Nobody Else’s

Chapter 1: Beckett “Hi, Becks. What’s so funny?” I looked up from my phone and was met by my best friend’s smiling face. “Matt. You’re late.” I gave him a mock frown to remind him about my opinion on people not being on time, but my smile lingered and negated my actions. “I know. Sorry. But I had to rescue him—” Matt pointed his thumb over his shoulder, “from the Hell Sisters, and it took a while.” I glanced over his shoulder to see who he was referring to just as the ‘he’ in question scowled and lightly punched Matt’s upper arm. “Sorry, bro.” Matt threw himself down on the chair across from me. To me, he said, “I’m not allowed to call them Hell Sisters even though they’d make Lucifer seem well behaved.” Matt’s company joined us at the table and I swallowed. Hard. Levi Byrne. Matt’s little brother. Or one of them at least; the Byrne family consisted of eleven kids, Matt being the eldest. And Levi…Levi was three years younger than us and the spitting image of Matt. Except that Levi was cute. Heartstoppingly cute. His nose was maybe a little too long for his face and his hairline showed signs of receding at the tender age of twenty-three. But none of that mattered. When I looked into his eyes, every blemish disappeared and all I could see was kindness. He had the gentlest eyes I’d ever seen, in a deep caramel brown as if made from dark muscovado sugar. Sometimes I thought I could detect a twinkle of mischief in them, but it could be my imagination. Levi was the quiet sibling. When all the other Byrne-kids spoke louder to make themselves heard in a sea of voices, Levi did the complete opposite. He grew silent. I’d had a crush on him for years, but he was Matt’s little brother, and besides…what would he see in someone like me? I pulled in my stomach and sat a little straighter. Not that it helped. My belly couldn’t be hidden. “Becks! Where’d you go?” “Huh?” I blinked and turned my attention to Matt. “Sorry.” “Whatever. You gonna tell me what was so funny just now?” We were interrupted by the waitress before I had time to answer. For a second, I considered ordering something healthy, like one of those fancy avocado sourdough sandwiches that were so popular. But Matt would have a million questions if I did, and I’d always been a terrible liar and would never be able to fool him. So, I ordered my usual: a stack of pancakes with half a pig’s worth of bacon on the side, and their biggest mug of hot chocolate to top it off. After taking our orders, the waitress brought our drinks and Matt asked again what I’d been laughing about when they arrived. “What’s your sign?” I asked. Matt downed a big gulp of coffee, yelped, and started fanning his mouth. Levi smiled at me and shook his head. Matt never learned. “Your birthday is in July. You’re…what? Cancer?” I asked when he’d calmed down. “Oh! I guess.” I woke up the screen on my phone, cleared my throat, and read out loud. “Until the end of the year, Jupiter continues to bring fullness to your life in the areas of creativity and romance, and this influence is extra strong tonight. So maybe take what your boyfriend offers this evening and leave the extra-large dildo in the drawer for once. You’ll be stuffed enough tonight without it.” Matt’s eyes grew wider and wider as I read until I feared they would pop out of his head. When I finished, he stared at me as if I had emerged from the depths of Hell. “Dude! What the eff?” he choked out. I glanced at Levi. His face flamed bright red and he bit his lip, looking everywhere except at me or Matt. “What the heck are you reading?” Matt rubbed his ears as if he was trying to erase what he just heard. I held up my phone and showed him. QX—your guide to all things l***q+ Matt squinted and turned to Levi. “You programmed that site, didn’t you?” Levi nodded. He was a computer wizard and had started programming almost before he could read and write. He’d designed his first webpage professionally his freshman year in high school and if his parents hadn’t been adamant he had to graduate, he would have dropped out and started his business before his junior year. “Why are you reading…that?” Matt hissed out the last word. The waitress took this moment to arrive with our food. As she placed pancakes and bacon in front of all of us, I stared at him with eyebrows knitted together. “What do you mean?” “It’s a site for gay people.” I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest. “It’s for everyone within the l***q+ spectrum,” I said, unable to keep an annoyed edge from my voice. “Yeah, yeah.” Matt stuffed his face full of pancakes. “But you’re not…that.” That? I rolled my eyes. Matt could be such an i***t sometimes. “No, but I am bi.” “But I thought…” He shoved a piece of bacon into his mouth, luckily stopping himself from saying anything even more stupid. “You thought that since my last partner was a girl, I’m straight. Is that about it?” I was so f*****g tired of this topic. If it wasn’t Matt, it was someone else. Like my parents. “Yeah,” Matt muttered with his gaze downcast. His reply earned him a sharp elbow in the side from Levi. “Hey, don’t you start, too,” he said to his brother. “Get off your brother’s case, Matt. Don’t be an ass.” He looked at me as if to say ‘what’? “We’ve had this conversation a million times. Don’t be a bigot. Your own brother is gay, for f**k’s sake. What did your mom do when she found out?” “Switched churches.” Matt’s reply was barely audible. “That’s right. Your very religious parents accepted Levi’s identity and moved heaven and earth to make him comfortable. But you…” I threw my hands up in the air. “Stop. Just stop, okay?” Matt rubbed his ears again. “Yes, okay. Sorry.” He nudged his shoulder against his brother’s. Levi nudged back and then gave me a wide, grateful smile, making the tip of his nose turn down slightly. Swoon. “The question stands though.” Matt had clearly moved on from the uncomfortable discussion. “Why do you read horoscopes? You don’t believe in them.” “I don’t. But didn’t you hear what I just read? It was hilarious!” My hot chocolate had cooled down enough to drink and I took several gulps. “Someone is apparently sending these horoscopes anonymously to the site, but everyone loves them. I log on every day just to read them.” I took another sip and when I put down my cup, Levi smirked at me and tapped his nose with a finger and flitted his eyes between my face and my paper napkin. I grabbed it and pressed it against my nose. “Thanks,” I mumbled. He shrugged his shoulders and went back to eating. Matt shoveled in his food as if he hadn’t eaten since last time we met for brunch and talked in detail of what had happened since we’d last seen each other. He could spend hours complaining about his job if I let him. Normally I would cut him off and beg him to change the subject after fifteen minutes or so, but not this time. Instead, I took advantage of his non-stop chatter and snuck glances at Levi. His short hair was a deep chocolate brown and messy looking as though he constantly ran his fingers through it. Dark stubble covered his face and surrounded his lips that were the same color as his skin. I couldn’t take my gaze off him as he ate at a slow pace as if he was savoring every bite. And maybe he was. He still lived at home with his parents and helped with his eight younger siblings a lot. Between running a successful business and taking care of five-year-old twins, maybe he didn’t get to eat in peace all that often. He’d always intrigued me, from the first time Matt invited me to visit his family our freshman year in college. Levi had been fifteen at the time and so smart he put all his family—and me—to shame. As he grew older, I started to notice other things. How he never ever complained when one of his younger siblings climbed him like a tree. How he always was polite and helped his parents out. And like how he grew into his long, puppy-like limbs and turned sleek and attractive and moved with unexpected grace. I forced myself to look away. No use perving on him. First, he would probably never look at me that way. And second…well, he was Matt’s brother. It was highly likely Matt would have strong opinions about me hooking up with his little brother. Matt’s never-ending monologue was interrupted by his phone. He reached into his back pocket and fished it out and his entire demeanor changed when he saw who was calling. Ah. Liza. The current girlfriend. “Hi, honey.” He stood and stepped away from the table. The waitress came back and asked if we wanted anything else, and Levi asked for more coffee. Matt returned just a couple minutes later. “Levi. Drink up. We have to go.” “Why? Levi looked up at Matt, who dug in his front pocket, pulled out a couple crumpled up bills, and handed them to me. “Liza needs my help. She said it’s urgent.” “But she knows Saturday is the day you hang out with Beckett. Or has she forgotten you have a best friend?” Levi’s voice was defiant, and he leaned back in the chair as if settling down instead of getting ready to go. “Yes. But like I said: urgent. Finish,” Matt gestured for Levi’s coffee, “so I can drive you home.” Levi pressed his lips together and looked at me. Then he let out a deep sigh and slumped in his chair. “Okay,” he muttered. “Sorry, Becks,” Matt said with a sheepish look on his face. “It’s okay.” I wasn’t surprised; Liza wasn’t my biggest fan. I was more interested in this rare exchange between the brothers. My gaze flitted from Levi to Matt and back. Levi curled and uncurled his fist on the table. Matt shifted his weight from foot to foot. He threw an impatient glance at Levi, eager to get going but trying to be patient. “If you want to stay for a while, I can drive you home later,” I blurted, not knowing if I wanted him to accept or not. I’d love to spend some time alone with Levi, while at the same time I was scared to death. What if I made a fool of myself? But as soon as the words were out of my mouth, Levi straightened his back and broke out into a smile. “If it’s okay with you?” “You don’t have to do that, dude,” Matt said. “It’s so far out of your way it’s not even funny. I’ll drive him.” “I want to stay.” Levi looked at Matt with his mouth set in a stubborn line and his chin raised. My eyes widened, and I grabbed my mug and hid behind it. I’d never seen this side of him before, and defiant Levi was…hot. I gulped down a huge amount of chocolate, far too much, and it felt like I’d swallowed a golf ball. Matt caved, of course. “Whatever. If you’re sure?” he asked me. I nodded. “I’m sure.” He narrowed his eyes. “Okay. TTYL,” he said and left. We sat for a few moments in silence after he’d stormed out then we both started laughing.