Chapter 21
CHAPTER 21
GUS
R obbie was a mess in a way that Gus hadn’t seen since college, when Robbie had first discovered the Long Island Iced Tea had zero tea in it.
Gus managed to wrangle him into a cab, and then back to his hotel room. After a brief wrestle for the door key, Gus got him inside, noting that the hotel room looked a mess.
“Jesus, Robbie, what happened here?”
Robbie cast a bleary look around the place.
“I don’t know, it just looks like this.”
Gus managed to get Robbie on the bed. There was something so familiar about this, cleaning up after Robbie had fucked everything up. Dropping his plans for the night just because Robbie needed help. And Gus resolved that this was going to be the last time. He couldn’t keep putting Robbie first. He was a grown man and could take care of himself, and Gus had to let him.
But since he was here, he’d try one last time.
“Robbie. What the hell are you doing?”
Robbie groaned. “Just leave if you’re going to be an ass.”
“I’m not being an ass, I’m genuinely asking. You were cheating on Brittany, so it’s not like you were invested in your relationship. You lost Diamond, a woman who seems incredibly nice and intelligent, and you lied to her face for months. And now you keep digging your own holes, tripping into them and falling. What’s the plan here, man?”
Robbie didn’t answer at first, and Gus briefly wondered if he had passed out. And then Robbie started talking.
“I knew you liked Brittany. When I first brought her home.”
Gus startled. “I never—”
“You didn’t have to. I saw it on your face. You practically lit up from the inside. And when I took her hand, I saw your face fall, like you had lost something important. It haunts me.”
Gus thought back to that moment, how struck he felt when he first looked at Brittany. Once he had learned she was with Robbie, he had immediately shut off that part of himself and never really thought about it again. But apparently Robbie had known the whole time.
“We didn’t do anything while you were together. You have to know that.”
“I do.”
“Then why are you being such a tool?”
Robbie mumbled something into his arm.
“You’re going to have to speak up, I can’t hear drunken ramblings.”
“It’s another failure,” Robbie said, a little too loud. “It’s yet another moment of proof that I have no substance. That I’m not worth sticking around for. That I can’t follow through on anything.”
Gus gaped at him. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Robbie rolled his eyes.
“I’ve heard it my whole life. From Mom. From teachers. And now, apparently, from women. ‘Why can’t you be more like Gus?’ ‘Your brother is such a solid man, why can’t you follow his example?’ Everyone that ever meets the two of us always, always prefers you.”
Gus didn’t know what to say. Since Robbie was born, Gus had stepped into the background, joining his mother in making sure that Robbie’s needs were met, that he was happy, that he was taken care of. Gus could recall times through school, through college, in adulthood that people had flat-out ignored him when Robbie was in the room. Gus had no idea Robbie felt this way.
“Robbie…”
“You’re always everyone’s first choice.”
“That has not been my experience. You are pretty universally beloved by everyone you meet. I’m always the afterthought.”
Robbie snorted, a move that somehow caused him to throw himself off balance, even though he was lying prone in the bed.
“I’m loud, Gus. People like loud people for a short amount of time. My problem is I can’t convince them to stick around for the long haul.”
“Have you tried giving them a reason to?”
Robbie threw him a glare. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“It means you’re self-sabotaging. You had a good thing with Brittany and you fucked it up.”
“Hey, I broke up with her before she found out.”
“How is that better?”
Gus was getting angry again. Robbie was a smart guy, which meant he was being purposefully obtuse when it came to how he treated women. And Gus couldn’t stand it. He had a hand in raising this man, and there was no way Robbie was going to turn out to be one of those assholes who treated women like garbage. Not anymore.
“You did this, Robbie. If you were serious about Brittany, she would’ve been able to tell. But you weren’t. She was an afterthought to you, and it was so obvious to everyone around you two that it was hard to watch. You fucked around, and you’re mad that you fucked around and you’re trying to blame it on other people. And now you’re here bitching because she’s moving on.”
“With my brother.”
“She was going to move on regardless. I’m just the lucky asshole she chose.”
Gus took a deep breath, trying to calm down the rant that he hadn’t realized had been building for years.
“You need to apologize. To her.”
Robbie groaned. “Apologies are always so lame. The internet rails you for them.”
“I’m not saying post an apology, numbnuts. I’m saying call her up, and apologize, preferably in person. You fucked up. It doesn’t have to be a public spectacle, it just has to be sincere.”
Robbie didn’t say anything, just laid in the bed with his arm over his eyes, and for all Gus knew he had finally passed out. In the past, he would set Robbie up with painkillers, water, and have breakfast the next morning. But suddenly, the absolute last thing Gus wanted to do was take care of his brother.
He wanted Brittany. Wanted to make sure she was okay after the scene Robbie had caused, make sure she wasn’t having second thoughts about them. He knew she was sensitive to causing tension between him and Robbie, and he loved her for that, but Robbie wasn’t going to change anytime soon, and Gus was done waiting for him to get on board.
It was time to get Brittany and make sure she knew she was important.
Gus let himself out of Robbie’s hotel room, a million thoughts flying through his head. He got in his SUV and drove the short distance to his condo. When he arrived, Gus was jittery with nerves and anticipation. The party had been a big deal, an even bigger deal than either he or Brittany originally thought. And Robbie had ruined it, in a huge scene involving Brittany and Gus. Gus wasn’t sure where that put him and Brittany.
With a deep breath, he let himself into his condo… and froze. Snacks were out in full force, potato chips mixing with popcorn and soda in a rivalry for the decades. There was a lump of blankets in the middle of the floor in his living room that was surrounded by a laptop, a tablet, and printed-out paper scattered a little haphazardly.
“Brittany?” he called out, cautious. At the sound of his voice, the lump stirred, revealing that it had been Brittany cocooning herself underneath what appeared to be every single blanket he owned. Her head popped out from the mound, the look on her face excited.
“Gus! Guess what?”
He glanced at the kitchen.
“You made a pot of coffee late at night and are now too caffeinated to go to sleep?”
“Yes, but only technically.”
She struggled through the blankets to stand as Gus made his way toward her, talking the whole time.
“I got home from the party and was going to work on my designs for Champagne, but instead I started drawing underwear, and look.”
She got to him with her tablet, two blankets draped over her like shawls. When she approached him, she lifted her arms, and on instinct Gus grabbed her, scooping her up so her legs wrapped around his middle, his hands holding her under her ass. Her arms wound around his neck, and he felt her soft hair against his cheek as she buried her face in his neck.
“Hi,” she said into his skin, and for the first time in hours, Gus felt himself relax.
“Hi.”
“You okay?”
“Robbie’s rough, but he’ll sleep it off in his hotel room and hopefully wake up a better man who knows how to apologize.”
Brittany lifted her head to look him in the eye, her hand at his neck sliding into his hair.
“Gus, I asked if you were okay.”
He shook his head at himself, old habits dying hard.
“Yeah. I’m okay. Getting better every second, actually.”
She grinned at that and then pulled her tablet around to show him. On screen was a drawing of something filmy but daring.
“You’ve been sketching lingerie?”
“I’ve been drawing a dozen of them.”
She used her finger to scroll through on the tablet, showing him sketch after sketch, all loose but with enough details mapped out to show exactly how special each one was.
“Holy shit, killer, how long was I gone?”
“Too long, but I’m too excited to be mad. My followers are always talking about trying to find underwear and lingerie that works for their outfits, but still makes them feel sexy. I think they would seriously love these. What do you think?”
She was breathless when she asked, speaking in one long sentence, and Gus’s chest tightened with how alive she was, how passionate and open in a way that he hadn’t really experienced with her yet. She was sharing something she loved with him, and the privilege of the moment threatened to overwhelm Gus.
“I think Champagne is gonna flip.”
She bounced up and down on him in excitement, and he felt an answering pull in his cock from the movement. He angled his hands to have a better grip on her, letting go of some of the blankets to better hold her, only to have his hands slide against smooth, warm skin.
Gus froze.
“Brittany,” he said carefully. “Are you not wearing any pants?”
Her grin grew wider.
“I’m wearing what I sleep in. I was getting ready for bed when I thought I’d do some work.”
“And just to be clear, what do you sleep in?”
Instead of answering, she let the last blanket drop, revealing that she was in the tiniest silk shorts known to man and a tank top so sheer, he could see the valley between her breasts and the hint of her rosy nipples.
Gus forgot how to breathe.
“Should I change?” Her voice was throaty, innocent in a teasing way. Gus gripped her tighter.
“You need to give me a minute, all the blood just rushed out of my head.”
With a wicked grin, she leveraged her hand on his shoulder and rocked herself into him, dragging her core against his rapidly growing erection. It was a lot, too much, and Gus gripped her to make her freeze. She tugged his hair in warning.
“Gus, I swear to god, if you’re about to tell me that Robbie is in too fragile of a state—”
Gus turned and set her on the kitchen counter, placing his hands on the counter on either side of her lush thighs.
“Let’s go ahead and not mention my brother for several hours.”
She leaned back, resting on her hands behind her.
“Hours, huh?”
“Days. Weeks.” His eyes raked down her body, and he noted how she arched her back a bit, enjoying his eyes on her, pushing her breasts up for him to admire.
“This is what you’ve been wearing when you sleep in my bed? In my sheets? On my pillow?”
“Maybe less.”
She bit her lip, a move so sexy that Gus both wanted to watch and also got jealous of her teeth.
His eyes landed on the small silk shorts currently covering her pussy.
“Tell me you’re wet for me.”