Zane held his fist out, and I bumped it with mine, shaking my head in amusement. We chatted idly until we reached the parking lot of the ice cream parlor, finding it packed. I groaned and pulled into a parent-and-child space, figuring Zane was still a kid. If he wasn’t, I was.
Fuck it.
I locked the car as we made our way inside, the chatter and laughter of ice cream deviants greeting us.
“Grab what you want, and let’s go,” I ordered. Zane nodded, staring at the rows of delicious-looking ice cream. They had every color and every damn flavor you could imagine, but he had been here enough times to know what he wanted.
“Hey, Zane,” a girly voice chirped.
Zane turned around, his green eyes clocking a cute brunette around his age waving at him from a booth. He nodded and turned back with disinterest as he looked at me.
“Mint chocolate chip with cookie dough, please,” he added hastily. I gazed at him in awe.
“Dude...that girl wassointo you,” I whispered, nodding in the girl’s direction. He shrugged and glanced back.
“Not interested.”
“No? Do you like blondes? Redheads?” I teased as he sighed.
“I don’t likeanyone.”
I’d seen photos of my dad when he was younger, and Zane was a better-looking version. I lookedexactlylike Dad and given that he was a great-looking guy, getting girls wasn’t an issue for me. It wouldn’t be for Zane either.
“What’s going on with Alice?” I changed the subject. Zane’s green gaze met mine head-on.
He frowned. “She’s just into William.”
“Zane, listen. She’s too young for that shit. You are her brother; you gotta stand up for her and make sure that she’s okay. Tell boys like William to fuck off.”
He blinked as he considered my words. “I can’t.”
“Then I will.” I shrugged, ruffling his hair.
“I know but, I can’t upset her. Like you upset Summer. I can’t stand to see her upset.” Zane confessed, shrugging awkwardly.
Another sensitive sausage.
“Dude, I don’t upset Summer on purpose. I look out for her. She gets angry, but it’s for the best. Girls like our sisters arespecial. Guys wanna get in their pants.”
He looked at me in horror, and the color drained from his face.
“Well, when they are Summer’s age, anyway,” I corrected myself. He nodded in relief.
Finally, it was our turn to order, and I paid up while he loitered about putting sprinkles and shit on his ice cream. He dove into it as I drove us home, a comfortable silence between us.
“What’s this?” Zane said through a mouthful of icy goodness. He held up Summer’s phone from the floor of the car.
I sighed as he got out, and I told him to go in while I took it round to Jade’s. He ran into the house, and I reversed off the drive as Summers’ phone rang.
JETT
“Yeah?” I answered as I pulled in next to the curb.
“Who’s this?” demanded a deep voice as I scrunched up my face in disbelief.
“You ring this phone and ask whoIam?”
“Are you deaf? I asked you a fucking question.”
