The Summer Proposal by Vi Keeland

They both looked at me like I was nuts.

Out on the porch, I saw my brother walking up the path.

“Hey, there he is. It’s about damn time.” I thumbed over my shoulder. “We almost died from boredom waiting around in there.”

Austin smiled and shook his head. He looked to Teagan and extended his hand. “I’m this bonehead’s brother, Austin.”

“Teagan. Nice to meet you.” She tilted her head. “Have we met before?”

My brother shrugged. “Not that I know of.”

“Probably just saw you around campus. I’ve been living here for so long, everyone is starting to look familiar.” She glanced between the two of us. “You guys don’t look alike.”

I bounced on my heels with a grin. “Such a shame…for him.”

Austin chuckled. “He might’ve gotten the looks, but I got the brains. Someday he’ll be bald and fat, and I’ll still be smart. You sure you don’t want to go out with me instead?”

Teagan laughed. “Well, you do share the same wit.”

“Are you guys heading out already?” Austin asked.

“Yeah. No offense, but this party sucks. You want to come with us? We’re going over to the hockey team party.”

Austin shook his head. “No thanks. They’re a little much for me off the ice. Besides, my back’s been killing me all day. I’m just going to sit around and have a couple of beers and call it a night.”

“Again with the backache? What could possibly make it hurt? There isn’t even any checking in your sport.”

Austin looked at Teagan, shaking his head. “I run track. This mo-mo thinks you can’t get injured unless you play a contact sport.”

“You know, if they’d let people try to tackle the runners as they ran, it would be a much better time.”

Austin chuckled. “You two have fun.”

I slapped my brother on the shoulder. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Yeah, there would have to be something you wouldn’t do for that to be advice.”

I grabbed Teagan’s hand. “Ready?”

“Sure.” She turned to my brother. “Bye, Austin. It was nice meeting you.”

“You, too.”

As we walked away, Teagan turned to look back again.

“Did you forget something?”

“No. I just…I feel like I know your brother from somewhere, but I can’t place it.”

“As long as you didn’t go out with him before me. Because that would just be weird.”

She smiled. “I think I’d remember if I went out with a guy.”

“I don’t know. They say memory is one of the first things to go. You are pretty old.”

She bumped her shoulder to mine as we walked. “God, you’re lucky you’re cute, because you can be sort of obnoxious.”

I grinned. “Oh yeah, you think I’m cute?”

Her eyes dropped to my lips, and she sighed. “Yeah, I guess that makes two of us who know you’re cute.”



• • •



“I can’t find my earring. Have you seen it?”

I rolled over on my back and threw my arm over my eyes to block the sun. “I didn’t even notice you had ears.”

A pillow whacked me in the abs. “Jerk.” Teagan pouted. “You didn’t know I had ears? Do you remember my name?”

I squinted one eye open. “Brandy, right?”

She pretended to be pissed but couldn’t hide her smile. “I’m serious about my earring. My grandmother gave them to me. She died last year.”

“Okay, sorry.” I rubbed sleep from my eyes and crawled out of bed, wearing only my boxer briefs. “Where did you look so far?”

“Only in the bathroom. I just noticed it missing. It’s got to be in the bed somewhere.”

I grinned, remembering us stumbling back to my room last night after the party. “Or near that door. Or over there on that chair.”

She whacked me with the pillow again, this time not hiding her smile. “Just look for it.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

While she searched the floor, I shook out the pillows and blankets, moved the mattress to see if it had fallen behind, and rustled my clothes from last night to see if anything fell out. But we both came up empty.

“Damn it. Maybe I lost it at the party last night. Do you think they cleaned up yet?”

I looked at her. “There’s still six weeks left in the semester.”

She laughed as she zipped up her leather boots. “Alright. I have to run because I have a shift at the hospital today. Will anyone be up if I stop over on my way to see if it fell out there?”

I grabbed a box of Cheerios and dug inside for a handful, shoving them into my mouth dry. “There isn’t even a lock on the door. Just let yourself in if no one answers.”

“Okay.”

She pushed up on her toes and kissed me while I chewed. “I had fun last night.”

“Me too.”

“You want to hang out next weekend?”

“Can’t,” I said. “Games Friday and Saturday night and then Sunday I’m heading down to New York to go ice skating with a bunch of the guys from the team.”