Chapter 16

CHAPTER16

“This is honestly the most terrifying thing that I’ve ever seen,” Sebastian said, swallowing hard while he stood there, holding the potato limply in his hand as he tried to make sense of what was happening.

“It really is,” Aunt Kasey murmured in agreement while they watched Mikey reach for a pen and-

“This doesn’t sound very supportive,” Mikey said with a heartfelt sigh as she wrote something in her notebook before shifting her attention back to the large textbook that he was almost ninety percent sure wasn’t hers.

“Mikey,” Aunt Kasey began, only to clear her throat before she asked, “Are you pretending to do homework just to get out of peeling potatoes?” Since he’d been wondering the same thing, Sebastian didn’t say anything as he finished peeling the potato in his hand and placed it in the bowl of salted water while he watched Mikey.

“This isn’t homework,” she said, sighing heavily as she went to write something else down, grumbled incoherently to herself and focused back on her book.

“Then, what is it?” Aunt Kasey asked as she made quick work of chopping an onion while Sebastian stood there, unable to help but notice that she looked more relaxed than she had all week, making him once again wonder about those doctor’s appointments.

“Blackmail,” Mikey mumbled sadly, only to follow that up with a sniffle that had his lips twitching as he watched her glare down at the textbook for another moment before reluctantly climbing off the stool and made her way to the kitchen table past the playpens where her baby brothers were playing and proceeded to rummage through his bag.

Curious to see what the little pain in the ass was up to, Sebastian watched as she grabbed his iPad with a heartfelt sigh before she turned right back around and made her way back to the kitchen island and set to work.

“I thought the school gave you a new iPad,” Aunt Kasey said as her curious gaze flickered between him and the iPad that Mikey gave him a few months ago.

“I like this one better,” Sebastian said, watching as her lips twitched.

Nodding, Aunt Kasey shifted her focus to Mikey. “Are you planning on helping?”

“I am helping,” Mikey murmured absently, turning the page. “I’m supervising.”

“And you’re doing a great job,” Sebastian said dryly.

“I know,” Mikey said, nodding solemnly as Jonathan let himself in through the back door and made his way to the cupcakes that Sebastian frosted earlier.

“What are you doing here?” Sebastian asked, throwing his brother a questioning look as he watched Jonathan take his time selecting a cupcake.

“Wondering if hell froze over,” Jonathan drawled as his gaze flickered to Mikey as he selected a chocolate cupcake with extra buttercream frosting.

“That’s what we’ve been wondering too,” Aunt Kasey said with a teasing smile that had Mikey’s eyes narrowing on her.

“I’m trying to supervise here, people,” Mikey grumbled, only to follow that up with a forlorn sigh as she turned the page, only to grumble, shift her focus to his iPad, type something and grumble again.

God, she was adorable, Sebastian thought as he stood there, unable to take his eyes off her and-

He was going to kill his brother, Sebastian decided when he saw the knowing look on the little bastard’s face. That was followed by Jonathan shooting him a wink and releasing a satisfied sigh that had Sebastian’s eyes narrowing on him.

“Incidentally, dinner’s ready,” Jonathan murmured, sounding thoughtful as he selected another cupcake.

“I can finish that,” Aunt Kasey said with a warm smile as she gestured for him to get going.

“Are you sure?” Sebastian asked after a slight hesitation as he reached for the ties on his apron.

“I’m sure,” Aunt Kasey said as she gestured to Mikey. “Besides, I’m in good hands here.”

“You really are,” Mikey murmured absently as she frowned down at whatever she was reading.

“Do you need help this weekend?” Sebastian asked as he pulled his apron off and hung it on the hook next to the one that Mikey accidentally set on fire last week when she was taking cookies out of the oven.

“I’m catering a lunch on Sunday,” Aunt Kasey said, throwing him a questioning look as she grabbed his paycheck off the counter and handed it to him.

“I’ll be here,” Sebastian said as he plucked his iPad out of Mikey’s hand, earning an adorable pout before he grabbed his bag off the floor and headed for the door with Jonathan by his side, devouring another cupcake and-

“When are you going to do it?”

-forced him to bite back a sigh as he made his way around the house.

“Don’t start,” Sebastian said as they made their way down the long driveway.

“The dance is tomorrow night,” Jonathan pointed out as they made their way across the street.

“Drop it,” Sebastian said as they walked past their father’s truck, through the front door and sighed when he saw the empty kitchen. At his questioning look, Jonathan said, “I lied. We already ate,” shrugging it off as he finished off the last bite of cupcake.

“Of course you did,” Sebastian said with a heavy sigh as he made his way to the fridge and grabbed everything that he was going to need to make a sandwich.

“So, when are you going to do it?” Jonathan asked as he grabbed two Cokes from the fridge and placed one on the counter near Sebastian.

“Do what?” Sebastian asked as he quickly made a sandwich.

“Kiss her, ask her out, profess your undying love for her, something other than look at her longingly from across the room,” Jonathan said, shrugging it off as he reached over and helped himself to a slice of turkey.

“Drop it,” Sebastian said, adding more turkey on his sandwich before he slapped a slice of bread on top.

“I’m afraid that I can’t do that,” Jonathan said with a sad shake of his head and a forlorn sigh.

“You really can, though,” Sebastian said as he put everything back in the fridge and grabbed his sandwich and Coke before he made his way towards the living room, where their brother and sister were watching a movie.

“You need my help,” Jonathan said, shoving the slice of turkey in his mouth before grabbing a bag of chips and followed him.

“I need you to drop it,” Sebastian said, taking a bite out of his sandwich as he headed upstairs.

“That’s the last thing you need,” Jonathan said as he followed him to their room.

Knowing that his brother wouldn’t drop it, Sebastian dropped his bag on his bed, grabbed his iPad and shoved it in his sweatshirt pocket and headed for the window. In a matter of seconds, Sebastian was sitting on the roof, enjoying his sandwich as he picked up where he’d left off with the files that Mrs. Blaine sent him. He-

“Ask her to the dance tomorrow night.”

“I have homework,” Sebastian said as his gaze flickered back to find his brother sitting in the window, watching him curiously before he shifted his gaze down to the phone in his hand.

“And if Mikey wanted to go?” Jonathan murmured absently as he swiped his finger down his cell phone.

“She doesn’t,” Sebastian said, even as he couldn’t help but wonder when his brother was going to let this go.

“But if she did?” Jonathan asked right around the time that Sebastian decided to focus back on his sandwich.

“She doesn’t,” Sebastian said, swiping to the next page.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” he drawled, taking another bite and-

“Then, why did she just send me a text message telling me that she can’t come over tomorrow night because she has a date?”