“What the…”
“Trust me,” I huffed, squeezing my eyes together as tight as I could, trying to erase the image replaying in my mind. “You don’t want to go in there right now.”
“Oh crap! They’re going at it again, aren’t they?”
The laugh exploded from me before I even knew it was coming. The look of pure disgust on Carly’s cute face was comical. She looked like she’d stepped in something nasty. Nodding, I swiped away the tear that ran down my face. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d laughed so hard it brought tears to my eyes.
“Wanna head to the pub and grab a beer?”
“Or something stronger,” I agreed, quickly dashing down the stairs two at a time.
After the first beer I felt slightly better. Slightly. The second was making everything much easier though. Surprisingly, Carly was a lot of fun. We had little in common, but somehow that didn’t stop us laughing. A whole lot.
“So, you’ve endured this before?” I dared to ask. I don’t know what compelled me to. Maybe I just didn’t want to be the only person scarred for life at the sight of my brother with his pants around his ankles, his white hairy ass pounding into his girlfriend as she was bent over the kitchen bench.
“I wish. I come home to that at least once a week.” At her confession, Carly picked up her glass, and in one long, strangely sexy swallow, gulped down the rest of her drink.
“And you keep going back for more?”
“I know. I’m pathetic!” She banged her head against the table dramatically.
“How do you stomach it?”
“Believe it or not, it’s not the worst part.”
“How the hell can it not be? Please tell me you’re not one of those people who like to watch?” I couldn’t believe I just blurted that out. In public. Or even at all. This was certainly not a normal conversation for strangers to have.
She giggled and it was damn right adorable. Taking my glass from my hands, she winked at me and took a chug. “You should hear them.” Watching her finish my beer almost had me coming in my pants. The way her neck moved with every swallow. The pink blush that stained her cheeks. The way her eyes never left mine. Hell, I don’t even think she blinked as she downed the amber ale.
“Hell no! Another round?” I was going to be smashed at this rate. Or at least Carly was. Right now though, I couldn’t summon the energy to care. All I wanted to do was sit here with this beautiful woman and have another drink or two. And maybe a thick, juicy gravy smothered steak. Hell yeah! That’s exactly what I wanted.
Walking back to the table, I couldn’t help but stare. Carly was gorgeous. And not in a slutty look-at-me way, either. She was curvy in all the right places. She wasn’t afraid of a little dirt. Was stubborn as a mule. Could drink like a fish. Swear like a sailor. Laugh like a hyena. She was real. And someone I really wanted to get to know. That alone scared the living crap out of me.
I wasn’t looking for anything serious right now. It wasn’t that I was afraid of commitment…not at all. It was more like I had priorities. A list of things to do. I wasn’t about to let anything or anyone fuck up my plans. Unfortunately, right now, the most important thing on my list was my career. I wouldn’t turn down a few nights of fun…fuck, I was still a dude…but Carly wasn’t a roll in the hay kinda girl. She might not know it, she might say she doesn’t even want it, but even in the short amount of time I’d spent with her, I knew Carly was a forever type of girl. One that didn’t deserve to be screwed around.
She was tapping away on her phone and didn’t see me watching her. It was perfect. For a few long seconds, I just stood there. Watching her. The smile that danced on her lips and the way her eyes widened had me itching to see whatever it was she was looking at. If something made her light up like that, then I wanted to know what it was.
Back at the table, I handed her another beer and set down the table number. Just when I was about to say something, a heavy paw clamped down on my shoulder. Spinning around, I came face to face with my very happy, very satisfied big brother’s cheesy grin.
“What’re you doing here, little brother?”
Biting my tongue, I kept all the smart ass remarks to myself…a challenge within itself. “Just having dinner.”
“With Carly?”
“Hey Carly.” Payton laughed as she slipped onto the stool beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist and placing a kiss on her cheek.
“Hi. You feeling relaxed now?”
“What do you mean ‘now’?”
“Nothing.”
“Carly…you’re a shitty liar, you know that?”
“Payton…let it go,” Carly tried to deflect. I couldn’t stifle the chuckle. I knew exactly what she was talking about. It was a shame I couldn’t blurt it out and make them as uncomfortable as I was.
“What? Come on…just tell me!”
“No.”
“Carly!” Payton whined like a two-year-old who’d just been told she couldn’t have donuts for dinner. If she dropped to the carpet and started kicking her legs and screaming her lungs out, I wouldn’t be surprised.
“What’d I miss?” Beau asked, returning from the bar and handing Payton a glass of wine.
“Carly won’t tell me why she’s being so sneaky.”
I offered Carly a half shrug in support. Stuff them. I didn’t care. “When I brought Carly home, we walked in on you two getting funky.”
“What?”
Payton’s face turned bright red instantly and Beau’s smile grew even wider. Smug bastard wasn’t apologetic at all. Instead, he was disgustingly proud of himself.
“Carly…you didn’t…”
“Yep! Your white hairy ass was the first thing I saw when I pushed open the door.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh.”
“Who had the steak, medium rare with mushroom sauce?” The waitress interrupted our awkwardness. As I raised my hand to accept the meal, we all laughed hard. The whole thing was better off forgotten and bleached from my memory. The sooner the better.
As more food arrived, we quickly moved on and enjoyed our dinner. It was almost midnight when we stumbled back down the road to Payton’s apartment. I’d only been inside a couple of times since Payton moved in, mainly dropping off more of Beau’s crap, but with the four of us standing around the island bench, it suddenly felt very small. Too small.
“So Carly, you plan on staying in our little slice of heaven?” Beau asked, trying to be polite.
The problem with Beau was I knew him. Probably better than he’d like. While his words may have been polite and his question seemingly innocent, I knew beneath the water lurked a shark. A hungry one who smelt blood.
“I was thinking of making it my home base for a while. I like it here. It’s quiet. Peaceful. I can get my editing done and even take some pictures. Without interruptions. Well, most of the time, anyway.” She smirked at me and all I could do was offer her a half-hearted shrug.
She was right. I’d interrupted her moment. She’d missed the sunset because of me. The issue was, I didn’t regret it. Not one little bit. Spending time with her tonight, even before Payton and Beau crashed our party, it’d been the most fun I’d had in, well, in a very long time.
“Sounds like a plan. Will you be around for Christmas?” I don’t know what made me ask that one. Christmas was one of those personal times. People went home to their families and spent time with their loved ones. Christmas was the one time of year when all of the bullshit and drama were temporarily forgotten while everyone gorged themselves. At least that’s what I was hoping for this year. If that happened, if that was even a possibility, it would be a Christmas miracle really. Especially if Mum decided to show her face.
“Don’t even waste your breath, Gage.” Payton sighed heavily as she leant into Beau. I watched as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and held her close. When he sniffed her hair he should have looked like a creeper, yet for some reason he didn’t. Instead he looked like a fool
in love. Jealousy surged within me and I was forced to shake it off. “I’ve tried convincing her to stay and spend Christmas with me, but she’s been summoned home.”
“Where’s home?”
“Sydney.”
Carly didn’t look one bit impressed with the idea. There was definitely a story there, and strangely enough, I wanted to hear it. Later though. Later I would drag the details from her.
“That’ll be nice. See your family. Do you have brothers and sisters?”
Beau growled at me as his fist landed in the centre of my chest, knocking the wind out of me. “What the fuck?”
“Gage. Shut. The. Fuck. Up.”
“What the hell was that all about?”
“Nothing. Beau’s just being a caveman,” Payton apologised. “Yes, Gage, Carly has an older brother, Hayden.”
At the mention of his name, Beau snarled and tightened his grip on Payton’s. The way his fingers were digging into her bare skin, I’d swear she was going to have bruises tomorrow.
“Anyway, Hayden was my fiancé. He’s pretty much the reason I packed up and moved out of Sydney until I landed here. With you guys.”
I wasn’t an idiot despite what Beau might think. I knew there was a hell of a lot more to that brief history lesson, but I wasn’t going to pry, at least not tonight. Payton may have been through some heavy shit, but one look at her now and you couldn’t deny she’d landed on her feet. People raved about her bakery. I’d never seen my boof-headed big brother that disgustingly smitten before. Payton may have been put through the wringer, but she’d certainly come out on top.
“Right…enough with the heavy. Who wants a drink and who wants to crash?” Beau decided.
“I need sleep,” Carly yawned.
“Well, I guess that’s my cue…”
“Gage! Where do you think you’re going? You’ve been drinking. You’re not going anywhere tonight.”
Payton’s scolding tone made me imagine what it was like to have a mother. A real mother. One who gave a shit about her kids more than the wrinkles on her forehead. A mother who put her children’s welfare above everything else. One look at Payton and I knew I wasn’t leaving her apartment. Not tonight anyway. Not while there was alcohol in my system. I should have been pissed at the idea, but I wasn’t. If anything, I was a tad excited.
“Yes, Mum,” I groaned, faking my annoyance.
“Gage…” Beau’s warning was received loud and clear.
“It’s fine. Where do you want me then?”
Payton stuttered, “W-well…Carly’s on the couch…”
“So…your bed then, Payton?” It was too good of an opportunity to pass up not to poke the slightly drunk, overly possessive bear that was my brother.
“Gage, watch it. I pummelled your ass before, don’t think I won’t do it again.”
Beau was so damn predictable. He couldn’t help but bite. Without a word, he moved Payton to the other side of him—further away from me. I’d never touch Payton, I wasn’t that sort of asshole. That didn’t mean though I couldn’t enjoy watching Beau squirm.
“You’re on the floor. Don’t fucking try anything.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I couldn’t stop myself from winking.
Before I had a chance to continue torturing them, a pillow was thrown at my head and Payton was swept off her feet and tossed over Beau’s shoulder. He was a caveman marking his territory. It was damn hilarious.
“Put me down!” she squealed unconvincingly.
I watched as Beau swatted Payton’s ass before the bedroom door slammed and rattled the glasses on the bench. I looked at Carly, Carly looked back at me, and we both burst out into a fit of laughter.
“Right. I need a shot, then I’m hitting the sack. Join me?”
The last thing I needed right now was more booze in my system. If anything, I needed to sober up and get back to my place as soon as I could. As much fun as Beau and Payton were, and as hot as Carly was, I liked my space. Today had been full on. I needed some time on my own to decompress.
“Sure.”
One shot turned into two, and before I knew it, I’d downed five shots of tequila and I was singing at the top of my lungs. Carly was a bad influence.
Chapter Four
Carly
Oh my god, Gage could snore. It wasn’t yet six in the morning and I’d already kicked him twice, kneed him in the ass, and tossed a pillow at his head. Nothing helped. If it wasn’t for the smell of coffee wafting from behind me, I wouldn’t be held responsible for whatever happened next.
“He been like this all night?” Payton asked, handing me a steaming mug. She was already covered head to toe in flour and her hair was mussed up. I chose to believe it was because she’d already been dancing her booty off in the kitchen and not from Beau’s ‘help.’ It wouldn’t be the first time they’d gotten freaky on the stainless benches. Sadly, I doubted it would be the last.
“Pretty much,” I confirmed as I took a sip, burning my tongue.
“Like his brother.”
“How do you sleep at night?”
“Easy…he wears me out first.”
The coffee I’d managed to get down almost came back up. Despite hearing it more often than I wanted to, despite walking in and witnessing it with my own eyes, the last thing I wanted, especially first thing in the morning, was the gory details. Those could only be handled with a few dozen cocktails.
“I need to shower. And now.”
“Should we wake sleeping beauty?”
“Why the hell not? He’s woken the whole neighbourhood by now. Why should he get to sleep in?” I shrugged as I tossed the blanket to the floor and padded towards the bathroom. I hoped Beau had already left, otherwise he was about to see more of my ass than he wanted.
Standing under the water, I let the aches and pains leave my body. The water burned when it touched my raw skin. Ignoring the pain, I lathered up my hair and relaxed. While I was shaking my ass and brushing my teeth, a pounding came on the door.
“You going to be long?”
“Ummm…” I still had a mouthful of minty toothpaste, my hair was slick with conditioner, and I hadn’t even begun to shave my legs yet.
“All good. Look I have to get to work. I’m going to borrow Payton’s car. Beau can bring it back later. I’ll catch up with you later, I’m sure. But if I don’t see you, have a good Christmas.”
I should have been embarrassed that I’d cracked open the glass door, leaving a puddle on the tiles as I listened to Gage wish me a Merry Christmas. I should have been, but I wasn’t.
Forgetting about the gorgeous man who’d handed me one too many shots and who I was now personally blaming for the pounding in my head, I went back to my shower and danced my ass off. I was going to have an awesome day. I had pictures to edit, a website to update, and emails to return. Then I probably should think about Christmas shopping. It was the one part of Christmas I could actually tolerate. The family lunch was going to be torture. The bullshit parties and fake friends I’d be forced to endure would be even worse. Then there was Hayden. I had no idea what I was supposed to say to him. I still wanted to kick him in the nuts for the way he’d treated Payton. It wasn’t something I was going to get over in a hurry.
By eleven o’clock I was starving. Trying to work above a bakery that doubled as a coffee shop was torture. I’d only been here a few short weeks and already my pants were feeling a tad snug around the waist.
Dismissing the fat, frumpy feeling, I grabbed my tablet and bounded downstairs, following my nose. I wasn’t surprised to see Payton sitting in a booth sipping her own drink, gasbagging with her girlfriends. After swiping one of Payton’s famous—or infamous, if you asked my ever-expanding thighs—cinnamon scrolls and filling my mug…yep, I had my own Harry Potter mug tucked away under the counter…I wandered over and joined them.
“I can’t believe it’s only a handful of weeks before you finally marry Derek,” Payton gushed.
Standing a few steps bac
k, I watched as Payton’s eyes glazed over with envy. It surprised me, but at the same time it didn’t. When Payton had been engaged to my brother, I was her maid of honour. I’d stood beside her while she’d tried on dress after dress. Not once in all those months while we planned her very proper, very traditional wedding, did she look as drunk on love as she did in that moment.
“Day after Australia Day,” Mia confirmed.
“I bet it’s bloody hot.”
“Hope not. Otherwise I’ll sweat my boobs off!”
“What boobs?” Josie tossed back with a snicker. Mia was a tiny little thing and her chest was as flat as a board.
“Seriously though, Mia, who plans a wedding in the middle of nowhere at the end of January? The cake will melt before you even get a chance to cut it.”
“Well, you’ll just have to make it extra delicious then so it won’t matter what it looks like.”
“Way to go, Mia. Don’t put too much pressure on the poor girl. Carly! Carly, come join us. Surely you’ve been to like a million weddings by now. Tell me, has the cake ever melted before the happy couple have had a chance to cut it?” Josie invited me into the conversation.
Slipping into the booth, I bit into the scroll and wiped the icing that’d dribbled down my chin. It was delicious as usual. “Never seen a cake melt. Saw a few people have one too many glasses of champagne and end up asleep before the speeches even began though.”
“See?” Josie exclaimed, clapping her sister on the back, “Nothing to worry about. Payton will build you a huge, delicious cake and everything will be perfect. Now, enough about you and your wedding, Mia. We need to figure out what’s going on with Carly here, and Beau’s little brother, Gage.”
I snorted.
I actually snorted.
“There’s nothing to tell.”
“I don’t believe that. When I was out jogging early this morning, I happened to see Gage climbing down the stairs. Now, since Beau’s truck was parked on the street, one can only assume one of two things?”
“T-two-things?” I stuttered, a little unsure where this was heading.
Meet The McIntyres - The Complete Series Page 24