Jessica felt truly blessed. She couldn’t have picked a better family to become a part of if she tried. She just wished that one day Abby would be fortunate enough to find someone as great as Justin.
“So this is fun,” Jessica piped out over the loud music pulsating through the speakers at the club. She was sitting with her fiancé, sister, brother and future brother-in-law, although she hadn’t seen much of Sam. He was taking an overseas phone call on his cell. Probably work related since he’d been gone a long time.
When the suggestion arose about going out that night, Abby half-expected herself to reject the idea, opt to stay in and write instead. It was what she usually did.
Instead, Abby had jumped at the idea to come out with her siblings.
“Mm, it is,” Abby replied with a smile. She wasn’t happy to learn she was going out with Sam, but she also didn’t have much of a choice either. She had to keep up appearances with her sister so she didn’t catch onto anything that happened between the two of them.
Both Abby and Jessica looked over at their brother who didn’t look too eager to be sitting with his sisters right now. The sour look on his face said it all.
“What’s the matter, Steven? I would have thought you would be in your element tonight,” Jessica said.
“Why would you assume that? My sisters forced me to come out them tonight when I’d much rather be doing anything other than what I am doing right now. Yeah, I’m having a barrel of fun.” Steven rolled his eyes.
“Well, there’s no need to be rude about it,” Jessica added. “Is it so wrong that I want to hang out with you both?”
“No, but it’s not like you don’t see me all the time. We still live together.”
“Not for long,” Jessica reminded him, toying with the ring on her finger. “And besides, we might live together, but we don’t exactly hang out with each other. I want to change that.”
“Distance makes the heart grow fonder. You don’t need to live in my pocket, just as I don’t with you and Abby. We’re living our lives. I think Mum and Dad would be okay with that.”
“You would,” Jessica mumbled.
Abby could see that someone caught Steven’s attention, a cute blonde across the room. She was striking and a total bombshell, and that was just from the back. When she turned around, she realised she looked familiar.
Alex.
Abby gave her brother a knowing smirk. “Well, we know where your mind went to for a moment there. Is that her?”
“Who are we talking about?” Jessica chimed into the conversation, a little confused, then followed Abby’s gaze towards the other side of the club to a woman with blonde hair who couldn’t be much older than she was.
“Is that the girl you went home with from Jess’s engagement party?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Steven replied. He lifted his beer mug to his lips.
“Yes, you do,” Abby pointed her finger. “I think you forget one important fact about your older sister.”
“What’s that?”
“I’ve got a good memory,” Abby said in a matter of fact tone of voice. “That’s the girl I saw leaving your place early the next morning.” She paused to sip on the straw in her drink. “So what’s her name?”
“Yeah, c’mon, tell me too,” said Jessica. “I think you owe me that much. After all, you did hook up with her at my engagement party.”
“Our engagement party,” Justin chimed in. He wrapped one arm around Jessica, letting her know he was still sitting there in case she forgot.
“Yeah, yeah, our engagement party. I know.” Jessica waved him off. “It’s Alex, right?”
“Yeah. It’s Alex. I already told you her name. And you don’t need to know anything else.”
“Oh, but we do, dear brother,” Jessica commented in a cheerful voice. “We’ll find out anyway so you may as well just tell us.”
“Or, we can just go over and say hello to her. You would be okay with that, right, Steven?” Abby joked. She and Jessica loved to badger Steven into revealing juicy details about his life. They loved it so much that it could almost be their second job. And they were good at it as well.
“You wouldn’t,” Steven challenged.
“Wouldn’t we?” Jessica returned, rising to her feet and linking arms with Abby. “You should know not to dare us.”
Steven ran a hand through his hair, looking over at Justin and shaking his head. “All my life,” he muttered, “I wished Mum and Dad had decided to have another kid. Then maybe I’d have someone to back me up.”
“You’ve got me now, dude.” Justin slapped Steven on his back.
Jessica folded her arms together and frowned at him. “Uh, what about me? I’m almost your wife. You’re supposed to take my side, not my brother’s.”
“We’re not married yet,” Justin was quick to point out. “And while I’ll always have your back, someone has to stand up for your brother. As a fellow guy, I feel like it should be me.”
“Thank you,” Steven surrendered his hands into the air in a hallelujah moment.
“Okay, we won’t do that to you. But as your sisters, we have a right to know about the woman you’re all starry-eyed about,” Abby assured Steven. She had a twinkle in her eye as she sat back down, pulling her dress down a little farther after it crept up her thigh.
“It isn’t every day that I get to see my big brother acting so smitten,” squealed Jessica.
“And now you understand why I don’t tell you about my love life. You harp on and on about the small details.”
“What are you talking about? No, we don’t. Your love life is non-existent for us even to contemplate getting excited over—much like Abby’s. That’s why this is a big freaking deal.”
Abby crossed one leg over the other. “Whoa! Don’t bring my love life into the mix. This isn’t about me. It’s about Steven.”
“I still don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t like Alex. I know the girl. Do I think she’s hot? Yes, or she wouldn’t have been in my bed. Enough about me, let’s go back to Abby. She’s not in a relationship either. I don’t see you prying into her life.”
“Believe me. We’ll get to Abby’s non-existent love life as well but for the moment, I’m talking about yours. You remember her name. That’s got to be able to count for something. I think there is a small part of you that might feel something for Alex. Of course, you’re going to deny it because you don’t do feelings or relationships.”
“You’re right. I don’t do all that touchy-feely shit women do, and I don’t feel anything for Alex. Of course, I know her name. I’m not so careless that I would hook up with women without knowing their name. Tonight is the first I’ve seen her, let alone thought about her since we hooked up.”
“Sure, sure,” Jessica pretended to believe her brother’s words. She turned her attention to Abby, flipping her long hair over one shoulder. “So Abby…” she said, changing the subject. “How about you? Are there any eligible men in New York City you’re interested in?” Her sister’s interrogating question almost made Abby spit out the mouthful of drink she was sipping, but she managed to swallow it.
At that exact moment, Sam returned to their table carrying a beer in his hand. He sat down beside his brother. Abby couldn’t help but look his way, taking note of his incredible blue eyes. Had they been that blue the night they hooked up?
“Sorry about that,” Sam said, his American drawl rolling off his tongue as he talked. “I had to take an urgent call from the hospital.”
For a second, Abby was thankful for Sam’s precipitous return. It meant she was no longer the topic of conversation. Despite the fact that Jessica’s heart was in the right place, Abby’s personal life was none of her business.
“Oh, it’s okay,” Jessica responded before she returned her focus toward Abby. “Well, Abby? Are there any men that you’re interested in?”
Abby gulped, breathing in a deep breath before she made eye contact with Sam. She was
unable to look away. His alluring blue eyes sent goose bumps up her arms. Why was the man so intoxicating? Abby looked away before the others became suspicious of anything between them.
“Yeah, c’mon, Sis,” Steven chimed, raising his beer into the air. “You know everything about my life. It’s only fair that we ask about your life in the big apple. That’s what siblings do. We share stories.”
Abby drew in a deep breath. “Well, of course, there have been men. I’m not a nun. But has any one of them been worthy enough for an ongoing relationship? The answer is no. They all want one thing, and I’m just not looking for that anymore. But I’m also not letting the fact that I’m single at twenty-eight get me down, either. I’m happy as I am.”
No one said one word in response. Were they in awe by her choice to be a single woman and live an independent lifestyle?
Abby had made her mark in the world as a successful author without a man by her side. While she knew it might be nice to go home to a boyfriend or husband, she also wasn’t going to go out of her way to find a man, either. She would get married when the time was right. Right now, it was Jessica’s time.
“Marriage isn’t everything, anyway.” Sam cut in, downing a sip of beer. He looked over at his brother and Jessica. “I know you are planning to get married. That’s why I’m here. For me and others in this world, marriage is just not something I’d like to consider again. Especially given what an epic disaster my first one was.”
Abby supposed she couldn’t blame Sam for his opinion. If she had to guess, it seemed that Sam had been the one to leave the marriage broken-hearted and rejected. But she found it hard to imagine a woman walking away from a guy like Sam.
No one said anything after that. It wasn’t until Sam raised his glass, paying due attention to his brother and Jessica. “That said, I wish you nothing but lots of love, laughter and happiness,” he said, offering up a toast. “To Justin and Jessica.”
Abby couldn’t have said it better herself, although she wished her sister knew her groom-to-be a little better. She wished Jessica a lifetime of happiness—much like the kind of love they saw between their parents.
“Justin and Jessica,” they all said in harmony.
Out of the corner of Abby’s eye, she could have sworn Sam was watching her with a smile and perhaps a twinkle in his eye.
Abby and Jessica wove around the crowds of the club towards the bar to order another round of drinks. Steven’s latest conquest was sitting at the bar with a group of her girlfriends.
As Abby ordered the drinks, Jessica took the opportunity to pry some information out of her.
“Hi,” Jessica said, sitting down on the empty stool next to the blonde in the little black dress that hugged her curves perfectly.
Alex looked over at her with raised eyebrows. “Um, hello.” She smiled. “Do I know you?”
“I don’t think so, but it depends if you’re any good at remembering the guests you serve drinks to when you’re working at an event. Your company catered my engagement party last week.”
“Oh.” Alex’s brows drew together, and she appeared a little nervous.
“Do you remember me?”
“I remember the event, but I can’t say that I remember you. Sorry. My memories are a little hazy from that night,” Alex said, shaking her head.
“Big night?”
“You could say that.”
Abby joined them, carrying a tray of drinks. “Hi, I’m Abby. Her sister.” Abby nodded towards Jessica.
“Alex. Have we met before?”
“I think so—”
Steven made a dramatic entrance into his sister’s budding conversation with Alex. “Abby! Jessica! There you are. Sam, Justin and I were just wondering where you got. We thought you had gotten lost on the way to the bar and thought we better send out a search party.”
Jessica slapped her older brother on the shoulder. “Oh, you’re so funny,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Yeah, I know I’m—” Steven stopped mid sentence. “Alex?”
Alex laughed. “That’s me. And you’re Steven, right?”
Abby watched with interest. It was playing out like a scene from one of her romance books. Abby couldn’t be sure if Alex really couldn’t remember her brother’s name or if she was just pretending that she didn’t.
“I am. How are you?”
Abby watched his Adam’s apple bob up and down. Steven’s discomfort was quite amusing, she thought with a smile.
“I’m good. How are you?” Alex said.
Steven ran a hand through his hair. “Uh, yeah, I’m good,” he muttered.
Alex blushed prettily, then turned towards her friends who were motioning her over to a table. “I, um, I should go, but it was nice to see you again.” Abby watched on as her brother made eye contact with Alex. It was brief, but she was pretty sure she saw the fires of romance smouldering there before Alex turned to speak to Jessica. “Nice meeting you. Good luck with your wedding.”
Then just like that, she was gone. And Steven just stood there, looking a bit dazed. Abby didn’t know that her brother could be so tongue-tied around women. He usually couldn’t be shut up, intent on working his charm on his latest sexual prey.
In that instant, Abby knew Alex and her brother were going to be a couple. They just didn’t know it yet.
After a lingering pause, Steven finally noticed their eyes on him. “What?”
“Uh, yeah, I’m good,” Jessica mimicked him in a deep voice, and then returned to her normal voice to ask, “What’s the matter? Did the cat have your tongue? Couldn’t you have said something else? Anything else. She likes you.”
“You’re delusional. We had one night together. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Abby placed one hand on her hip. “Delusional? Even I could see there was a definite spark between the two of you. Only you can’t see it because you’re clueless when it comes to romance.”
Steven wrapped one arm around Abby and the other around Jessica. “Then it’s a good thing I have you two to help me out. Where have you been all my life? With your help, I could get any girl I desire.” Abby knew he was sarcastic. Steven wasn’t one to ask for his sister’s advice despite how much they wanted to dish it out to him.
“Well, we’ve tried helping you, but you never let us.”
“And I still don’t want your help. There’s nothing more between Alex and me than one fantastic night together. She was an incredible lay. That’s all. I didn’t expect to see her tonight.”
Abby pulled out of her brother’s arm with a disgusted look on her face. “Too much information, little brother.”
“Yeah, that’s more than I needed to know, too,” Jessica added. “We don’t need to know about your sex life.”
Steven gave them a goofy smile and laughed. “Yeah, well, maybe you’ll think twice before attempting to interfere. If you don’t want to know the juicy details, then don’t ask me about my life. These are the consequences of your actions.”
Jessica batted her eyelashes towards Steven. “But—”
Steven silenced his sister. “When I want your help with women, I’ll ask for it.”
“Okay,” Abby agreed. She observed as Steven’s focus extended past the two of them towards a woman with a curvaceous body in a figure-hugging dress and vibrant red hair.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go and familiarise myself with a new friend.”
Abby rolled her eyes while Jessica folded her arms over her chest.
“Um, you’re here to bond with your sisters and celebrate my pending wedding, not find a new playmate.”
Steven took his beer from the tray Abby was holding, and kissed both of his sisters on the cheek. “Hey! There will be many other occasions to hang out with you, but work doesn’t allow me to socialise with women too much if you know what I mean.”
“Oh, we are aware of what you mean. Have fun, but please be safe,” Abby pleaded with her brother.
“Yes,
Mum, but don’t worry about me. I’m a big boy and can take good care of myself. Besides, it won’t be too late of a night. I have to work in the morning.”
And then with that—Abby and Jessica got ditched for something better. They would now become a group of four although Abby wasn’t sure whether she should be happy or sad about that.
“So can I get us another drink?” Justin asked, getting to his feet.
Abby shook her head. “No thanks.”
“Another round, Sam? Your usual?” Justin asked his brother. Abby watched Sam signal a response by nodding his head towards Justin.
“Do you want anything, Jess?”
Abby watched her sister scrunch up her nose. She knew what that meant. Jessica could never decide what she wanted to eat or drink whenever they went out together.
“I’ll come with you because I can’t decide what I want,” Jessica said as she got to her feet and walked away to the bar with Justin, leaving Abby and Sam alone together.
Abby and Sam sat there in silence, either of them knowing what to say to each other.
“So you having fun?” Sam asked her, breaking the ice.
Was he as tense as Abby was feeling too?
“I guess.” Abby shrugged her shoulders. “This isn’t my thing. More Jessica and Steven’s idea of a night out. But it’s okay. What about you?”
“Justin talked me into the idea. I would have preferred a quiet night in front of the television. Or taking in some of the sights that Sydney has to offer.”
“Wait!” Abby raised a hand in the air. “You haven’t seen Sydney’s sights and main attractions yet?”
Sam shook his head.
“I guess we will have to change that then,” Abby admitted.
“Is that your offer to show me around?” Sam asked her. Abby could sense that hope was filling his voice.
Was she offering to show him around? It certainly sounded like it, but Abby didn’t think she would want to spend more time with him than she already was.
“I guess it is my offer to be your tour guide,” she told him. “You can’t leave Sydney without visiting the Opera House, Luna Park or even climbing the Harbour Bridge.”
Back to Me without you (Sibling Love Book 1) Page 9