18. Chapter 17
Scottie – Two Days Later
I slowly trace Bradley’s name on the side of my little finger on my left hand as I stare at the large house before me.
I hated this house, it always intimidated me and I dreaded coming home.
I swore I’d never return… there is lump in my throat that has formed choking me and the only reason why I haven’t run – Bradley is gripping my waist, stopping me.
Seven years, that is how long it has been since I’ve come home.
The day I found my sister screwing my high school sweetheart against the wall while I was oblivious and giddy about spending the evening with him.
This feels like a bad idea. I already tried to get out of it, tried to claim it wasn’t the right environment for Sammie.
I was shut down by Bradley who let me know Sammie wouldn’t be there. So, my one excuse was gone.
If I had the willpower, I would have kept my body from him as punishment, but the man is a walking, talking sex god.
“How you doing, baby?” Bradley asks when I make no move to go inside after standing in front of the property for five minutes, and I swallow thickly.
“I want to turn around and run away,” I admit quietly, and he tightens the grip that he has around my waist like I’m about to bolt.
Damn Dad and Bradley and their bright ideas.
“You can do this, Scottie,” he encourages, “We go in, we eat and let your mama grovel. If you feel at any moment in time that you need to leave, then I’ll stab myself at the dinner table.”
I look at him sharply and snap, “No hurting yourself anymore!” and he grins wide, making me want to smack him.
“Threatening it got you to stop worrying about walking inside that house, didn’t it?
” he chuckles, and I mutter, “Jackass,” as I grip his hand on my waist and pull him with me up the steps.
He laughs as he follows making my jaw tick but soon stops when I remind him, “I have a shift tomorrow, twenty-four hours…” And he growls, which has me grinning, before he grumbles something about hating my job and that I’m mean for reminding him.
Serves him right for laughing at me.
“Okay, I’ve got this,” I breathe before knocking on the door, and Bradley squeezes me even tighter just as the door opens and I lock eyes with my mama for the first time in years, and hers tear up.
“Scottie, sweetheart, what are you doing knocking? Come on in,” she rasps as she steps back and opens the door wider. I swallow the lump forming, and with the push of Bradley, we walk inside and I introduce, “Mama, this is Thunder.” I look at my boyfriend, “Bradley, this is my mama, Ellie.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Aimes,” he says politely, and sniffles, “Ellie, please, I insist, and it is lovely to meet the man who has won my little girl’s heart.”
I look down, not knowing how to take her words. Bradley squeezes my hip as a throat clears, and I look to my right to find my brother standing with his hands in his slacks. He looks at me with caution, his dark blue eyes assessing if he should approach.
The last time I saw him was when he showed up at my home and accused me of having an affair with my ex-boyfriend.
“Hey little sister,” he says softly, and I whisper, “Hey Lo…”
He smiles slightly and walks over, then shocks the shit out of me when he takes me from Bradley and embraces me.
My arm moves on autopilot, and I hug him back before he steps back and grips my shoulders, looking me over.
“What’s this I hear that you’re some big shot doctor?” he says with pride, and I clear my throat and reply, “I’m only in my second year of residency, not so big.”
“Surgical right?” he confirms and I nod and he grins, “Who knew you were the smart one of the family,” and my mouth parts in shock and he praises, “I heard that doctors want you all over, that your skills in the OR are something to shout from the rooftops. I know I don’t deserve to say it, but I am proud of you, Scottie. ”
Am I in a twilight zone?
Bradley comes up behind me like he can sense my confusion and wraps his arm around my waist, getting me out of my stupor and I murmur, “Thank you,” not knowing what else to say and Lorenzo smiles softly at me then speaks to Bradley, “You must be Thunder, Dad has mentioned a lot about you,” as he holds his hand up and Bradley shakes it and replies, “All good things I should hope.”
“Only that you are obsessed with my sister,” he says before we hear, “And it is the truth,” just as Dad walks over to us.
“She’s worth being obsessed over,” Bradley confesses, and Mama grins wide at me, and I know my cheeks have gone red.
“Why are we all in the foyer?” Dad asks as he wraps his arm around Mama’s waist, and Bradley throws me completely under the bus as he mentions, “It took five minutes for her to come inside.”
I scrunch my nose up, then elbow the ass in the gut, and he coughs out a laugh as I look back at him, and he grins wide while I mock glare at him.
“Come on, you two, the lamb chops are ready,” Dad laughs, and I look at him in shock.
“I was only ever allowed that on my birthday if Rachel okayed it,” I whisper, and Mama looks down as my brother flinches and Dad's smile vanishes as he clears his throat and says, “Well, you’re having it today.”
I swallow as Dad guides Mama into the living area and Bradley pushes me along as Lorenzo comes up behind us and I roll my eyes.
“Boxing me in, really?” I mutter, and I hear my brother snort.
Guess I’m predictable.
I notice my sister instantly near the head of the table as we walk into the dining area. Kavan is sitting next to her while Yasmin sits all dolled up next to him. I tense, causing Bradley to hold me tighter to him.
“This is about to be hell,” I mumble, and I hear Lorenzo chuckle behind us, which is just weird in itself.
He spent all my teen years acting as if I didn’t exist.
“Alright, we can now eat,” Dad says as he pulls out a chair and guides Mama into it.
“What is she doing here?” Rachel sneers, and Mama snaps, “Your sister is home for dinner, so shut up if you don’t have anything nice to say!”
Rachel gasps while my mouth parts in shock, and Bradley murmurs, “Remember, I’ll stab myself,” in my ear, and I act on reflex as I elbow him again, causing him to chuckle. Rachel's eyes fly his way, and I watch as they travel to my boyfriend's cut, and both her and Yasmin sit up straighter.
I narrow my eyes at them both. Never mind Bradley joking about hurting himself, if they don’t stop eyeing him, I’ll stab them!
As if feeling my anger, Bradley kisses my head and I calm slightly.
“Rachel, Yasmin, I’d like for you to meet your sister’s partner, Thunder,” Dad introduces as Bradley pushes me forward, “Kavan, you two have already met…”
Dad smiles as I slowly take a seat next to my mama, while Bradley takes a seat next to me, and my brother sits next to him, again shocking me that he is so far away from his wife.
I feel like I’m in a different universe, none of this makes sense, I was expecting to be treated like dirt.
“How uh, did you and my sister meet?” Lorenzo asks, breaking the tense silence and I look at the plate before me, my mind running in circles.
“I had a meeting with Dr. Thomas because I had nerve damage,” Bradley says, and Rachel jumps in, “Oh, so you ran into the cleaner?”
I roll my eyes because seriously?
Bradley growls and I slowly lift my head and lock eyes with Rachel’s. She smirks like she has one up on me, like everyone around this table doesn’t know what I actually do.
I think maybe it’s time I put her down a peg or two because this is getting boring now.
I mention, “I’m a surgical resident, Rachel, and you know this.
You saw me save a police officer while you were trying to drop Sammie off with me at the beginning of my twenty-four-hour shift,” I tilt my head as her cheeks redden, “I think maybe it’s time you stop lying about my profession.
Because right now, I’m the only one at this table that can help you if a knife ends up in your hand. ”
Bradley snorts but coughs to cover it as Rachel's mouth parts in shock, the insinuation clear as day.
“Is it true you did Thunder's surgery?” Mama asks instead of snapping at me, and I swear, tonight is not going how I thought it would.
I thought Rachel would say something, then I’d bite as I did and my mama would lose it, yet she’s- damn, is she proud of me?
“I did,” I say softly, “I was the only intern that was given the opportunity. Now, Bradley’s president, who is an ER physician, is fighting Dr. Thomas to have me on his team, which is an honor.”
Her eyes tear up, but they soon harden when Yasmin spits, “Why do you call him Bradley instead of Thunder?”
I look her way and raise an eyebrow at her clear jealousy.
Her face is red with anger as her eyes keep darting to my boyfriend which is pathetic considering her husband is right there and Dad answers, “Because he’s claimed her, and only old ladies can call a brother their given name, meaning you don’t. ”
“Claimed her?” Rachel scoffs, “I find that hard to believe.”
Bradley doesn’t reply to her, instead, he lifts his left hand and shows off his ring finger, and both my sister and Yasmin gasp while Lorenzo mentions, “Just so you know, Thunder, there are no takebacks. She’s your problem now, and goodness help you if you read her diary.”
I glare at my brother and remind him, “You didn’t just read my diary, Lo. You told the boy I had a crush on that I wrote love letters to him in it. I was the laughingstock of the school, and you didn’t even go to that school!”
Lorenzo grins wide, not one bit sorry, and I can’t help my instinct. I grab a green bean off my plate that Mama has just put on there and throw it at the idiot. He catches it in his mouth, and I huff while Dad laughs his ass off.
“I don’t know why you’re still upset over it, I mean, I know I stopped speaking to you, but you got your revenge,” he says, “Remember?”
I blink, then frown and murmur, “No, I didn’t, I didn’t speak to you for a month and when I finally got over the betrayal and embarrassment you shoved me when I tried to speak to you.”
“Scottie,” he chuckles tensely, his eyes holding confusion, “you smashed my guitar. It’s why I pulled away from you. I get I hurt you, but that guitar was the only thing I had that was mine…”
Wait what?
“Lorenzo,” I say firmly, “I didn’t smash your guitar. I put purple hair dye in your shampoo, or I thought it was yours, but it was actually Dad's, so I decided the silent treatment instead. I never touched your guitar, I knew how much it meant to you.”
“I knew it!” Dad snaps, and I give him a wince and say, “For what it's worth, the purple suited you.”
“Scottie,” Lorenzo says, ignoring Dad's scowl and Mama's giggles that she’s trying to hide, and I look his way, “My guitar was smashed on the bed, Rachel said–”
He cuts his own words off and looks at Rachel sharply, and I sigh, putting two and two together while Bradley snorts, “Fucking predictable…”
“Please tell me you didn’t ruin the one thing I loved all because you hated my relationship with our little sister?
” Lo snaps, and Rachel shuffles in her seat, and Mama’s giggles are completely gone as tension fills the room.
Lo scoffs, “So ensuring she was pushed out by our parents and having an affair with her high school sweetheart weren’t good enough?
You had to make sure she didn’t have me as well? Were you that jealous of her?”
Rachel scowls and denies, “I’m not jealous of her!” and I shake my head before Mama squeezes my hand and whispers, “Please eat,” and I look her way.
She smiles slightly, ignoring Rachel and her little tantrum and nods to my now full plate, and mentions, “I didn’t order it as I had done in the past, I made it from scratch.”
I swallow but nod, and I pick up my fork, and I do as she requested and eat.
Oh wow….
Lo snaps at Rachel, “You are fucking pathetic. I treated her like shit over that guitar and all because she what, huh? Didn’t bow down to your feet? Decided she didn’t want to live off our parents like you?”
I lean my body against Bradley, who instantly wraps his arm around my chair, his fingers going to my hair as he begins to eat. I notice Kavan glaring at us before my attention goes to Yasmin, whose eyes are on Bradley, and I narrow mine.
“Yasmin, unless you want your new nose to be broken, stop staring at my boyfriend!” I snap, gaining everyone’s attention.
I’ve never felt jealousy or possessiveness before, but I definitely feel it right now and it’s raging.
“You touch me, and I’ll sue you,” she sneers. “We both know you’re in debt. Medical school isn’t cheap, and your parents didn’t fund it because you’re a disappointment so it will bankrupt you.”
“Coming from a woman who is living off her in-laws?” I snarl back, and she narrows her eyes but tenses when Dad mentions, “Actually, Yasmin, I paid off a quarter of her loans after she’d already paid half, and Lorenzo paid the other quarter.”
I look at my big brother in shock, and he shrugs as he reminds me, “You worked your ass off, and I wanted to do something to show you how proud of you I am.”
“You did what?!” Yasmin screeches, but no one pays her any attention as my eyes tear up.
“Thank you, Lo,” I whisper, and he grins.
“Scottie, do you have a minute?” Mama asks as I put my fork on my plate and I look at her to see hope shining back to me.
Does she deserve my time? No, not really, she basically treated me like shit on her shoe all because Rachel had issues with sharing attention. But I’m also not a bitch, I have morals and I don’t want to see my mama cry.
Sighing, I nod before I turn to Bradley and give him a chaste kiss that he smiles at and he whispers, “Remember, knife,” and I narrow my eyes before I look at Dad and say, “Please be sure if he sees me struggling that he doesn’t hurt himself as a way to get us out of here,” and Dad chuckles while Bradley gives me another kiss and I smile as I stand and I threaten, “You do something stupid then I’ll throw Felix at you,” and he retorts, “You’ve got to catch the thing first.”
I grin as I follow Mama out of the dining room, barely hearing Rachel snap, “Why is she suddenly your main focus, and how in the hell did she catch a brother?” as Yasmin’s growls, “You paid for her schooling out of our money?!”
Well, I can see this evening is going to go swimmingly, and I’ll probably smack my sister or Yasmin before dessert. Or Bradley will shoot Kavan, who hasn’t taken his eyes off me…