“So then you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“I always worry.”

I laugh. “That’s because you’re you. That’s what you do. And there’s nothing wrong with you, either.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” he says.

We’re quiet for a time. Just a thing brothers do, I guess. Finally, “Bear?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m doing the right thing. Right?”

“About?”

“Everything.”

He shrugs. “I think so. I hope so. We’ll find out, I guess. And even if it’s not, and even if it doesn’t go like we think it will, then you come back to me and I’ll put you back together and make sure all the little cracks hold together.”

I nod. “How do we think it’s going to go?”

“That’s the unknown, isn’t it? Life sucks like that sometimes.”

“I don’t know when you got so smart,” I tell him. Seriously. Remember Bear from back in the day? He’d never have been able to think like this.

He laughs. “Weird, right?”

“Way weird.” A pause. “I’ll be fine,” I say. “I think.”

“Of course you will.” He kicks off his shoes and lies down on the grass, staring up at the sky turning slow pink, rays of the sun streaked against the clouds.

I lie down beside him, shoulder to shoulder.

We watch the sky, Bear and me.

And I’m right where I need to be.

DOM’S THE last to leave. Everyone else is upstairs settling in for the night. Well, at least Bear and Otter are. I’m sure Corey’s waiting for me to come up and shove a red-hot poker up his ass and wallow in his death cries. I shall have my revenge this night.

We stand at the front door to the Green Monstrosity. The bulb on the porch light is burned out, and his face is cast in shadow.

“Sorry about earlier,” I say with a grimace. “Lunch, I mean. It was weird. I made it weird.”

He shrugs as his voice rumbles out of his chest. “It’s gonna take time, I think.”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

“We’ll get there, though.”

I don’t know if I quite believe that, but if he does, the least I can do is try. “Yeah, Dom.”

“I didn’t….” He stops. Takes a breath. Sighs. “Didn’t know Corey was going to ask that. About your trip. I didn’t mean to shoehorn my way in.”

I shake my head. “You didn’t. That’s… that’s Corey for you. Besides, it’ll be good.”

“You think?”

“Sure. We’ll have fun. You can keep me out of trouble.”

He chuckles. “I’ll do my best.” He looks like he wants to say something else, but all that comes out is “I better go.”

“Okay. I’ll call you. Or something.”

“I’d like that.”

Why does this feel like the end of an awkwardly bad first date? “Great. That’d be… great.”

“Night, Tyson.”

“Bye.”

I shut the door. Lock it. Press my forehead against the wood. Berate myself for a million things. Like, how I could have sounded so dumb. Or so childish. Or so immature. Or so ridiculous. Or so—