"You’re adults, so whatever you were doing needs to stop!" Liv takes a deep breath. "I'm going out and we never mention this again." She grabs the door handle and slams the door closed as we all stand there.
"Were they-"
"Shut the fuck up Brady!"
Loud roaring laughter starts up the other side of the door and Liv gives the door a scathing look that makes even me shrink back.
"I need coffee." She groans.
We follow silently as Liv and Noah lead the way downstairs. Brady and I stay a little back, covering our laughter with our hands. Our eyes catch for a moment and hold. It brings back the realization I had earlier. He's still my Brady.
***
"And then he had the fucking nerve to look me in the eye as he did it." Liv takes a break from the rant she's been at for the past half an hour about animals. "I mean, don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t hurt one, I just don’t want one."
"I thought you wanted a puppy?" Noah smirks.
"That’s until Dickwad over there came back with rat face."
"Yo, don’t talk shit about Brian when he's not here to defend himself. Two faced fuckers." Brady snaps, his eyes flashing.
I sit there quietly with a smile on my face, thoroughly entertained. Who would have thought me bringing up how much Bailey likes Brian would have started this? I'm still not quite un sure of how Bailey knows Brian though. The way she's been talking about him the past week, you'd think he was her best friend. I still haven’t got the chance to ask my Mom about it yet, but I will. There’s just something niggling in the back of my mind about it.
"Oh fuck, speaking of rat faces." Liv mumbles, ducking her head down and grabbing Noah’s hand lying on the wooden table top.
"What?" He asks, looking around the place.
Liv shoots me a look. Maybe I'm psychic or maybe it’s just intuition but I have a bad feeling that I know just who she's talking about.
"Who you talking about blondie?" Brady spins his head around and I know the exact moment he finds his target. His whole body tenses up next to me, I can feel it in the arm brushed against mine. "Oh shit. I fucking hate that guy."
I turn around, though I don’t really need to. As expected, there at the counter making an order with a very pissed off Avery is Chris. Who would have thought that two whole years since graduation and the guy is still on the number one most hated list? All the movies and books portraying guys and girls as changing after high school, finding themselves and becoming better people is bull crap. They didn’t meet Chris Lyons, the jerk. His slicked back hair gives him that extra slime ball look and part of me wants to hide under the table to avoid his serpent like stare that hasn’t found us yet.
I quickly turn around, figuring that even though Franklin is small, he may not recognize us by the backs of our heads.
"Stop looking." I hiss, pulling Brady's arm.
I was with Brady for a long time so I like to think I know him pretty well. I know he likes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Jimmy Fallon. I know he despises banana milkshake because apparently it’s a con to get kids to have fruit. I know, I won’t even touch upon that one. I also know that right this second, he's like a ticking time bomb because no matter how laid back he is with his cheeky sense of humor and clown persona, Brady never forgets.
He's never forgotten Martin Bain tackling him on his first time as a starter for the high school football team, despite the game having ended twenty seconds before. He's never forgotten that Noah accidentally broke his Power Rangers lunch box in the first grade, a fact he reminds Noah of in every disagreement. He's definitely never forgotten Chris Lyons telling me that I should be somewhere sucking Brady’s dick instead of being in his business in our Senior year. Yeah, that almost ended with Chris buried in the backyard when Brady found out. We actually had a huge fight over it because he started talking like the Godfather about retribution and disrespect and I grew balls for a second and told him to get a grip.
"Just act natural." I mumble through the side of my mouth.
"Cindy, you're the only one acting weird. What’s up with you?" Liv asks with raised eyebrows.
Ok, ok maybe I'm also a huge chicken concerning confrontation. Just the thought of some kind of argument in the middle of Annabelle’s because Chris won’t be able to keep shut his uncontrollable mouth has the shakes coming on.
Just as I think we've dodged a bullet, some chipper whistling drifts to my ears. I squeeze my eyes shut. Surely Chris isn’t this stupid?
"Well, look who it is." He cheers, standing in front of the table as four sets of eyes proceed to give him evil glares.
"Chris." Noah grunts as Liv rolls her eyes.
Considering Noah's already given Chris a knuckle sandwich more than once, you'd think the awkward stone cold silence would be coming from him. No, instead it comes from the guy sitting next to me. The devilishly handsome, funny as hell guy who’s staring at his empty coffee cup as if he can telekinetically force it against Chris' temple.
"Travers, Cooper." Chris nods before giving Liv the same polite nod, not daring to look at her too intently. After all, she's just as likely to cause him to lose some teeth as Noah is.
Me, I’m not so lucky. I shuffle in my seat as he gives me a look that lasts far too long to be casual. If I was sassy like Liv, I'd tell him to take a hike but I'm just sweet ole' Cindy. My discomfort rises a few levels since I’m pretty sure I can hear Brady growling next to me. I’m not sure what to make of that. Maybe he has something stuck in his throat because I only thought guys growled in books.
"Nice to see you again, Cindy. Our chat the other day was way too brief." His words cause me to slink into my chair even more.
If I thought Brady's body couldn’t get any more rigid, I was wrong. Very, very wrong.
"Hmm." I hum, staring into my own empty cup.
"Such a shame you two broke up." His voice is genuine but the sly smirk on his face isn’t.
"You told him we broke up?" Brady hisses.
"Avery did." I shrug.
Chris leans down and lies an elbow on the corner of the table, getting way to o near for my liking.
"So, now you're single I was thinking-" His words die off as the chair next to me scrapes back loudly against the floor.
"Ok, how about me and you take this outside and I paint your smarmy fucking face all over the street." Brady takes a menacing step towards Chris who puts his hands up mockingly.
"Brady..." Noah warns, standing up himself, reading to jump into action where needed.
I just want to crawl away. Considering that all the guys are too busy pissing over each other, I don’t think anybody would notice.
"I'm sorry Cooper, I thought she was fair game."
"Well she's fucking not so keep your fucking slimy hands off my girl before I fucking cut them off. Capiche dickhead?"
I'm sitting right here yet they’re all acting like I don’t even exist. "Maybe she got tired of your pin dick and wants to try a real man." Okay, Chris is just digging his own grave now.
"Are you stupid? Motherfucker, I'll whip my fucking so called pin dick out right now on this table and show you what a real fucking man is!"
"Ok, ok." Liv stands up and I can only lie my head in my hands. "This is getting way too weird. Dickwad sit your ass down. Noah, you too. You-" She points in Chris' face. "Fuck off now. Cindy’s doesn’t want you and right now you’re just asking for an ass kicking so leave."
"Still a macho bitch I see, Liv." Chris sneers.
"The fuck did you just say?" Noah growls.
Liv places a hand on his arm and he turns to look at her.
"Just fuck off Chris, go and bother someone else."
"Come find me when you're done with this loser Cindy. I'll show you tricks this douche could only dream of." He winks.
"You fucking-"
"Brady!" I snap.
Chris turns around and walks round the tables as Noah, Liv and Brady stare daggers at his back. The bell above the door chimes as he walks out.
"Fuck off."
"Why the hell would you say that?" Liv shakes her head.
"I got a way bigger dick than that prick. Right Cinders?"
Are they serious? Just a moment ago there was almost a brawl in the middle of Annabelle’s quaint little coffee shop and now they’re cracking jokes about Brady’s stupid dick pride.
"I'm not a bone." I almost growl though with my soft voice; it comes out as more of a cracked squeal.
"Huh?" He frowns.
"You." I point towards the door. "Just. Acting like I'm a piece of meat."
"He was being a fucking ass."
"He was only being an ass to annoy you. Four years of high school and he never once took an interest in me in a romantic way." Quite the opposite actually. I was one of the chosen few he liked to constantly rip apart.
"Douche was probably biding his time." He grumbles.
"She’s right, he was just pushing our buttons." Noah runs his hands through his dark hair. "Fuck, I could have got fired if I hit him."
"Don’t worry babe." Liv consoles. "I don’t think there’s a person alive that wouldn’t like to teach that asshole a lesson."
"You saw him the other day." Brady glares at me. I don’t particularly like his tone. It sounds a bit too accusing for my liking.
"Excuse me." I'm a little confused with where the conversation is going around me and frankly, last I checked who I saw was none of Brady’s business.
"You saw him. " He grates out.
"Yes, he was here. It was the day after I got into town. Liv was here." My voice rises with every word. "Why, what difference does it make?"
"Just don’t get why you wouldn’t mention it."
"Ok." I nod. "I'm leaving."
"What?" I'd have some sympathy for the panicked look on Brady’s face right now if he wasn’t acting like such an ass.
"I said I'm leaving. I haven’t got time for this Brady and you're acting like a jerk." I don’t know why I’m feeling so pissed off but I know that right this second, the balls have made a comeback and I need to step away.
I ignore Brady’s grumblings as I stand up and make my way round the table to give Liv a hug and Noah some kind of fist pump. I give Brady a look that I hope makes it clear that he should have just kept his damn mouth shut.
"Bye Brady." I wave and walk away with my head held high.
I'm feeling pretty proud at the moment. I manage to navigate around the cluttered tables without once banging my hip into a corner or tripping over my own feet. I also don’t look back at all. Gone are the days of being a pushover and this feels so good. I don’t know why I didn’t do this before.
"Cindy, wait up." I hear Brady’s voice just as I reach for the handle of the door but completely ignore it.
I'm on a roll here. I'm walking away from the disagreement or situation or whatever it is with my pride intact and feeling pretty damn good about myself. The bell rings and I step out into the humid Georgia heat.
"Cindy, seriously." I feel a large hand wrap around my arm carefully, not too hard and finally come to a stop with the door hitting Brady in the ass.
"I’m sorry." He says.
"What for?"
"Well, um, fuck."
"You don’t know do you?" I ask.
He shrugs, looking genuinely apologetic but I have a feeling he’s more apologetic over not being apologetic than over anything that’s just happened.
"Look, I’m fucking sorry if I just embarrassed you."
"Where have you been the last week?" I whimper out, shocked at my own forwardness as well as embarrassed by the weakness in my voice.
"Why, you missed me?" He smirks, his eyes lighting up with something I can’t quite put my finger on.
"You were just forward the other day, I thought I'd hear some more from you or you'd at least try harder. I guess you lost interest huh?" Wow. I'm on a roll here. I even raise one eyebrow without looking all weird. At least I don’t think I do, but seeing as Brady hasn’t burst out laughing I'll take that as a good sign.
A lost look takes over Brady’s face as if he has no idea what I'm talking about.
"Why the fuck would I have lost interest?" He frowns. "I told you I missed you. Told you I wasn’t letting you get away."
"And then radio silence."
"Well I put my cards on the table Cinders. I'm not a stalker or anything." He looks behind him through the glass of the door, right at the table Noah and Liv are sitting at if I’m not mistaken.
"What do you want from me Brady?"
"Just you." He shrugs. "Always just you. I'm just too much of a damn fool not to have appreciated you when I had you."
Does it make me weak that his words send my stomach into freefall and practically place the remaining piece of my heart still in my chest right into his hands.
"Oh." I answer, dumbly.
"Listen, Bob the bastard is having that fourth of July bore fest he does every fucking year. Come to it with me."
I stare at him for a few seconds, debating whether to tell him I’m busy or to jump in his arms and agree to go. I’m still not completely pacified over the whole week long silence thing he had going on. I’m trying to be a new Cindy though, not runaway Cindy who buries her head, sweeps crap under the carpet and hides a shaking hand under the table because there may be an argument.
"Ok."
Chapter 11
Brady
I’m a genius. I’m a goddamn motherfucking genius. Noah said it was stupid, Tucker thought it was crazy but I knew. I knew that being all forward and shit with Cindy and then giving her some space would do the trick. She’s practically eating out of my hands.
Of course I had a backup plan, no genius would not have a backup plan. Seems I don’t need that anymore though.
"You ready boy?" I look down at Brian, who cocks his head at me. Whoever the fuck said I need to get the little guy trained knows nothing. H h e’s as loyal as they come. Now I’m just hoping he'll be a good boy and shit all over the grass at this barbecue. Hopefully Bob steps in it or Sandra slutface the hoe bag secretary.
Standing in front of the floor length mirror, I button up the last button on this damn fucking penguin shirt I’m being forced to wear. They can fuck themselves if they think I’m having it tied right to the top. This day's gonna be torture e-fucking-nough without being choked too.
I gotta say, I look pretty damn good. Who knew I could clean up so nice. Ha! Who am I kidding? With a face like this, I should be on the cover of Vogue or some shit.
Walking over to the bed, I look at the black leather leash and collar lying on the comforter with disgust. Who the fuck does that bastard Bob think he is making my dog wear a fucking leash like some slave? I usually only carry it out in public in case some half - assed douche starts spouting shit off about dog safety laws.
Well, the stupid barbecue isn’t yet so Bob can fuck himself. I'll put the collar on my guy when I’m good and ready. I got a good mind to just let Brian loose on the yard that they’ve spent the last three days decorating. He'd have all them fancy ribbons and buntings lying in tatters within minutes. I don’t know how I resist letting out some evil cackle just thinking about it. Bob would be ripping out the last bits of hair on his head.
I pick Brian up off the floor and hold him under my arm as I walk out my bedroom. Upstairs is thankfully people-free as is the whole house at one of my Mom’s parties. Probably why she only has them in the Summer. Can’t exactly shove people outside in the Winter though fuck knows why. This is Southern Georgia; not like we get snow or anything.
When I’m halfway down the stairs, I take a moment to take in the fucked up scene in front of me. Waiters are scurrying back and forth with big ass platters of food. It’s the first barbecue I’ve ever been to with platters.
There’s a sound that makes my fucking blood turn cold. The sound of clicking. Fuck!
"Oh! Brady, there you ar
e." My Mom says and I don’t even bother hiding the groan. She asks me to do shit and I’m outta here. No way in hell am I carting in fancy ass food nobody’s gonna bother eating.
“I’m not doing shit.” I say, shaking my head back and forth.
"I just wanted to confirm who you have coming today. The party planner said you reserved some seats."
“Oh.” I smirk.
I try to go through the list in my head of who's coming. Cindy’s coming obviously and I can’t fucking wait. Noah, Liv, Tucker and my plan B of course, Cindy’s entire family. I was gonna get her here one way or the other and if I had to rely on Deena’s emotional blackmail, then so be it.
I rattle off the list to my Mom, her face lighting up on hearing Cindy’s name.
"I’m so happy Cindy and her family are coming honey. I haven’t seen her in so long." She doesn’t mention the break up mostly because she doesn’t know about it. It’s not like she’s here enough to know shit about my life.
"Sure thing. Anything else?" I’m staring at the door and fucking praying to whoever’s up there that she doesn’t have some shitty job for me to do.
I've been waiting near on three days to see Cindy since I asked her to come here. I just wanna get to my dark haired beauty and then I'll be a happy man, well, as happy as a man can be at one of these bore fests.
"Oh no honey, the first guests should be arriving in about half an hour. Are you going out?"
"Yeah, I’m gonna go pick Cindy up."
"Oh lovely, make sure you bring her over to me. You know how busy I get and I don’t want to miss her."
I nod along, pretending that I’m even listening to her and not mentally counting down the fucking seconds until this conversation is over.
When she finally finishes prattling off about Cindy and I’m pretty sure some kinda wedding was brought up there too, I head towards th e front at door. Damn, it’s like the finish line. All I need is to get through it and fucking freedom will be mine.
I slip through the door, nobody grabbing me thank fucking God. They probably should have though because at least then I wouldn’t have to see what I’m fucking seeing right now.
There standing in front of the house, the house that I fucking live in. The house that my Mom fucking decorated even though she paid somebody to do it, is Bob. Oh yeah, Bob and Sandra, the whore of Franklin.
Forever Together (Forever Love #2) Page 14