Chapter 6
Gabrielle
I tiptoed into the kitchen, remembering to stay very quiet considering Jackson’s inebriated state last night.
I’d be very surprised if he didn’t wake up with a huge headache.
He must have had a blast though. Lena and I had stayed up doing a little drinking ourselves, sharing some memories and just being girls, talking about the wedding and decorations.
It was fun, and reminded me of the times we’d spent before she’d met Troy.
We were both still up when Brodie and Jackson had come home.
Brodie and Lena’d had to carry Jackson to bed, which from everything Lena had told me about her fiancé took me completely by surprise.
I had thought he’d stay somewhat sober, but then again, he had Brodie and Doc to influence him.
Lena held him up with her shoulder under one of his arms, and Brodie under the other.
I trailed behind just for moral support, listening to Jackson slur about how much he loved Lena and swearing that he hadn’t done anything bad at the party.
Lena gave Brodie a questioning look as she giggled.
I had to admit, I was surprised to see Brodie helping his very drunk brother to bed.
The weirdest part of that middle-of-the-night encounter—Brodie had seemed perfectly sober, and I certainly hadn’t expected him to come home alone without a girl hanging from his arm.
From what Lena had told me, I thought for sure he’d leave after helping Jackson to bed.
I think Lena was just as shocked as I was when he said goodnight, went into his room and shut the door.
I’d thought maybe he would come out a little while later and leave, but I didn’t hear his door open at all.
Not that I was listening. Well, maybe a little.
As much as I didn’t like the way Brodie had treated me the last time I was here, there was still a part of me that wished he’d have tried to get to know me, even after I’d turned him down.
I might have liked him if he’d taken his time and showed me some respect.
Maybe learned a bit about me before groping my breasts.
It wasn’t even a seduction. He’d acted more like a Neanderthal taking whatever woman he wanted, any time he wanted.
Instead of trying again, he’d done the complete opposite and hadn’t spoken another word to me the entire time I was here.
I suppose the slap was a bit harsh, but at the time, I’d thought he deserved it.
I didn’t know him, and he didn’t know me.
For him to just assume I wanted to have sex with him had really ticked me off.
I guess I deserved the cold shoulder I got from him now.
Maybe he thought I wasn’t worth the trouble if sex was all he wanted.
Once I got to bed, it didn’t take long for me to fall asleep. By all rights, I should have been asleep by nine, considering that I hadn’t slept at all the night before. How I’d made it until three in the morning was baffling.
I’d never been able to sleep once the sun hit my eyes, and this morning was no exception.
Not knowing the sun would be blasting in so early, I hadn’t thought to close the blinds last night.
I peeked at the time on my phone to find it already ten-fifteen, not all that early.
I turned over and tried pulling the pillow over my head, but it was too hot so I got up.
As I came into the kitchen, my stomach flipped at the sight of Brodie sitting at the large island in the center of the room, his very fine bare chest looming out in the open, showing off some very interesting tattoos on his chest and shoulder.
One of the ones on his chest was a golden guitar, caressed by a bunch of red roses with music notes around it.
It was beautiful but not as beautiful as the dragon etched in multiple shades of turquoise, red, and blue on the other side.
There was another tattoo on his chest, a saying that I couldn’t make out because it was in a different language, but the one on his shoulder was a G clef with the words “Music is what feelings sound like” scrolled in a circle around it.
His dark hair was damp, and he’d brushed it straight back, tucking the sides behind his ears.
The wetness took away the auburn hue his hair usually had.
He must have just gotten out of the shower.
He sat hunched over a bowl of something that looked like mostly strawberries, but I realized, as I noticed the box of granola on the counter, that there must be some cereal and milk somewhere under all that delicious looking red.
He glanced up at me, coffee cup halfway to his lips. He sort of smiled, I think.
“Good morning,” I managed, not sure if he would even return the greeting.
“Morning,” he said and sipped his coffee.
I stepped over to the granite counter and pulled a mug down from the cupboard.
This kitchen had everything. A matching center island took up the middle, complete with a little vegetable sink and storage cupboards under it.
It was big enough for four people to sit at comfortably while still leaving room for someone to do some food prep.
Pouring coffee into the cup, I decided I’d try to have a civilized conversation with Brodie. “Is Jackson going to be okay?”
“Sure, I imagine it might take him the entire day.” He laughed and spooned a strawberry into his mouth. He chewed it and swallowed, then added, “But he’ll recover. He doesn’t usually drink that much, so his system wasn’t ready for the type of abuse he gave it last night.”
“Why do guys do that?”
“Party?”
“Not just party, but party like it’s the last time they’ll ever get to. Just because he’s getting married doesn’t mean he can’t still hang with his friends.”
He stared at me for a few seconds, then said, “I guess, not all women think like that.”
“Well, he wants to marry Lena, right?”
“Yeah, I’m positive.”
“Then why did he need to get so drunk?”
He shrugged. “Tradition, I guess.”
“Well, it’s a stupid one if you ask me.”
Lena came walking in just then. “Hey, you two. I’m going to need some help today. We don’t have tables ordered yet, and Jackson and I were supposed to go pick out what we wanted for the table decorations later, but he’s in no shape to go anywhere. What did you do to him last night, Brodie?”
“Me? I didn’t force-feed him those drinks. He was doing fine until everyone started buying him shots. Knowing Jackson, he probably drank them so he wouldn’t hurt anyone’s feelings by not accepting their offer.”
“Yeah, that sounds like him.”
“It was too late by the time I even realized he was smashed. He stopped drinking though, after the ah … well, never mind, that’s privileged information.”
Lena rolled her eyes. “I don’t want to know anyway. I have complete trust in Jackson.”
Brodie laughed. “You don’t have anything to worry about, little sis.”
“I think I like that.”
“What? The nothing to worry about or the little sis?” he asked.
“Both.” She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
Brodie glanced at me briefly before averting his eyes back to his bowl of strawberries.
“Anyway, since Jackson needs to sleep it off, can you take Gabby into town to look at table decorations for me?”
“Wouldn’t it be better if I go order the tables?” Brodie asked. “I don’t know anything about decorations.”
“Gabby knows what I like, and you know what Jackson likes, so I’m sure whatever you two pick out will be awesome.
I’d go, but I need to meet with the photographer, which is right next door to the place where we are renting the tables, so it makes sense for me to go for them.
Oh, and Gabby, I’ll need you to go with me tomorrow when I pick up my dress.
Your dress is supposed to be in and ready for you to try on. ”
“I can do that,” I said and looked at Brodie, wondering if he was going to brood about having to take me across town today, or if he would be civilized and maybe try to hold a conversation with me.
It would be nice if we could get along and try to get to know each other better, considering we’d be forced to spend so much time together over the next couple of weeks.
“Brodie?” Lena prompted him for an answer and he raised his eyes from his cereal bowl.
As his eyes met mine, he shrugged. “Yeah, whatever.”
Great. This was going to be such a fun day. Not. I took my coffee and headed to the room I’d slept in to shower and change for my unexpected, possibly even torturous excursion with Brodie.