swallowed my pride and walked past him into the kitchen, where I flicked on the light and opened the fridge.

“You’re drunk,” he stated as he followed me to the kitchen. “Please tell me you didn’t drive yourself home.”

I shut the fridge and narrowed my eyes at him. “Why does it matter to you how I got here?”

Tyler rolled his eyes at me and shook his head. “Gee, Avery, I dunno,” sarcasm dripped from his tone. “Maybe because you could have gotten yourself killed or hurt someone else?”

“Do you think I’m so stupid and careless?” I snapped at him. This was my second time in just over 24 hours snapping at him when he’d done virtually nothing wrong. “I was dropped off,” I concluded. I grabbed a drinking glass out of the cupboard and filled it with water. I’d lost my appetite but hydration was still important.

“I don’t think you’re stupid Ava. I just care about your well being, okay?” I was glad he was keeping an appropriate distance between us. “I don’t know what it would do to Trent if you got h-“

“Trent?” I gave a half choked laugh, disbelief ringing throughout my tone. What did Trent have to do with any of this? “That’s f*****g hilarious.” I turned to face him, one hand holding my water, the other resting on the curve of my hip. “Because you care so much about how he might feel, right?” My tone was accusatory. “Is that why you couldn’t c*m for me? Thinking about your big bro?” There was a hint of mockery in my words now.

His jaw clenched tightly, defining those perfectly sharp muscles. “Oh come on Ava,” he shook his head again, his tone raising. “What? Did it bruise your f*****g ego that I didn’t finish for you?”

Yes. It really had. Because why wasn’t I good enough for him to want to keep going? Why wasn’t I good enough for Trent to stay with? Why was it so easy for Tyler to get up and leave when he should have wanted more?

I didn’t say anything and for a moment, silence filled the room. And then he laughed, a dark, humorless laugh. It was almost cynical.

“That’s it, isn’t it? Your feelings are hurt about me asking for a rain check earlier.” I felt seen but this was something I didn’t want him to see me for.

He stalked closer to me until he was too close. He grabbed the water glass out of my hands and set it aside before his hands found my hips and he hoisted me up on the kitchen counter top. His hips rested between my thighs, he had me trapped now. “Come on, talk to me.” His hands found my upper thighs and gave them a hard squeeze, hard enough I might bruise beneath his touch. But I didn’t want to talk about it, I wanted him to go away and I wanted my emotions to stop getting in the way of me enjoying my life.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” I was stubborn.

“So I get my rain check?”

Asshole.

“f**k you,” I snapped, my hands finding his chest and giving him a hard shove away from me.

I watched as confusion washed over his face, followed by another emotion I could quite place; anger? “What?” He sounded genuinely lost.

“I’m not some f*****g pocket p***y you can pick up and use whenever you feel like it, Tyler.” I hopped down from the counter and grabbed my water. “I can’t wait to get the f**k out of here,” I mumbled mostly to myself as I walked out of the kitchen, down the hall and to Trent’s bedroom for the night.

It was in that moment that I’d decided to take Hank up on his offer. I’d strip two nights a week on top of bar tending. Anything to get me out of that apartment.