“I’m not sleeping on a trundle,” Jake said.

“I’ll sleep on the trundle,” Gabe offered. “Or I can give you guys some privacy and sleep on the couch. Or I can sleep on the floor.”

“Nonsense,” Sam said. “Jake and I will flip for the trundle.”

“What?”

“You know that Eema won’t let him sleep on the couch. Stop postponing the inevitable. Rock, paper, scissors. If you don’t play, you forfeit and automatically sleep on the trundle.”

“Since when do you make all the rules?”

“Yadda, yadda, yadda. Are you in or out?”

The two guys sat on the bed and did the first RPS. Jake’s paper lost to Sam’s scissors.

“Two out of three,” Jake told him.

“You’re kidding.”

“C’mon.”

The next time Jake’s rock lost to Sam’s paper.

“Shit. Three out of five.”

“I’ll sleep on the trundle,” Gabe insisted. “Actually, you don’t have to bother. I can just stay with my aunt for the weekend. It’s not a problem.”

“Who’s your aunt?”

“Who’s my aunt?”

“What kind of a question is that?” Sammy said to Jake.

“It’s a reasonable question. Maybe she’s a felon and that’s why he’s not staying with her in the first place.”

“Her name is Melissa and she’s not a felon.”

“So why aren’t you staying with her?” Jake asked.

“Yonkel, are you trying to torture the kid or are you just nosy?”

“Both.”

Gabe was still red. “She’s going to Palm Springs for the weekend with a group of her girlfriends. She invited me to come, but I begged off.”

“Why?”

“Why? She and her friends are party girls. I’m fourteen.”

“And the problem is…”

“As tempting as it sounds, it’s not for me.”

“How old is your aunt?”

“Twenty-one.”

“Is she cute?”

“She’s very cute.”

“I’ve got a great idea,” Jake said. “Why don’t you stay here and I’ll go with Melissa.”

Sammy hit him. “Help me move the lamp and the nightstand.”

“I’ll do it.” Gabe unplugged the lamp and lifted the stand with the lamp still on it. “Where should I put it?”

“Put it in the corner,” Sammy said. “Let’s get this sucker out.”

The two brothers bent down and yanked at the trundle that was stowed underneath one of the twins. When they liberated the apparatus, the frame and mattress popped up with a vengeance. Jake swiped at the top. “Relatively clean.”

“Get the linens,” Sammy said.

“You get the linens,” Jake told him.

“I rented the car, you get the linens.”

Gabe couldn’t help himself. He just started laughing—first time in over two months and it felt good. “You know, I do know how to make up a bed. Where are the linens?”

“I’ll get ’em,” Jacob grumped, and stormed off.