Stronger with You (With You Trilogy)

by R. J. Sable

  “Adam bothered me at first,” he admitted. “But it’s pretty obvious that he loves you like a sister and I know I can count on him to look out for you.”

  “You know the real reason why Adam and Alex don’t bother you?” I smiled, tracing his tattoo with my finger. One of my favourite pastimes. Jason cocked his head at me expectantly so I continued. “It’s because you trust me,” I nodded firmly. “That and the fact that you know all my dirty secrets.”

  “Very dirty secrets,” he teased, his hands travelling down to my backside and giving it a delightful squeeze. “I do trust you though,” he smiled. “I trust you with my heart and soul and everything in between.”

  “I love you,” I grinned, my chest swelling with happiness at his words.

  “I love you too, little squirrel.”

  I hugged him close to me and simply enjoyed the moment, trying to memorise every detail so that I’d never forget it. I had never felt such sheer contentment, never had almost all aspects of my life synchronised into almost perfect harmony. It was pure bliss.

  Jason invited the guys back to theirs after they were done. I think secretly he’d caught onto my matchmaking plan and didn’t want to separate Alex and Rab who hadn’t stopped talking to each other all night.

  “Sorry, Jellybaby,” Alex pouted, grabbing my hand and pulling me away from the guys for a few seconds. “I shouldn’t be ignoring you.”

  I laughed and took him into Jason’s kitchen so we could talk in private. “Alex, it’s fine,” I reassured him. “I’ve had you all day and I like seeing you smiling like you have been with Rab.”

  “He’s definitely droolworthy,” Alex said dreamily. “I’d have taken up martial arts years ago if I knew I’d get such hands on training,” he grinned mischievously.

  I laughed, bringing my eyes up to the doorframe as Josh and Grayson entered, grabbing a few beers from the fridge. I smiled at them and took Alex by the hand, dragging him back into the main room so that he could continue to gawk at Rab.

  As usual, as soon as I entered the room, my eyes were drawn to Jason and I saw him looking up at me. He motioned me over to sit on his lap and I obliged, taking Alex with me to sit next to him. Rab and Steve joined us. The sofa was really not that large and you could only fit three people on it at best. Three normal-sized people. Not three muscly men. Steve sat on the arm of the sofa leaving Alex sandwiched between Jason and Rab.

  “Can you breathe?” I teased him.

  “I don’t think I need to. I’m pretty sure I’ve died and gone to heaven,” he grinned and I chuckled at him.

  “You enjoyed the show then?” Jason grinned.

  “I did. I’ve never seen Jelly’s brothers train,” he nodded.

  “How come?” Jason frowned.

  “We usually tried to stay out of their way when we were at my house,” I smiled.

  “Why?” Rab frowned.

  “They have a nasty habit of trying to kick Alex’ ass,” I shook my head apologetically.

  “Are your brothers homophobes?” Rab scowled.

  I laughed at that. “No,” I said, exchanging an amused look with Alex. “In fact, I’m pretty sure Alex only has all his limbs left because he is gay.”

  “Then how come?” Steve asked.

  “They think I pretend to be gay so I can get with Jelly,” Alex grinned. “That’s what Jake said anyway.”

  I burst into laughter. I couldn’t help myself. That was a new level of craziness. “You’ve taken it a bit far, don’t you think?” I teased.

  “I admit, I should have given up after the first two years,” he shrugged. “But there’s still hope, right Jellybaby?”

  “Not a chance,” Jason frowned, squeezing his arms tighter around me for emphasis.

  “He’s right,” I grinned. “Sorry, Alex. It’d never work out anyways.”

  “What’s wrong with me?” Alex demanded.

  “You’re perfect,” I smiled. “It’s not you, it’s me,” I teased.

  “You’re right,” he said with mock dejection. “I don’t think I could ever get over the fact that you refuse to get a Y-chromosome.”

  I grinned at him and snuggled closer into Jason, shuffling slightly in his lap and feeling him twitch beneath me as I did so.

  “Your fault,” he whispered in my ear as I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

  The guys played guitar hero and Alex kept complaining that he couldn’t use both hands at once. From the way he was pouting, I could see he was close to having a temper tantrum.

  “Come here,” Rab sighed, shuffling back on the sofa and motioning for Alex to sit between his legs. “You do the left bit and I’ll do the right bit and you can quit your bitching.”

  “Are you calling me a bitch?” Alex said in mock protest, already shuffling into position between Rab’s legs and doing a pathetic job of looking offended. If anything, he looked like he’d just discovered that Top Man were having a half price sale.

  “If the shoe fits,” Rab mumbled with a teasing grin.

  I glanced around the room. If Jason had no clue about Rab’s sexuality it was natural to assume the others didn’t either. I understood that my brothers were the exception to the rule. Martial arts are very hands on with a lot of body contact and I suspected many of the guys would be less than enthusiastic about training with Rab if they knew he was gay.

  On the other hand, he hadn’t exactly been subtle with Alex and it wasn’t like he was trying to hide anything. If I’d suspected he might be gay then others must have too. To my surprise, none of the guys even batted an eyelid. Tony was perhaps the only one who looked a little uncomfortable but he didn’t say anything either and that just made me even fonder of the lot of them.

  “That’s cheating!” Josh protested as Rab and Alex beat him on the next song.

  “Then team up with Grayson or man up and play properly,” Rab countered with a grin.

  Josh sighed and beckoned Grayson over but Grayson shook his head emphatically. “I love you, man, but I ain’t sitting in your lap.”

  “Suit yourself,” Josh shrugged. “Good job I never signed the membership forms. I’d have no luck there either,” he sighed, grinning at Alex and me.

  I giggled and shot him a sympathetic smile. “Good things come to those who wait.”

  “There’s a joke in their somewhere,” Alex grinned.

  “Don’t!” I protested, covering my ears with my hands. “Your sense of humour is far too dirty for me.”

  Rab leant forwards and whispered something in Alex’ ear with a smooth expression of self-confidence on his face.

  “That’s exactly what I was going to say!” Alex laughed, leaning back into Rab’s chest and readjusting the guitar.

  By the time we’d gone through the song list and passed the guitars around a few times, I was starting to get sleepy and had snuggled further back into Jason’s lap. I didn’t want to go to bed before Alex because we had to make up the sofa bed for him. Thankfully though, the guys started to leave one by one.

  “Jelly,” Alex whispered, taking me aside again. “Would you hate me if I went home with Rab? He asked me to,” he asked tentatively.

  I frowned at him. “Are you serious?”

  He nodded, a faint blush gracing his handsome cheekbones. “I don’t want you to think I’m abandoning you.”

  “You’re not abandoning me. I wanted you two to get on,” I assured him. “I just didn’t think you’d get on quite that well.”

  “He’s really sweet,” Alex blushed, a full on blush this time.

  “Okay,” I smiled. “If that’s what you want, just… be careful, okay? And text me if you need me.”

  “Thanks, Jellybaby,” he grinned.

  I turned back to the lounge and found Rab there with Josh and Jason. Rab actually looked a little awkward and nervous and I thought it was pretty cute. He looked at Alex and me anxiously and I narrowed my eyes at him, making a beeline to where he was standing.

  “You know my brother, right?” I
asked him, pointing my finger at him. I’m not sure what came over me, I knew Rab was a good guy but Alex was my best friend and I cared about him.

  “I do,” he nodded, his eyes darting back and forth between Alex and me.

  I could see Jason out of the corner of my eye staring at me with apparent amusement but I ignored him for the time being.

  “Alex is my best friend. If you don’t look after him, it won’t be Craig you have to worry about,” I threatened him.

  His lips quirked up a little and he put his hand on my shoulder gently. “I promise I’ll take good care of him,” he reassured me.

  “Jesus, Jellybaby,” Alex blushed furiously. “Does the overprotective gene run in your family?”

  I blushed as well, hoping I hadn’t embarrassed him too much. I didn’t regret it though. I needed to know Alex would be okay. He was in a strange city and was leaving with a guy he hadn’t known until a few hours ago and it made me nervous for him.

  I apologised sheepishly and waved them off, watching them disappear down the road before crawling happily into bed with Jason and letting him hold me in his strong arms until I gratefully slipped into the land of nod.

  Chapter 35

  Friday, 24th May 2013

  I couldn’t believe I’d gotten through my first year of university. It felt too good to be true. Adam and I had taken our last exam that afternoon and were making plans for summer break. I’d promised to go home for the whole of June at Ian’s request (request, not demand!) but planned on spending the rest of my time in Leeds with Jason and our friends.

  I’d had the best few month even with Duff’s sentencing. At the last minute, he’d changed his plea to guilty, much to my relief. It meant I didn’t have to see him again. I’d been dreading giving my testimony.

  With the whole charade behind me, and Duff safely behind bars, I was free to get on with my life. Elise and Karl had come over to visit, and the twins had been up a few times whenever they were checking on the gym in Bradford. I’d never gotten on so well with my brothers. Even Karl, who didn’t need to worry about the threat of being kicked out, was taking Ian’s threat seriously. I suspected it had something to do with my baby niece who was still residing in Elise’s ever growing tummy and Jason’s comparison of the two relationships.

  “Reckon it’d be okay if I came over to stay with you in Derby for a while?” Adam asked, lying down on the grass in Hyde Park.

  “I’d love that,” I grinned. “My brothers won’t be a problem. They all love you.”

  “Awesome, I need to get out of Leeds for a while,” he sighed.

  “Why, what’s up?” I frowned. I thought he loved being here.

  “Nothing,” he shook his head.

  “Not buying it,” I said, rolling over so that I could look at him more closely. “What’s happened?”

  “You’re going to hate me,” he closed his eyes and covered them with his forearm.

  “That’ll never happen, Adam,” I said firmly, squeezing his hand gently. “I might berate you a little though,” I teased, having a good idea why he might not want to tell me. I just hoped I was wrong.

  “I fucked up, Shorty,” he groaned. “Like, catastrophically.”

  “Oh, Adam,” I said, closing my eyes so I didn’t have to see the pained expression on his face. “Tell me you didn’t?” I pleaded, hoping he hadn’t been thinking with his little brain.

  “I did,” he nodded glumly. “And now Laura hates me.”

  “I don’t understand,” I shook my head. “I though you liked her.”

  “I do like her,” he groaned. “That’s the problem. I’m pretty sure I’m in love with her. Like real love. The fuzzy, fluffy shit you and Jason have got going on.”

  “Then… Then why?” I asked in confusion.

  “Because I’m a class one fuck up,” he sighed. “I was drunk and horny and the opportunity presented itself. I was too weak to say no.”

  “Oh, Adam,” I groaned. “I take it you’ve told Laura?”

  He nodded glumly and the sight of him looking so forlorn almost broke my heart. I rested my head on his chest and wrapped my arms around him, hoping a hug could give him even the smallest of consolations.

  “She won’t even speak to me,” he whispered quietly, returning my hug. “I’ve never felt like this about anyone before and I’ve gone and fucked everything up.”

  I loved Adam to bits, he was one of my closest friends, but I did want to beat the crap out of him for treating Laura like he had, especially if he felt that way about her. I remembered the way I’d felt when I’d thought something had happened between Shana and Jason. I’d been completely crushed, it had felt like my heart had cracked open in my chest. I couldn’t imagine what Laura was going through. She must have been in so much pain.

  “I don’t know how to fix it,” he said sadly.

  “Me neither,” I apologised. “You broke the trust and that’s not an easy thing to rebuild. You must have really hurt her, Adam.”

  “I know,” he groaned, squeezing me gently.

  “You’ll figure it out,” I reassured him.

  “I hope so,” he nodded glumly. “When are you going home?”

  “Next Saturday, the first.”

  “Okay, if it’s alright with your brothers can I get the train with you?” He asked, cheering up a little.

  “I think Jason was thinking about hiring a car, but yeah, either way we’d be glad for the company,” I smiled.

  “Am I gonna be a third wheel?” He frowned.

  “No,” I chuckled. “Of course not. Either way, I imagine Rab will be getting a lift with us.”

  I was contemplating adding matchmaker to my CV because I was clearly very good at it. Maybe a little too good. Alex had been up to Leeds almost every weekend since he met Rab, and he wasn’t sleeping at mine. On weekends when Alex wasn’t in Leeds, then Rab was in Derby visiting him.

  “Okay cool, let’s go get some pizza, I’m starving,” he said, hopping up from the grass.

  I rolled my eyes at him because I swore he only ever ate pizza unless I cooked for him. I had no idea how he kept his figure so trim considering all the crap he ate. I managed to convince him to get some vegetables on the pizza at least. That was something.

  “So, you tell Jason you signed yet?” He asked in between giant-sized bites.

  Adam and I had found a house in Hyde Park that had seemed perfect. It was close to a local shop, plenty of takeaways to feed Adam’s cravings, and only a ten-minute walk from campus. Best of all, the rent wasn’t that bad split between four people. Eric and Bradley would be moving in with us. I’d miss Emma and Sarah but they didn’t seem to get on with the guys as well as I did. We’d signed the contract a few days ago.

  “He’s actually fine with it,” I nodded, smiling happily. “I mean, he was a little mopey, but I think he understands.”

  “Cool,” Adam nodded. “I don’t want to come between you two.”

  I smiled at him. It was cute that he was concerned about that, but he needn’t worry. Jason and I trusted each other implicitly. I’d never doubt him again, I never should have in the first place. I knew he trusted me as well and I planned on never ever breaking that trust. Jason was all I’d ever want and more.

  “You’ve got that fluffy fuzzy look on your face again,” Adam teased.

  “Sorry,” I grinned. “I was in my own little happy place.”

  “Where Jason features heavily?” He laughed.

  “Actually, reality is kinda my happy place at the minute,” I smiled. “I’ve got you and Alex. I’ve got my Jason, and my brothers are all being uncharacteristically nice. I feel like I might wake up at any minute and find out it’s all a dream.”

  “Don’t jinx it,” he warned with a teasing smile. “Just be happy and appreciate the moment. And whatever you do, don’t get wasted and start thinking with your genitals.”

  “Duly noted,” I laughed.

  “Speaking of your brothers, what did they say about you living wit
h the three of us next year?” Adam grinned.

  “Oh,” I blanched. “I haven’t actually told them yet.”

  I panicked for a brief second before I felt my shoulders relax. They were going to be pissed. They’d probably be more than pissed. In fact, under normal circumstances they’d probably be kicking my ass, but I suspected that was off the cards now.

  “I’m not sure I can handle any more friendly warnings from your brothers, shorty,” Adam laughed.

  “I’m pretty sure you have a get out of jail free card. It’s Bradley and Eric I’m more worried about,” I frowned. “But I’m sure my brothers’ll come around.”

  I wasn’t sure at all, but I wasn’t quite as scared at the prospect of telling them as I might have been a few months previously. I knew I probably wouldn’t get away with it scot-free. Ian would probably try and make me run a marathon or do press-ups until my arms gave way but that didn’t bother me. I’d take that over an asskicking any day.

  Chapter 36

  Saturday, June 1st 2013

  Jason pulled the car into the driveway behind the twins’ BMW. I leaned over the handbrake to give him a proper kiss before we got inside because I knew my brothers would get grumpy if I kissed him too much in front of them.

  Rab had barely stepped out of the car before Alex bolted out of the front door and ambushed him, the two of them merging into one big mass of locked lips. I smiled but then quickly looked away because their kiss was definitely not PG 13.

  Rab looked up a little anxiously when he spotted Ian and Karl coming through the front door to greet us.

  “You finally found someone to put up with you then, Alex?” Ian asked sardonically, coming to a stop in front of them.

  “Don’t be jealous,” Alex said seriously. “I gave you all plenty of chances.”

  I gaped at Alex, moderately impressed by his boldness but questioning his sanity for provoking Ian. I guess he felt safe with Rab around.

  Ian simply laughed it off and turned to Rab. “Least I know why he’s been bouncing up and down on the sofa for the past hour now. I just thought he was looking forward to seeing Jelly,” Ian grinned, reaching over to shake Rab’s hand.