Sorry Buddy mumbled happily He always happy to see his brother Ryan was five years older and five times cooler than he'd ever be Buddy glanced into his brother's room which was crammed with a drum kit and several guitars There was a motorcycle jacket thrown on the floor and a pair of boots that were about twice the size of Buddy's own sneakers Everything about his brother was cool As far as Buddy was concerned Ryan was a rock star And he wanted to be just like him Ryan grabbed him and pulled him in for a hug Want to throw the ball after breakfast he asked Yeah Definitely He knew he was lucky to have such a great brother His friend Jimmy had an older brother who rarely said a word to him unless it was Get out of the way or Stop bothering me And his
friend Stephanie's older sister was no better Jimmy and Steph thought Ryan was cool too Buddy grabbed plates for himself Ryan and his mom and set the table On weekends when his mom was home she liked to make big breakfasts of bacon and eggs Or pancakes Today it was waffles with fruit salad you could scoop onto the waffle Buddy didn't He liked his waffles drowning in syrup What do you have planned today his mom asked sitting down and sipping her tea We're going to play some catch Buddy said Right Ry Yep Right after I've loaded up on waffles I love how close you two are his mom said smiling Yeah yeah We secretly can't stand each other Mom We just keep it well hidden Right Ryan winked at Buddy
Buddy laughed Definitely I can't stand him He stood up to clear his plate and ducked as Ryan fake punched him playfully on the arm You stay there and finish your tea he told his mom We'll clean up How did I get so lucky I have the best boys in the world Buddy smiled too Because he thought he had the best family too It had just been him Ryan and his mom for as long as he could remember and Ryan was more of a dad to him than his own father had been Buddy put on his baseball cap the one Ryan had worn when he'd pitched a no hitter the previous season and picked up his glove from the kitchen counter Are you ready he asked Ryan Ready as I'll ever be Buddy His brother put an arm around him and pulled him outside
Chapter Two The ball flew through the air and landed in Buddy's glove with a satisfying WHAP He pulled it out and threw it back to his brother He loved it when they played catch He might not be good at sports but catch was easy Good throw Ryan called out from the other end of the yard Hey did you hear about Tommy Bracco
