Chapter Sixteen
Bray
THE LAST WEEK has been fucking perfect. I’ve had Reilly at my house, no more sneaking around, no more staying at Zac’s place.
Alyssa is doing great; somehow Zac convinced her to quit her job and help him out at the club instead.
Although from what I’ve heard from Reilly, Zac’s not letting her actually do much at all, which is driving Lyssa insane.
Reilly’s come a long way in accepting our relationship as something that is set in stone and here to stick. Her walls are completely down, finally. I thought I’d have to take a damn sledgehammer to those fuckers.
I’ve tried to talk her into moving in, but she’s staying strong on that refusal.
I will wear her down eventually. I get she doesn’t want to leave her mum and sister, but everyone has to leave the nest eventually.
I offered to buy a house on the same street for her mum; she laughed at me and told me I was crazy and to not even think about doing something stupid like that.
Considering their home holds a lot of sacred memories, I would never dream of moving her mum out of there. I do however want to move Reilly out, and straight into my house. I didn’t buy this big fucking house to live here alone forever.
I bought it, knowing I wanted to settle down one day, to have ten kids running around. I think I’ll wait till after she has my name to bring that up though. For the moment, I’m fucking stoked at the thought of being an uncle.
I’ve just finished working out in my home gym.
Reilly went to work a while ago. I don’t like when she leaves, but I’m not a clingy fucker like Zac; I know how to let go for a few hours.
Besides, I fell in love with exactly who she is, and an independent workaholic is exactly who she is.
Why would I change anything about her or try to get her to change?
Besides, you can’t improve on perfection, and Reilly is fucking perfection in the finest form.
Walking into my kitchen, I find Ella sitting at the counter with a cup of tea in her hands. I’m surprised to see her; she hasn’t been around much lately. I walk up and give her a sweaty hug and kiss on her head.
“Hey, princess, I missed you.”
“Eew, Bray that’s gross. Get off me. You stink,” she squeals and pushes me off her.
“Well, princess, if you don’t want long drawn-out welcomes, don’t take so long to visit. Where have you been, anyway?”
“Busy,” she replies.
I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and down it while staring her down. Once I finish the water, I lean against the counter near where she is sitting.
“Elaborate, Ella. What does busy entail?”
“Nothing much. Just hanging with friends, you know, getting ready to start uni, that sort of thing,” she shrugs.
“Uh-huh, so why have you been avoiding me?” I’ve only seen her in passing here and there. Normally, she’d spend a couple of nights a week here with me. Even when I stayed at Zac’s for those few weeks, I barely saw her around.
“I’m not avoiding you, just giving you space. No one wants their little sister being the third wheel to their new relationship.”
Shit, she thinks she has to stay away because of my relationship with Reilly? That’s not happening.
“Ella, you’d never be the third wheel, and you’re never in the way.
You know that, right? You can come here whenever you want.
You’re my favourite sister so you will always have a place wherever I am.
” The more I think about it, the more furious I am with myself for not realising she was feeling like she couldn’t be around here.
“Bray, I’m your only sister, idiot. And I know I can come here, but honestly, I’ve just been busy.”
“Well, as long as you know that I don’t ever want you to stay away because you think you need to.” I get the feeling there is more that she isn’t telling me. What else is going on with her?
“I know. Thank you.”
“Want something to eat? I’m starving and you look like you haven’t eaten a cooked meal in forever. Has that idiot brother of ours not been feeding you?”
“Zac’s not an idiot, and you know he has a chef cook our meals. God, could you imagine him in a kitchen actually making anything other than coffee?”
I laugh, because it’s true. Zac could burn water—he’s that useless in the kitchen. “That’s true, but if everyone was good at everything, well, then everyone would be me.”
“Sure, master of all. Whatever you say.” She salutes me.
“Come on, Ella, you and I both know I’m your most talented and favoured brother; the sooner you admit it, the sooner you can put Zac out of his misery and he can stop competing for that spot.”
“Huh, actually I think Zac has taken the number one spot. After all, he is the one making me an aunty.”
“Fuck, do you think Reilly would be on board with the plan of getting knocked up?” I ask her seriously.
“Nope.” She annunciates the P sound.
“No, probably not. It is pretty cool that we are getting a niece or nephew soon.”
“Yeah.”
I dig through the fridge, pulling out sandwich fillings, and end up making chicken and salad rolls for us. As I’m putting it all together, Ella finally spills what’s bugging her.
“Bray?”
“Yeah?”
“Why would a guy not want me? I mean, is there something wrong with me that repels men?”
Let’s fucking hope so, I think to myself.
“You own mirrors, right? I know you do. You are fucking beautiful, Ella, inside and out. If some douche is not seeing that, then that’s on him not you.
” It then hits me that she said men, not one particular guy.
“Wait, men as in plural, or one man in particular? What are we talking about here?” I ask, needing to clarify just how many men she thinks are repelled by her.
“There’s one guy, but he won’t even give me a second glance. I thought maybe he felt something, but apparently it’s one-sided.” She looks fucking heartbroken. I want to go and beat the shit out of the fucker who’s making her feel less than worthy.
“Who is it? I need a name, Ella,” I demand, handing her a pen and paper.
She shoves the paper back at me. “You will go to your grave waiting on that name, Bray.”
She’s not going to tell me. “You know I’ll find out anyway. You should just make it easier on both of us and fess up, little sister.”
Ella stands up. “Nice chat, Bray, but I’ve got plans. See you later.”
Following her out to the door, I wait for her to open it before I say, “Make sure you tell Dean I said hi.”
Ella freezes, the door half open, before she turns around with her mouth hanging open. I got the reaction I was looking for, the confirmation that there is something going on between him and Ella.
“I’m going to fucking kill him.” My blood is boiling. I suspected that he was fooling around with Ella for a few weeks now. She’s just confirmed it for me.
“No, you’re not. You are going to shut your mouth and not say a damn word to anyone, Braydon,” Ella shouts at me.
I laugh, “You expect me to do nothing while my eighteen-year-old little sister sneaks around with my brother’s best friend, who happens to be fucking twenty-eight?” I yell back.
“We’re not sneaking around, Bray. Nothing is happening. Like I said, I’m not worthy enough to be noticed.” I see the tears forming in her eyes.
“Wait, Dean’s the fucker who has you questioning yourself? What did he do, Ella?” I’m doing my best to hold back my temper I can feel bubbling at the surface under my skin.
“Nothing, that’s the thing, Bray. He. Won’t. Do. Anything! No matter how hard I try, he won’t touch me. He’s too damn loyal to Zac or some shit like that.”
I pull her into my arms. “Ella, you’re eighteen. You need to experience life before you settle down. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Dean is a fucking idiot if he doesn’t see what a catch you are. About to be a dead fucking idiot, but an idiot all the same.”
“Bray, you can’t touch him. It’s humiliating enough. Plus, I love him and if you hurt him, I will hate you forever.” She pulls out of my arms. She can’t mean that, can she? By the look in her eyes, it hits me she does.
“Fuck, Ella, okay. I won’t touch him, but I want you to promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“I want you to go to uni, meet some new friends. Experience everything that life has to offer. Don’t waste time or energy on any man who isn’t worth it. And any man who would choose their friend over you is not worth it.”
“I’ll try; it’s not like I actually have a choice. I can’t force someone to love me back.”
She walks out the door, slamming it behind her. Fucking Dean, what the fuck is wrong with him?
Getting out of the shower to Zac blowing up my phone is not how I wanted the rest of my day to go. I don’t bother answering, choosing to get dressed first. The second I walk into my closet, his ringtone, that stupid fucking song he programmed into my phone, starts blasting through the room again.
“What do you want?” I answer. “Where are you?”
“At home, why?”
“We have an issue at the club, wanted to make sure you weren’t here somewhere.”
My blood runs cold… Reilly is at the club right now. “What kind of issue and where the fuck is Reilly?”
I walk into my closet and throw on a pair of grey sweats and a white shirt. I slip my feet into a pair of joggers before grabbing my keys and wallet. I’m out the door in less than two minutes.
“Bray, stay the fuck where you are. Reilly is fine. She’s in my office.”
Like I’m going to stay here. Does he not know who the fuck he’s talking to? “What’s going on, Zac? Start fucking talking,” I yell.
“I start the car and switch him over to the Bluetooth.” “Jesus, Bray, I told you to stay the fuck where you are.
You do not need to be here. We have it handled.”
The fucker still has not divulged what is going on and I’m losing my patience. I’m at least a thirty-minute drive away from the club.
“What have you got handled, Zac?”
“Stephen, the lead singer from Cyrus, the one you put in the hospital a few weeks back, turned up with a bunch of guys looking to start problems. Like I said, the last thing I need is to be fetching your ass out of jail right now, so stay where you are.”