Payback

by Lori Toland

  “Ah,” her brother said as he moved on to pouring the next glass of wine. “You just point him out to me. I’ll have a talk with him.”

  She sighed. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

  Brian kept talking as if he hadn’t heard her. “And if he gives me a hard time, I’ll call in Andre and we’ll beat the crap out of this guy.”

  The thought of Andre punching himself struck Mel as funny and she began to laugh, which sounded sharp and slightly unhinged to her own ears. It must have sounded strange to everyone else because all eyes turned to her.

  “Sorry,” she said in between giggles. She tried to explain her reaction but finally gave up.

  Brian shook his head as they all sat down at the table. “Crazy Mel.”

  Her mother smiled as she picked up her wine glass. “She always was the sweet, smiling child. Brian was the one you had to watch out for like putting frogs in Melanie’s bed or putting toothpaste all over the sink.”

  “I thought they would never stop fighting.” Her father started serving the turkey and passing it around. “But they finally grew up and put aside their petty differences.”

  Mel glanced over at Brian, who frowned as he dished a large helping of potatoes onto his plate. “Who said anything about petty? Mel is still a tyrant.”

  He smirked at her and she threw one back at him, even though her stomach churned. What would he do if he found out? Andre could certainly hold his own against Brian but if Brian couldn’t get past his best friend dating his sister, their friendship would suffer.

  Ronnie squeezed her shoulder, pulling Mel from her reverie, and then sighed when her cell phone rang. “They would pick the worst time to call,” she said, flipping her phone open as she walked out of the room. “Hi Mom and Dad. How is Nassau?”

  After Ronnie left the room, they all kept eating with Brian and her father dominating the conversation. A few minutes later, the doorbell rang and Mel’s heart raced. She half-wished it would be carolers on their doorstep, but she knew it was Andre.

  Her mother went to answer the door and Mel dropped her fork with a clang, suddenly not hungry. She cleared her throat and took a sip of water, trying to calm her nerves.

  He walked through the doorway into the dining room and her father stood to shake his hand. The greetings flew between her family and Andre but Mel couldn’t seem to bring herself to say anything.

  Not that anyone noticed. Andre acted like nothing was wrong and kissed her mother on the cheek. “I’m sorry I’m late, Mrs. Brentley.” He sat across the table from Mel, looking anywhere but her.

  Her mom patted him on the shoulder before heading to her own seat. “As long as everything was all right.”

  “Just some traffic. Hey Bri, how’s it going?” Andre asked with a grin.

  “Pretty decent, man. I can’t complain. You missed saying grace but we saved you some turkey.”

  “I wait all year long for today. I starve myself for days,” Andre said, holding out his plate as he continued to lay it on thick to her mom.

  “Oh, you poor child.” Her mother beamed as she scooped extra meat onto his plate. “You can have an extra helping, my dear, and I’ll pack you a helping of leftovers to take home.”

  “That would be wonderful. Mr. Brentley, can you pass the green beans?”

  Mel glanced down at the plate near her arm that her father picked up and handed to Brian. It would have been easier for her to hand it to Andre but he wouldn’t look her direction.

  Obviously being with her at her parents’ house for Christmas made him so uncomfortable that he could barely stand to be around her, and she felt sick. If only she could excuse herself like she did as a teenager and hide out until Andre left.

  “Can someone pass the salt?”

  The shaker sat in front of her and she started at it for a second before picking it up. She held it out and for the first time that day, he met her gaze. His beautiful blue eyes shone like stars and she lost herself in them.

  His fingers touched hers when he reached for the salt. A spark of desire coursed down her arm and straight into her heart. She didn’t care anymore that they had fought. Whatever it was, they could work it out. All that mattered was she wanted to be with him.

  “Well, thank God you two have gotten over your royal snit.” Ronnie said, having magically appeared while she was having her private moment with Andre for her whole family to see. “Now, are you two going to kiss and make up?”

  Mel dropped the salt but Andre caught it with his lightning reflexes. She whirled toward Ronnie. “Shut up,” Mel hissed. Ronnie raised her eyebrows but said nothing and took her seat.

  Brian frowned. “What are you talking about, Ronnie?” he asked.

  Andre closed his eyes but opened them to look at her. There was no accusation or anger, only longing for her. They could lie but she said she didn’t want to lie. Going back now wasn’t an option. It was only forward now.

  Mel licked her lips. “Andre and I have been seeing each other.”

  There was one second of silence, and then one more. Melanie hoped for it to continue and peace would reign on this cold but beautiful Christmas day. But her prayers were for naught because all hell broke loose.

  Chapter Seven

  Andre sensed the hurt radiating off Melanie from the moment he stepped into the dining room and he hated himself for it. He shouldn’t have left during their fight. They should have agreed to disagree and stayed together for the night.

  He hadn’t slept well when he went home and all he could think about was the argument. He should have called, but this was a talk he needed to have with her in person, to tell her that he hoped this would be the first of many Christmases together.

  He wanted to corner her as soon as he got to her parents’ house but they were already seated for dinner. He could barely stomach talking to Brian, not when all he could think about was kissing Melanie.

  Brian curled his hand into Andre’s shirt and dragged him away from the table. “Come outside and explain this to me.”

  Mrs. Brentley shrieked. “Ben! Do something.”

  Ronnie and Melanie stared at them like they were crazy as Andre allowed his friend to drag him out the back door and onto the grass.

  Once they were out in the backyard, Brian shoved him. Andre immediately rounded on his friend, keeping up his guard. They had been in a couple fights, but they hadn’t fought each other since they were very young and Andre couldn’t even remember what that had been about. Probably something stupid.

  This wasn’t a stupid reason, not in the least. This was over Brian’s sister and Andre couldn’t blame his friend for wanting to defend her honor. No one knew Andre better than Brian, especially about the broken hearts they left littered throughout the years.

  “What the hell were you thinking? Why did you pick Mel? Are you insane?”

  Andre groaned and rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand in an attempt to relieve the stress. Three days of not enough sleep and the fight with Mel served to be a perfect breeding ground for a stress headache of epic proportions.

  “Your sister is hot.” Andre winced after he said that. That might have been stupid to say, especially with how pissed Brian was.

  “Wow, I don’t know whether to say ‘ew’ or to punch you in the face for perving over my sister.”

  Andre let out a breath. “You might as well punch me and get it over with. You’re not going to be happy until you do.”

  “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t.”

  “You’re my closest friend. We grew up together. I got your bike back from those middle-school guys when you were ten.”

  “I said a good reason, asshole. That’s my sister you’re messing with.”

  Andre thought about it long and hard. “How about this? You break my face. You’ll feel better and that will show Mel I was right about you losing your shit over us dating. Then I’ll do my best puppy dog face and she’ll comfort me but she’ll never talk to you again.”

  An
dre grinned when Brian snarled but he continued on. “But listen, Bri, I get where you’re coming from so no hard feelings about knocking my lights out. Mel is your sister and you have to protect her. So punch me and I promise you I’ll still have beers with you. But she’s watching us from the kitchen, so make sure you aim for my eye. She can nurse me all night long.”

  “You fucking bastard,” Brian roared and charged at him.

  Andre laughed, knowing his friend needed to let off this steam. If they didn’t fight, the resentment between them would boil over eventually and if they didn’t resolve this, they might never speak to each other again.

  Brian punched him in the gut but even though it knocked the wind from Andre, it didn’t hold the same power he had seen Brian dole out in the past. “Jeez, Bri, are you getting weak after becoming a prosecutor? Did you quit working out once you left college and football behind?”

  Another punch left Andre wondering if provoking Brian had been such a great idea. Andre stood taller than his friend by a couple inches and outweighed him by at least thirty pounds now that Brian wore a suit and tie instead of a football helmet, but Brian had anger on his side.

  Finally after a few more knocks, Brian shoved Andre away. Andre coughed, covering his abs and wincing. “Feel better?”

  Brian shrugged. “Not really.” He pointed at the house. “Where did Mel go?”

  Andre looked over his shoulder at the empty kitchen window. “She’s probably gone to your mom and dad, flipping out about you punching me.”

  Brian huffed. “I doubt it. We’ve punched each other before and she didn’t care then.”

  “Yeah but that was over stupid shit. This fight is about Mel and she would hate to come between us.”

  “Who said anything about her coming between us? I was just giving you a little taste of what I’ll do to you if you hurt her.” Brian adjusted his Christmas tie.

  “I’ll never hurt her.”

  Brian shook his head. “You can’t know that, man. You can’t know what the future holds. None of us do.”

  “Yeah, but I can do my best to try to do right by her.”

  Brian bowed his head and sighed. “What happened to us? A couple months ago we were checking out babes at the sports bar and knocking back beers. Now you’re dating my baby sister.”

  “I guess we’re getting older. We’re not a couple college studs anymore. And we can still go out to sports bars if you want. I’ll have a couple beers with you, but you’ll be the only one looking for company.”

  “I’ll be watching you, buddy. I’ll tell them all you’re a married man.”

  Andre froze. Marriage. He hadn’t really thought about anything that far down the road but the thought of putting a ring on Mel’s finger didn’t make his knees knock. Sharing a home with her sounded pretty good actually.

  “Oh God. You do have it bad,” Brian said, frowning. “I can see you thinking about what ring to buy her. How long have you liked her? You know what, don’t answer that.”

  A couple months ago getting married would have been a fate worse than death. Mel had changed his life and he wasn’t as scared as he thought he would have been. Andre smiled at his best friend. “At least I know who to ask to be my best man.”

  *

  “What are they saying out there?”

  Ronnie shrugged. “I don’t know how to read lips.”

  “What good are you?” Mel groused.

  “We’re probably making them nervous,” Ronnie said, dragging Mel away from the window. “Come on, have another glass of wine. I’m driving you home, since I’m on call.”

  Mel obeyed, forcing herself to sip the wine when she wanted to guzzle it. For over twenty years, Brian and Andre had built their friendship and one indiscretion was going to ruin it all.

  The French doors off the family room opened and Brian walked in, his chin tilted up. Andre walked in behind him and Mel immediately went over to him. She hugged him, although he shied away slightly from her, wincing from the pain.

  She glared at her brother, who whistled innocently and walked into the kitchen. “Mom, we can go back to Christmas dinner,” Brian yelled.

  After a few seconds, her mother came walking out to see her and Andre. “So I see you boys haven’t ruined—Oh!” Her hand flew to her mouth when she entered the family room.

  Melanie sighed and let go of Andre, grabbing for his hand. It was time to face the rest of the family as her father joined them too.

  Her father beamed at her. “So it’s true. You and Andre are dating.” He held out his hand. “Welcome to the family, son. You’ve been a part of it for a long time anyway.”

  Andre smiled and shook with her father. “Yes, Mr. Brentley.”

  “I guess you’d better start calling me Ben, although I’ve tried to get you to do that for years.”

  Andre frowned. “I’ll try but it’ll be hard. Listen, we wanted to tell you but it was all so new and we didn’t want to get your hopes up….” Andre trailed off and looked down at her. “The fact is I’ve liked Melanie a long time but I never knew she felt the same way.”

  Mel’s knees felt like rubber and held onto Andre a little tighter to keep standing upright. Tears pricked her eyes and she licked her lips as she laughed.

  “I’m going to throw up—Ow!” Brian rubbed his side where Ronnie had elbowed him hard.

  “You’re not too old to spank, young man,” her mother warned. “Don’t ruin your sister’s Christmas like the time you broke her bike.”

  Brian grimaced but kept quiet as her mom sniffled. “You can have my china if you want when you get married.”

  Mel hung her head before glancing at Brian, knowing it was coming. “Oh God.”

  Andre bit his lip but it still twitched. “I’m really holding back here.”

  “You can say it,” she said, although she narrowed her eyes, which should have told him to proceed at his own risk.

  The words burned in his mouth and finally they came tumbling out of him. “I told you so.”

  Mel glared at him. “Those are fighting words.”

  He tapped her nose with his finger and grinned as he leaned in to whisper words meant for only her ears. “It’s fine to fight as long as we can make up later.” He kissed the shell of her ear, which sent a shiver running through her whole body.

  “Yes, we can. I have your gift at the house. I couldn’t give it to you here. It wouldn’t be appropriate.” After she whispered that, she pulled back to watch his reaction.

  He didn’t disappoint. First his pupils sprang open and then he licked his lips. “I can’t wait until we get home. I’m going to spend all night making up with you.” He kissed the tip of her nose before lowering his lips to hers.

  “Oh God, they don’t even have mistletoe around and they’re already sucking each other’s faces.”

  Mel pulled back and shot her brother a death glare. “Brian, bite me,” she said. “I guess you’ll just have to learn how to deal with Andre and I being together.”

  Andre smiled at her. “If I didn’t know you better, I would think dating me is payback to Brian for all those years of pranking you.”

  “Wait until we back to my place and I’ll show you how much it isn’t.”

  Epilogue

  “Open yours first.”

  Mel hesitated for a second and then grinned. “Okay.” She sat up in bed and ripped off the paper, revealing a gray felt jewelry box. “Ooh.”

  He had felt trite getting Mel jewelry, especially since she rarely wore it but when she opened it and her face lit up, he breathed a sigh of relief. “How did you know I wanted this bracelet?”

  He took it out of the box and put the bracelet on her. It was made of little heart links all the way around. “You saw it on TV a couple times when I was over here and I could tell you liked it. You make this cute little noise when you really like something.”

  She smiled and pulled out his present. “I didn’t realize I did that. You’ll have to tell me the next time I do it.”
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  “I’ll try to.” He chuckled and held up his present. “I want to point out that the package I gave you was perfectly wrapped. This… is a mess.”

  “Yeah, you’re one to talk. They probably wrapped your box at the mall.”

  He frowned. “I did it myself at the mall.”

  “Nuh-uh.”

  “I absolutely did wrap it myself. Every year I work the charity gift wrap stand at the mall. I always have a line of ladies that stop by just to see me. They ask when I’ll be there and they’re always waiting for me when I start my shift.”

  Mel patted his cheek. “I’m sure you did a great job wrapping the packages but that’s not the only reason they came by.”

  He raised his eyebrow. “Are you trying to tell me I’m a sexy beast?”

  “Yeah.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Now open your terribly wrapped package.”

  He tore into the package, discarding the wrapping as he unrolled the fleece sweater. “I needed this. How did you know?”

  As he held it up to himself and checked the size, she preened. “The one you have has a hole in it and you mentioned getting a new one. So I ordered one off the Internet.”

  He leaned in, kissing her gently on the lips. “Thank you—oh wait, what’s this?” He pulled a pink lace nightgown out of the pocket and held it up. “You know, I love this but I don’t think this will fit me.”

  “No, it won’t,” she said, grinning. “But it is my size.”

  Andre smiled the same wicked smile that made her heart flip-flop and her pussy flood. “Maybe you should try it on, just to be certain.” He kissed her gently.

  “Well….” She pulled away only far enough to look into his eyes. “I can always take it off later if you don’t like it.”

  He smiled. “Of course. Anything the lady wants is fine by me.”

  About The Author

  CEO by day, erotic romance writer by night, Lori Toland lives in Orlando where the summers are hot but the romance between her characters is even hotter. Writing since the tender age of 13, Lori somehow finds time to play video games and watch movies while taking care of her beloved cats and a husband who will forever be her hero.