by Harper Steen
“Did they tell you we’d total it?” Liz sounded astounded. She peeled off her leather jacket, slung it over her shoulder and put her hand on her hip.
“Yes. Did you two really total Gray’s Mercedes? Or were they just lying through their teeth?” Jeff swore to himself that he’d make the men pay if this was the case.
“Actually, it was me. Jennifer was just along for the ride. But it’s totaled, that part’s true.” Liz nodded and then she gave him a smile that could only be described as enchanting. No wonder his brother was nuts about this woman.
Suddenly his stomach growled loudly and her smile turned into an impish grin, making her look even more attractive. “Did they scare you with that story? Ha! Admit it: you were so worried, you lost your appetite and haven’t eaten all day!”
“Um…” Jeff looked from Liz to his Harley and back again. He ran his right hand across his neck and grimaced.
Jennifer, who had been standing behind Liz the whole time, holding their lunch, exploded with laughter in the face of Jeff’s embarrassment. The sullen look he gave her didn’t do anything to subdue her reaction.
With a bad-tempered grunt, Jeff drew himself up to his full six foot two inches and stomped past them. As he passed Jennifer, he grabbed the white plastic bags marked with Chinese characters and marched toward the kitchen with his head held high. He could feel their eyes looking at his back. Even though they weren’t laughing loudly anymore, he knew Liz and Jennifer were enjoying themselves at his expense. He swore to himself that he’d make Gray pay for that.
“How could you scare him like that?” Liz gave Gray a reproachful look and playfully punched his broad chest with her fist.
“Jeff needs to be put in his place every once in a while. And we didn’t even lie. You really did total my car.”
“Jeff’s bike was a great ride. I would have loved to take it out again, but he’ll never let me now.” Liz crossed her arms over her chest and gave him an angry look. “Why do you have to be like that?”
“He won’t be staying long enough for you to be able to ride his bike again.”
“Did he change his mind? I thought he was going to stay here longer. A few minutes ago he was joking that he planned to get on all our nerves over the next few days. Did I misunderstand?” Liz tipped her head to the side and gave Gray a questioning look.
Gray had assumed that Jeff would stay until the next morning, at the latest, and then disappear again. It looked like he was going to have to have a showdown with his brother within the next day or so.
Other than sighing in resignation, Gray gave no indication of his disappointment. He turned around to the counter and pulled from the Chinese restaurant’s plastic bags a series of Styrofoam containers filled with spring rolls, rice, fried noodles, sweet and sour pork, roast duck and other delicacies. He lined them up carefully on the sideboard and then turned back to Liz who’d been watching him the whole time. With a shrug he finally answered her question, “I honestly don’t have any idea how long Jeff will stay. He can be a bit unpredictable.”
Even though it was unlike Gray to answer vaguely, Liz seemed satisfied. She glanced at her watch. “It’s not quite lunchtime yet. Do you mind if I take a quick dip in the pool while you take care of the food?”
“Not if I get a small reward.”
“You want to be rewarded for unpacking the food?” She laughed softly. “That’s pretty shameless.”
She stepped closer to Gray and put her arms around his neck. Gently she pulled his head down toward hers. With the tip of her tongue she teased his upper lip and then she pressed her lips against his with a sigh, kissing him deeply and intimately.
Involuntarily, Gray pressed his body back against hers. While one of his hands traveled through Liz’s tangled, blonde head of hair, he slid the other under her shirt and stroked the silky-smooth soft skin of her stomach, and then to her back. Slowly he pulled her body closer, responding passionately to Liz’s kiss.
Suddenly, a loud cough came from behind them. The two of them turned to look.
“Is this yours, Liz?” With a meaningful look, Jeff held up two pieces of bikini with his right index finger.
“Yes, thanks for bringing it in.” Moving swiftly, Liz slipped out of Gray’s embrace, snatched the bikini from Jeff’s hand, and ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
“I take it that the rest of these things belong to you, brother.” With his other hand, Jeff held up the wet pile of clothes that Gray had left scattered by the lounge chair. His sardonic smile told Gray that he knew exactly what had taken place out there.
“I’m a grown up, little brother, and I have been for years!” With an indulgent laugh, Gray walked up to Jeff and held out his hand for Jeff to hand over his wet clothes. Then he disappeared into the small laundry room at the end of the hall.
“Well, this should be interesting,” Jeff whispered to himself as he stood alone in the kitchen. Satisfied with how things were developing, he slid his hands into his pants pockets and rocked back and forth. Suddenly he felt absolutely certain that he had found the leverage that would finally make Gray’s chilly facade crumble.
Whistling merrily he retrieved his backpack and went upstairs to look for an empty room. Finding one that was obviously not being used, Jeff threw his backpack on the bed and rummaged through it for his bathing suit.
Back in the hallway, he ran into Liz who was wearing the extremely tiny two-piece he’d held in his hands earlier. His eyes wandered admiringly over her perfectly-proportioned, well-toned body. His gaze lingered for a moment on the fresh, thin red scar on her upper right arm and then wandered to the yellow bruises over her ribcage on the left side.
How did she get these injuries? he wondered. But all he said was, “Do you mind if I join you?” He smiled at her boyishly.
“Why should I? It’s a big pool.” She gave him an unreadable expression. “Care to make a bet?”
“Why not?”
“Last one in has to do the dishes later. Agreed?”
“Agreed—” But before the word was even out of his mouth, she was running nimbly for the stairs.
“Hey! You cheat!” Jeff chased Liz down the stairs, through the foyer and kitchen and out onto the patio, trying to catch up before she got to the pool and won.
Laughing loudly, Liz ran past Gray, who was sitting on the patio with Chris having a cup of coffee. She ran as if the devil himself were after her. Alarmed, Gray turned around in his chair just as his brother came through the doorway after her. At the edge of the pool, Jeff finally caught up to her, grabbed her around the waist, and fell with her into the water. Laughing as they resurfaced, they splashed and dunked one another over and over.
Gray gloomily watched for a while before he decided it would be best to put an end to their playful antics. With his lips pressed grimly together, he hauled himself out of his chair, but Chris placed a hand soothingly on his upper arm and held him back.
“Don’t! If what you said earlier is true, what you’re about to do is exactly what he wants. If you cause a scene, he wins.”
“So what should I do then, in your opinion? Sit and watch while he makes a play for her?”
“Whose bed is she sleeping in anyway? Yours or his?”
“Mine, of course!”
“Then there you have it! She belongs to you. Just don’t let him provoke you,” said Chris and gave him an encouraging smile. “Once Jeff notices that this little game isn’t working, he’ll eventually give up on his own.”
A somewhat calmer Gray leaned back in his chair and stared at the sky. He tried to block out the sound of Jeff’s booming voice and Liz’s sparkling laughter. It was hard for him to keep himself composed, but Chris was right. If he lost control, he could lose her, so he put on a brave face.
As Jennifer walked through the glass door, Gray’s forced smile became more sincere. He watched as she sat down and Chris leaned over the armrest toward her, then caressed Jennifer’s cheeks with his fingertips and kissed her ten
derly on the mouth.
At just that moment, a wave of water shot across the table and drenched the couple. In shock, they jerked apart and looked around angrily for the culprit. They didn’t have to look for long. Liz stood behind Gray, resting one hand casually on her hips and swinging an empty bucket back and forth with the other. Gray threw her a look of mild rebuke over his shoulder.
“Hey!” Jennifer shook the water out of her hair and glared over the table at her friend.
“You looked like you needed a little cooling off.” Liz grinned boldly at the couple. An instant later, she dropped the bucket onto the patio tiles and ran away screeching as Jennifer and Chris chased her through the backyard.
She darted back and forth on the grass like a rabbit, trying to escape her pursuers. By constantly changing direction, she managed to keep from being caught for a while. But as her lead got smaller, she cut off in a wide arc toward Gray and, with one great leap, found safety in his lap. “You have to protect me!” She laughed and clung to him, warily keeping her eyes on her approaching pursuers.
“You’re going to drag me into this now too?”
Despite the cold shower that had soaked his T-shirt and jeans, Chris smirked as he delivered his threat to Gray. “Hand her over, or you’re next!”
Gray’s answer was a deep, hearty laugh. He was clearly enjoying having Liz’s arms and legs wrapped around him. Jennifer pulled on one of Liz’s arms, which she’d wrapped tightly around Gray’s neck, and swore loudly. “Let him go! It’s your turn! Help me, Chris!”
“As long as she is clinging to him like a leech, we don’t stand a chance.”
“So then we’ll just have to throw him in too.” Jennifer made another unsuccessful attempt at prying Liz loose from Gray, but all the pulling and tugging didn’t help. Liz remained parked in Gray’s lap, where she sat snickering at them.
“You wouldn’t dare throw me in the pool,” Gray declared happily. He’d all but forgotten about his anger toward his brother, but those feelings came rushing back a moment later.
“Do it! Throw him in with his clothes on. He’s used to that,” Jeff called from the pool. He laughed at the glare Gray threw him.
“If I land in the pool with my clothes on, you will never get out alive!” Gray warned him.
“Oh, no! I’m shaking in my boots!” Jeff laughed again and climbed out of the water, unable to pass up the opportunity. He sauntered over to the small group and squatted down behind Gray’s chair. Liz was still clinging tightly to Gray, and she winked over his shoulder at Jeff and grinned. No trace of fear.
“You’re already wet. Why don’t you just let them throw you into the water? They’ll be satisfied and the hunt will be over.” Jeff reasoned with Liz in the same tone one would use with a stubborn child. “That way, you’ll spare Gray from showing what a bad swimmer he is. He was never very good at it, and he was always trying to get me to teach him.”
Liz leaned back and looked at Gray in wide-eyed amazement. He suddenly looked as though he’d been sucking on lemons.
“You? A lousy swimmer? That thought would never have occurred to me.” Without answering her, Gray took Liz’s arms from his neck, stood up and pressed her into Chris’s arms.
“Excuse me. I have to attend to some urgent business that can’t be put off any longer.” Then he ran after his brother, yelling, “Stop right now so I can give you the beating you should have gotten a long time ago!”
Chris shook his head. He’d seen this altercation between the Blackwood brothers coming. In fact, given what he’d learned about the brothers’ relationship that morning, it seemed that the blow-up between the two was long overdue. Years overdue.
Chris ran a hand over his chin. That morning was the first time that Gray had gone into detail about his relationship with his brother. Even though they had known each other for years and had become good friends, Gray rarely spoke about personal issues or problems. Chris understood and accepted that. After all, there were things in his life that he didn’t want to talk about either.
Jeff shot past Chris for a second time. Gray right on his heels. If Jeff would just quit taunting his brother with sneering laughter, he might have a chance of getting away, thought Chris. But Jeff’s laughter was obviously costing him precious energy and robbing him of the air he needed to breathe. It didn’t surprise Chris that Jeff’s lead was shrinking.
In the farthest corner of the yard, between two small, fuchsia-colored ornamental bushes, Gray finally got close enough to dive for Jeff, and he tackled him to the ground like a football player. After a brief, fierce scuffle, Jeff lay face-down on the grass, his cheek pressed against the short stalks of grass. Gray sat on his back, pinned his brother’s arms with his knees and calmly crossed his arms over his chest.
“I’m waiting for an apology from you!”
“You’ll…have…to…wait…a…long…time,” came Jeff’s muffled reply.
“Yeah, well, we’ll just see about that!” Gray put the flat of his hand against the back of his brother’s head and pressed it firmly, so his face went deeper into the dirt. Then Gray bent over so that his mouth was only inches from Jeff’s left ear. “Do I hear an apology now?” He sounded as calm as if he were asking the time.
“Humph!”
“Was that a yes?”
“Humph!”
He eased the pressure on the back of Jeff’s head and lifted his face out of the dirt so he could get some air. When Gray didn’t hear an apology, he said, “I’m waiting!”
“Even if you hold my face in the mud for hours, you won’t get an apology from me!” Jeff spit grass out of his mouth and gasped for air.
“Fine, then we’ll save that part for later.” Gray jumped to his feet, pulled Jeff up from the ground and threw an arm tightly around his neck. Then, holding Jeff in a headlock, he dragged him with fast, determined steps toward the pool. “Let’s see if a refreshing bath will change your mind, or at least improve your disposition. Now we’ll see which one of us is an embarrassment in swimming.” With one quick move, Gray flung his brother away from him and into the water. But at the last second, Jeff grabbed his jeans and pulled Gray in with him. Gray hadn’t counted on Jeff’s speed, and he swore loudly as he plunged headfirst and fully clothed into the pool—for the second time in one day.
When he resurfaced, his brother greeted him with happy laughter. To be on the safe side, Jeff had put some distance between them and had taken up a position at the other end of the pool, from which he was keeping a wary eye on Gray.
Liz walked over, slid into the water and swam over to Gray with just a few strokes. She kissed him gently and ran the tips of her fingers over the deep frown lines on his forehead. She looked at him questioningly. “What was all that?”
Instead of answering, Gray turned to the side and threw Jeff a glare that promised revenge in the near future.
“Hey!” Liz took his face in both hands and gently forced him to look back at her. “That back there…,” she nodded toward the ornamental bushes without breaking eye contact. “That wasn’t just joking around, was it? How come? You’re brothers, after all.”
“No one wants a brother like him!” Gray said angrily. “He provokes me wherever and whenever he can. It’s been that way for as long as I can remember! I’d just had enough.”
“But I provoke you too.”
“That’s different.” Exasperated, he ran his hand over his face. “Jeff’s not like you. He does it for no reason. You have your reasons…” He sighed. “Even if I don’t really understand them.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Liz asked warily.
“Don’t get me wrong, Liz. Women aren’t easy for men to understand. You’re just wired differently. We have to be more indulgent with you.” The words came out sounding completely wrong.
“Oh really? We’re wired differently? And what about you? You think men are so easy to understand? We didn’t ask for your help, but you and Chris have taken over every decision about our lives. Neither
of us wanted to move in here! We never had the choice. So we had to do something that would get us thrown out. The countertop didn’t do the trick, but we thought your car would. It all seems pretty understandable to me!” She looked at him resentfully.
“Of course it does. That’s because you’re a woman!”
She shouted angrily and struck the water so that it splashed him in the face, then swam to the ladder and climbed out of the pool. Cursing Gray and men in general, she ran toward the house and disappeared inside, ignoring him as he called after her.
“Liz, please come back! We’re not finished!” He slapped his palm on the water in rage. With an irritated look, he turned to his brother. “Perfect! This is all your fault!”
“My fault? Who was it that said women had to be indulged? That was all you.”
“Can I help it if she misunderstood me?” Gray looked around for back up. When he saw the ominous expression on Jennifer’s face, it occurred to him that he might have expressed himself poorly. She squatted down so she could get closer to him and leaned in with a look that clearly reflected her displeasure.
“The next time you want to play the knight in shining armor, ask if the person actually wants your help. We don’t! And we made that clear from the beginning. We could have recuperated very nicely in our own homes. Ever since we got here, you and Chris have treated us like small, immature children.” She stood and looked at him, grim-faced. “If you really think you can constantly ignore what other people want without there being any consequences, well then you aren’t as smart as I thought!” Despite the wet clothes that clung to her body, Jennifer whirled around with perfect grace and disappeared into the house with her head held high.
Chris stayed back so that Jennifer’s rage wouldn’t be directed at him too. As far as he was concerned, it was perfectly fine if only one of them bore the brunt of their anger.
He held out his hand to Gray and pulled him from the water. “That was sure to happen at some point, my friend.” Together they went back to the patio.