JOSHUA
As the doors to the gym open, I look up to see Caitlyn, grinning like the Cheshire Cat, as she crosses the room to me.
“What made you so happy?” I ask, pausing my workout to talk to the woman of my dreams.
Caitlyn’s long, brown hair is a curly cascade down her back, and her eyes sparkle with excitement.
I wonder if her happiness has been caused by finally finding a male chow-chow for stud at a reasonable price.
Caitlyn is a dog breeder, and it’s her dream to pair a male chow-chow with her female, Bella, and sell the resulting puppies.
She’s been searching for a male for a year, ever since she bought Bella and I hope Caitlyn’s elation is a sign the search is finally over.
“David proposed!” Caitlyn thrusts her left hand in my face, where a massive, princess cut diamond sits on a rose-gold band on her ring finger.
I’m no jeweler but given my three older brothers have all recently proposed to their ladyloves, I now know a thing or two about engagement rings, and guess that Caitlyn’s easily cost a million dollars, if not more.
Figures, her boyfriend (because I refuse to refer to him as her fiancé) David’s family are one of the richest families in East Hampton, second only to the Braddock’s -- my family.
David Morgan is the only son of Christopher Morgan, nightclub mogul, and one of the most ruthless men in the city.
A trait his son, David, has inherited and one of the many reasons I’m not happy about Caitlyn’s announcement.
“Congratulations,” I say, though my tone is anything but happy.
Caitlyn’s shoulders slump. “Why can’t you just be happy for me, Josh? You’re one of my best friends, I want you to be excited for me.”
The truth is on the edge of my lips before my brain catches up, and I almost blurt out, ‘Because I love you.’ I bite back the confession, and instead say, “He isn’t good enough for you, Cait.”
Caitlyn bites on her bottom lip. “I know David and I have had our problems in the past, but he’s changed. He’s committed to me now.”
“A leopard never changes its spots,” I insist. This is the hundredth time -- no exaggeration -- that David has promised he’s changed, and things will be different.
“Ryan changed. Look how happy he and Alicia are,” Caitlyn insists, referring to my oldest brother.
Ryan Braddock is the owner of the Braddock Resort -- which my gym is part of -- the most lucrative vacation spot in East Hampton, and until recently he was notorious for his womanizing ways, and the string of broken hearts he left behind.
Then he started a fiery affair with his sous-chef, Alicia Hughes, and now the two are deeply in love, expecting their first child and living in bliss in a massive townhouse Ryan bought for himself, Alicia and her brood of siblings she had custody of.
“Ryan is different--”
“Why? Because he’s your brother. Just admit it, you don’t like David?”
The truth is, I hate the guy’s guts because of how he treats Caitlyn. “I have good reason, too. How many times have you come to me crying over the way he’s treated you, Cait? Do you think it’s going to be different just because David proposed?”
Caitlyn scowls. “I thought you cared about me, Joshua? I thought you’d be happy for me.”
I don’t know if I’ll ever be happy seeing Caitlyn marry someone else, but at least, if I knew the guy she was with was a decent, honest man who loved and respected her, I’d be able to put my own feelings aside for my friend’s sake.
“I do care about you, Cait--” I reach out for her hand, but she pulls away and turns her back on me.
“Then maybe you should start acting like it.”
Without another word, Caitlyn stalks out of the gym, leaving me alone and heartbroken.
The truth is, I wish I was the one who’d just proposed to Caitlyn. I’ve been in love with her for almost as long as I’ve known her.
I can still remember the first day she came into the gym, three years ago. She was a little curvier then, but still as beautiful.
“I need you to help me,” she’d said, and in that moment, I knew I’d do anything for her.
It turned out, Caitlyn needed my help getting into shape, so she could keep up with the physical demands of her dog walking job.
Over the years, as we trained together, and Caitlyn went from dog-walker to dog-breeder, we grew closer, and I learned every detail about Caitlyn’s life.
She was born and raised in East Hampton, just like I was.
While she was lucky that both her parents were still alive -- unlike mine -- they’d divorced when she was ten and her dad’s presence in her life was sporadic at best.
Due to our family’s different financial statuses, we’d gone to different schools, hence why we’d never crossed paths until we were twenty.
One of the first things I learned about Caitlyn was that she was dating David Morgan.
Much to my dismay, as I’d been planning to ask her out.
Back then, all I’d known about David and the Morgan family was their reputation, and I knew firsthand reputations weren’t always a true reflection of the real people.
I’m sure many people saw the Braddock Brothers as rich, arrogant billionaires.
And yeah, my brothers Ryan and Tucker had lived up to their reputations as heart-breaking womanizers, but the rest of us?
We weren’t nearly as bad as the gossip made out.
My second oldest brother, Antony, was a grieving widow with two young twins, and my slightly older brother, Sebastian was a hard-working rancher.
That’s why I tried to give David Morgan the benefit of the doubt at first. It wasn’t his fault he’d met Caitlyn and claimed her heart before I could. I just wanted her to be happy.
That ended quickly, when, after only a month of knowing each other, Caitlyn had turned up at the gym in tears because David had cheated on her with one of the patrons from the nightclub where he worked.
I’d thought then she’d end her relationship with him, but a week later, she’d come to me wearing a Tiffany’s bracelet that David had brought for her along with the promise it would never happen again.
That lasted six months. Every time David cheated, or broke up with Caitlyn over something trivial, she’d come to me for sympathy, and I always hoped this would be the end of their relationship.
Even if she never saw me as anything more than a friend, I wanted her to be with someone who loved her like she deserved to be loved.
And now, David has proposed.
I knew if Caitlyn married him, she’d be trapped in an unhappy marriage, with him still being unfaithful, but if our recent conversation was anything to go by, I feared that’s exactly where she was heading.
My only hope was Caitlyn’s best friend, Amber, could talk some sense into her, but for the three years I’d known Caitlyn, Amber’s insistence that David was no good for her friend had fallen on deaf ears too.
It’s like Caitlyn was too blind to see what he was really like. I don’t know, maybe it was because of her parents’ divorce, or perhaps the fact David was her first, but whatever the reason, she always took him back. She always believed his fake promises.
I hoped this time would be different, but I had a bad feeling it was going to end in more heartbreak.
-----
“You need to get out of the house for your own good,” my younger brother, Tucker, insists later that night.
Of course, Tucker’s answer to everything is going to a bar and getting drunk.
“I don’t know, Tuck … I think I’m--”
“Don’t you dare say you’re going to have an early night. God, you’re turning into Antony.”
I ignore the dig at our older brother, and say, “The last thing I want is to spend the night in a crowded bar.”
“That’s exactly what you need,” Tucker says. What does he know? He’s never been in love. He’s never had to watch the woman he loves announce her engagement to someone else. “It’s ladies’ night at Start the Fire, so you know it’s going to be crammed full of hot women.”
Start the Fire is Tucker’s go-to place, and thankfully one of the few bars and nightclubs in the city not owned by the Morgan family. The last thing I wanted was to run into David or his father. But I didn’t want to get drunk and dance with random women, either.
“Come on, I need a wingman,” Tucker says.
“Since when?” I reply with a shake of his head. Tucker needs a wingman about as much as our rancher brother Sebastian needed horse riding lessons!
Tucker sighs. “I think I’m losing my mojo since coming back from North Carolina.”
Unlike the rest of us, Tucker has no desire to join the family business in some way, and when he isn’t partying, he enters surfing contests around the country.
His most recent - about a month ago - was in North Carolina where he won first place and a prize money of $1000, which has boosted his national ranking, but still isn’t quite enough to propel him to the next level, where he can earn more and make a career from it.
For now, he has the inheritance from our parents to live off, but that won’t last forever.
Ryan is keen for Tucker to get a ‘real’ job, but my brother isn’t ready to give up on his surfing dreams.
By ‘losing his mojo’ Tucker means he’s only hooked up with one woman since returning home to East Hampton. A record low for him, even if it’s only been four weeks since he came home.
“Fine, but I’m only staying for a few drinks,” I concede, knowing it’s just easier to go along with Tucker rather than fighting him.
Start the Fire hums with music and chatter, everyone is letting off steam and enjoying the weekend. Everyone except for me.
I sigh thinking about Caitlyn and drain my bottle of beer, watching as Tucker flirts with two beautiful young ladies over by the pool table.
My brother beckons me over, so I order two more beers -- one for each of us -- and head over to him.
When I join Tucker, he has one arm around the red-head, and the other on the thigh of the blond. “Come meet Taylor and Jasmine.”
He doesn’t indicate which woman is which, but I know instantly they’re not my type. Not because they’re not beautiful, but neither hold a flame to Caitlyn. And besides, neither woman can take their eyes off Tucker. It’s like I don’t even exist.
As Taylor and Jasmine fawn over Tucker, I slowly drink my new bottle of beer, wondering how long I have to stick around here before I can head back home.
By the time I’ve finished Tucker’s beer too, my younger brother is suggesting to Taylor and Jasmine that they should leave together, and I know that’s my queue to go.
“I’ll catch you tomorrow,” I say, and Tucker barely looks up, as his lips move from one woman to the other.
I shake my head and leave the bar, wondering how the hell my brother does it.
He’s got two women eating out of the palm of his hand, and I haven't had a serious relationship since graduating high school. Sure, there’s been casual dates, but since meeting Caitlyn, no one else has caught my attention.
Back home, the massive townhouse I live in feels empty without Tucker -- who I assume will use his status as the youngest Braddock Brother to blag a five-star room at the resort for his night of frivolity.
He’s been crashing in one of my spare rooms since he graduated school, because he doesn’t want the responsibility of buying his own place.
He was living with Ryan -- before Ryan got together with Alicia -- but their personalities clashed too much to make it a long-term arrangement.
I don’t mind though; I like the company.
Even though I had three beers at the bar, I head to the fridge and grab another, before flopping down on the couch to watch crap on TV. As tomorrow is Sunday -- meaning my deputy manager Tom will be taking care of the gym -- I don’t have to worry about getting up early the following morning.
I’m just debating if I want to order some late-night takeout when the doorbell rings. I swear, if this is Tucker and he’s forgotten his keys, I’m going to murder my brother.
I heave myself up off the couch, and head down the hallway to the front door. Slightly unsteady on my feet, I open the front door, and my eyes widen as I realize it isn’t Tucker on the doorstep, but Caitlyn.
The first thing I notice is how stunning she looks.
She’s wearing a short, black mini dress that shows off her toned, athletic figure, and her hair is styled in its usual cascade of curls.
But when I look up into her eyes, I know something is terribly wrong.
Her usually sparking blue eyes are rimmed in red, and tears track down her face, mixing with her make up.
“Come in,” I say, moving aside so she can enter the house. “What happened?”
Caitlyn is silent as she walks through to the living room, and then crashes down on the couch like a person who's just been sentenced to death.
“I caught David cheating,” she says, then starts crying.