All Chapters of Knocked Up By My Brother’s Best Friend: Chapter 11 - Chapter 18

LukeWe were inspecting gear, checking off what was in good condition and what needed repair or replacement at the station. I examined every collar and cuff, every boot. The slightest crack or peel in our gear could spell trouble in a fire. It was vitally important that we keep our personal safety equipment in top working order because our lives and the lives of others depended on it. When I finished my checklist, I gave it to the chief and went into the den where we watched TV. We had an old couch and some donated recliners to crash on in there. I sat down on the couch with Jake and Randy, who were arguing over which team was going all the way in the NBA this year.“Hey, Luke,” Jake said. “I hear you know the hot girl that’s working down at the lumberyard.”“I remember her growing up,” Randy piped in, “she looks a hell of a lot better now. I wouldn’t mind hosing her down when she got too hot.”“Guys, that’s Sarah Jo, Ryan’s little sister. Don’t be disgusting,” I said.“Come on, don’t

“Because I’m Ryan’s little sister,” I said tightly.“No, dammit. Because—”I felt a little breathless when our eyes met. I wanted him to say that I mattered to him more than just as Ryan’s sister. But then Ryan chose six o’clock to show up for a six o’clock dinner.“Hey there, little sister,” he said boisterously. I wondered if he’d been drinking already. His tone was jolly, his face flushed. Ryan was never jolly when he was sober. He wasn’t a drunk like our father always had been, but since I’d come back to town, I’d noticed he seemed to be drinking pretty regularly. “How about you bring me one of those cold ones?” he said, nodding to Luke’s beer can.Reflexively, I turned back to the house.“I hope she hasn’t been bugging you. Sarah Jo always was a little tag along,” Ryan said. He said it affectionately, like I was still his pesky little sister who was always digging in the dirt or following him up to the treehouse.I brought him his beer and hung around for a minute while Ryan stee

“Who did you run into?”“Whitney. With Winston Charles. They came out of the store carrying gas station coffee in Styrofoam cups, arm in arm like a white trash Tiffany’s ad. Can you believe that?” he said, shaking his head.“That had to be really hard, seeing her unexpectedly like that, running into her with him.”“She’s trash, Luke. I didn’t see it before. I thought she was different. But she’s just as ignorant and low class as everyone else in this shit town,” Ryan said. I didn’t respond. I didn’t comment that I, not to mention his blood relatives, lived in this shit town. That we didn’t deserve his contempt. I waited, reminded myself that he was hurting.“Life can be crazy,” I said.“Life? That bitch is crazy. She had me. I’m a fucking project manager at the bank now. I was already pulling six figures before the promotion. I got her a goddamn Birkin bag for her birthday. She had her nails done every week. Cleaning lady, keto meal service—what kind of woman gives that up for a dipsh

“No junk food. No booze. And walk around the house a couple of times while I’m gone. I mean it,” I said.“Maybe I can talk to your brother later, get him to come over and check your figures over.”I nearly groaned aloud. “I don’t need Ryan to check my math, Dad. I was giving you final approval as the owner. The numbers are right.”Back at the yard, I helped unload a delivery and inventoried it. I filled a couple of online orders to load in the morning for delivery and took another one by phone. The delivery business was really generating some orders, I thought proudly. Not that my father would ever acknowledge that without Ryan counting each board and nail first. I waited on a couple customers and called my friend Cat during a lull in business.“Hey,” I said, “how’s life in the city?”“Louder than home, but nobody’s up in my business all the time. How’s life back home? Does everybody down at the coffee shop know when you get your period yet?”“Probably,” I laughed, “but I better have