“Before we know it, there could be a little Wally Jr. running around,” Wally said proudly.
“That is the fear,” Grant nodded.
David took Grant by the shoulders, pointed him in the opposite direction and gave him a little shove. “Let’s keep walking,” he grumbled. Then David draped his arms across Grant’s shoulders. “And there is no since wasting this quality time we’ve been given.”
“What?” Grant rolled his eyes. “I am not in the mood for bonding. Unless you brought Smores, in which case I might be game for building a fire and calling it a night.”
“No,” David laughed, “I am fresh out of marshmallows, Bro, but while I have you out here, I’ve got to ask…”
“You don’t have to ask anything,” Grant chuckled.
“No, I do,” David insisted, pulling his brother into a loving headlock as they walked on. “It is clearly stated in the big brother handbook…Chapter One, Section A… that when little brother shows up to Thanksgiving dinner with a cute, little, curly-headed brunette, he must be properly interrogated.”
“Ask me anything,” Grant said confidently.
“Is it serious?” David asked, letting go of his brother.
“We are seriously friends…yes,” Grant nodded.
“Bull,” David laughed.
“You’re entitled to your opinion,” Grant shrugged.
“I’m just not entitled to the truth?” David fired back.
Wally, who had fallen a few steps behind, hurried to catch up with the guys. “Grant…have you…you know?” he blurted.
Grant spun around quickly. “You are just begging for a black eye today, Pal,” he laughed.
“I can’t believe I’m about to say this,” David cleared his throat as he grabbed his brother and turned him back on his way, “but Wally asks a good question.”
“Give me that compass,” Grant insisted.
“Listen,” David said seriously, “as your much older and wiser brother it is my job to tell you that if the answer to that question is yes…you need to…”
Grant laughed. “If this is a safe sex lecture, perhaps you should direct it toward Tommy Lee back there. His girlfriend’s pregnant, not mine.”
“You just said girlfriend,” David pointed.
“It’s not like that with Hailey and me,” Grant insisted. “We’re friends. She’s not like any of the other girls I’ve ever been with.”
“Different as in you’re not sleeping with her?” David replied bluntly.
“Different as in I haven’t really thought about it,” Grant shrugged.
“Again I’ll say…bull,” David scoffed.
“Have I thought about it?” Grant rolled his eyes. “Well, duh! But there’s just a lot more to it than that.”
“Different as in you’re falling in love with this girl,” David nodded.
“I’m not having this conversation with you,” Grant insisted.
“Have you told her you love her?” David asked.
“What? Like trying to get lucky?” Grant rolled his eyes.
“It amazes me where your mind went based on what was a very sincere question,” David said, genuinely bothered.
“It was a stupid question,” Grant protested. “I can’t tell her I love her! Why would I do something like that?”
“And I ask the stupid questions?” David shrugged.
“It’s different with Hailey,” Grant insisted. “It’s hard to describe…”
“Well, yeah, you know her name; that is generally a good place to start,” David said casually.
Grant exhaled, irritated. “Listen, you ever talk like this in front of Hailey, and I will make you regret the day you…”
“Bro,” David shook his head. “I am just asking you, right here, right now. Does she know about your affinity for older women?”
“No, of course not!” Grant exclaimed. “Besides, let’s not take a one time incident and turn it into some sort of trend.”
David scratched his head. “The Russian girl and the one who Jo caught in her apartment wearing nothing but your t- shirt makes two…”
“Surely you made a mistake or two along the way before you settled down, huh?” Grant countered.
“There was nobody before Melissa, and there certainly hasn’t been anyone since Melissa,” David said definitively.
