Besting Brady (Hearts of Hollis Book 2)

by Nicole Dykes

Chapter 26

  Lillian

  I roll over and look at the clock next to my bed in my apartment. It’s ten in the morning and I really should get up to get ready for my lunch shift at the bar. I stretch my arms over my head and a soft moan escapes my lips as I think about last night with Brady.

  It was everything I could have asked for and more. He stayed the night with me and kept me wrapped up in his arms. I’ve never felt more content.

  Only happy memories. His words play in my head. I hope he’s right and we can both come out of this unscathed. He promised me that while I’m in town, he’s mine and no one else’s. Maybe I’m being naïve, but I believe him.

  I look at the empty spot on the bed where Brady was only a couple of hours ago. He had to leave to help his mom with some yard work, but it didn’t feel cheap or like the morning after. I know I’ll see him at the bar later.

  I sit up in my bed, pulling the covers over my still naked, post ravaged body. I hear my phone ring on the table and my heart thumps frantically in my chest at the thought of it being him. Oh boy, am I a goner or what?

  I smile at that and then almost frown when I see it’s not him. That’s only temporary though because I see that it’s my mother’s cell phone. I take a deep breath. I’ve called my parents once since I’ve been here.

  I’m a terrible liar and it’s hard for me to act like I’m not still in the same state as them. I let the breath out and hit the answer button, “Hello, mom.”

  “Well, Lillian! It’s so good to hear your voice!”

  I smile. It’s good to hear her voice too. My sweet mother. “I’m sorry it’s been so long since we have talked.”

  “Oh don’t worry about it sweetheart. I know what it’s like to travel around Europe. There is so much to do and even for a three-month trip there never seems to be enough time.”

  My heart pangs with guilt. “I still should have called you, especially on Thanksgiving. I’m sorry.”

  She laughs it off easily again, “Don’t worry. I’m just so proud of you.”

  “What? Why?” I ask her totally taken aback, not that she’s never said that to me before.

  “You are doing what you need to do to make sure you are living the life you truly want. I can’t even imagine how hard it was for you to drop out of medical school my dear girl. I know that we have always talked about you being a doctor, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t want you to have your own dreams.”

  I feel tears well up in my eyes. They are so supportive of me and it’s true, we always talked about me being a doctor, but I’m not sure whose idea it was from the beginning. Truth be told, I always wanted to be like them. “Thank you, mom. I just want to make you and dad proud.”

  “Mission accomplished. No matter what you decide we are behind you and I truly think this trip was a brilliant idea. It will clear your head and you will receive some sort of sign about your future. I believe that.”

  I smile. “Thank you.”

  I can hear the tears on her side too and wipe my own from my eyes. “I know you are busy. I just wanted to hear your voice, but we will see you in a couple of months. We sure missed you for Thanksgiving too, but we will have a great big celebration when you get back.”

  “Sounds wonderful. I’ll talk to you before Christmas, I promise.”

  “Good. Take care of yourself, sweetheart.”

  “You too.”

  We hang up and I try to let go of the intense guilt I feel. Maybe I should have just told them the truth. They are unbelievably caring and supportive, they probably would have helped me have the courage to tell my brothers.

  I stand up from my bed. Too late now. I can do this and now that I have things worked out with Brady, I feel more compelled than ever to do what I came here to. I will get to know my brothers and tell them who I am.

  I shower and dress in my casual work attire and walk downstairs to the bar. The lunch rush hasn’t quite picked up yet as I walk over to the bar and join Jade.

  She greets me with a pleasant smile, “Well hi there, city girl. You killed it yesterday!”

  I laugh, “I mostly just rode on the back. You were amazing, Jade.”

  She waves it off, “Well, I didn’t know much about four-wheelers before I came here either. I grew up living in a trailer park. Not a lot of fun toys around.”

  I tie my apron on my waist and take in the new information. I didn’t know Jade came from a trailer park and I smile thinking about Madden Steele dating a girl with a colorful background. I wonder what the Steeles think about it, but I think it makes Jade even more endearing. Keegan and Landon seem to like her just fine.

  “Well, it was a lot of fun.” I grin secretly to myself, mostly thinking about the activities I partook in afterward.

  Jade smiles, “It’s a blast. I’m so glad that Madden was into it when I introduced him. I don’t know if I could live with him if he didn’t enjoy the outdoors.”

  I laugh, “Yeah, he certainly has changed.”

  Jade’s face turns to confusion and I realize my error. “Changed?”

  Right, she doesn’t know that I knew him in Dallas. Shit. “I mean you said he was an uptight city boy when he first moved here.”

  She nods her head, thankfully buying my cover. “He was, but he always had a bit of an edge to him. “

  I smile and boldly ask, “What are his parents like?”

  She looks uncomfortable and starts to wipe the totally clean bar down. “Um.”

  “It’s okay, Jade. You can be honest with me.”

  She smiles, “Well, truthfully I’ve only been around them a little bit. They aren’t huge fans of me being a poor girl from a trailer park and all.”

  I frown. Who couldn’t like Jade? Although, from what I know about the Steeles it seems about right. “I’m sorry.”

  She shrugs. “It’s fine. I love Madden and he loves me. That’s all that really matters. His relationship with his family has been strained since he moved here and gave up his job at his father’s company.”

  I nod my head. I’m sure his father was livid. Steele Industries has been around for many years, it’s proudly family owned. Madden walking away from his legacy had to cause a riff in the family, but Landon and Keegan seem to be fine with his decision.

  “At least he has his brothers.”

  She grins and right on cue, all three of my brothers walk into the bar with Keegan’s arm wrapped around Amelia. Brady and Logan follow and they all take a seat at their usual table. Brady winks over at me and my face flushes from the memories of last night.

  “I’ll take this table, Jade.”

  She nods her head as the bar slowly starts to fill up for lunchtime. I walk over to my favorite table and make small talk before taking their order.

  Landon is clearly itching to get out of here and it seems he has talked Amelia and Keegan into leaving after lunch. They have business to take care of at Steele Industries.

  I’m grateful to at least be waiting on them before they leave. I’ll take all of the time I can get.

  Chapter 27

  Brady

  I watch Lilly as she makes small talk with Keegan and Amelia. I don’t want to stare and draw attention to myself, but it’s hard not to imagine what she’s wearing beneath her long-sleeved pink t-shirt. I bet it’s the lacy, white bra I saw on her dresser this morning.

  “Did you hear me, asshole?” Landon laughs and I realize I completely zoned out.

  “I swear, if I didn’t know any better I’d think Caleb was still here.” I smirk.

  “We’re leaving after lunch, but when we come back next weekend will your construction job be done?” he repeats.

  “Probably. We’re ahead of schedule.” I answer.

  “We have an idea for a new display at the store. We want you to take a look at it.” he explains. “I’ll get with you when we get back in town.”

  “Sounds good.” I tell him. “You know, you might as well plant your roots here at some point. You’re starting to stay here more t
han Dallas.” Landon snorts at this and I add, “Keegan and Amelia are already renting a place for when they’re here. They’re going to get tired of you crashing on their couch.”

  “Hollis is the last place I want to plant my roots.” Landon assures me.

  “It hasn’t been that bad.” Lilly puts in and I smile. “Madden likes it.”

  “I do and I think Hollis is wearing Landon down.” Madden agrees.

  “Nope. Not even close.” Landon argues.

  “See Landon, even the city girl is enjoying herself.” I grin. “Well, she looked more like a country girl yesterday.”

  “Jade’s wearing off on her.” Keegan says. “On Amelia too.”

  Lilly comes to stand beside me and leans against the table with a smile on her face. “I know one thing, if I wind up kicking your asses in a four-wheeler race like Jade did, I definitely don’t mind her wearing off on me.” We all burst out laughing and Amelia gives Lilly a high-five. “I’ll be right back with your orders.”

  I shake my head as she walks off, stealing a glimpse of her cute little ass in her jeans. I hear the bell on the door and laughter from a group of women and internally groan as Kelly walks in with some of her friends. Her incessant texting from last night hasn’t ceased. Despite the fact that I was wrapped up with Lilly, my phone buzzed until the point that I turned it off. When I turned it back on after I left this morning, my voicemail was full and I had over a hundred text messages. I deleted them all.

  Kelly and her friends saunter past our table, all four of them giving me the evil eye. I guess that’s better than her making some kind of scene and coming over and plopping down in my lap.

  “Somebody looks pissed. She mad because she didn’t get to go riding yesterday?” Madden jokes. He has no idea what ride she missed out on.

  “I broke things off with her.” I inform them all. “She’s not too happy about it.”

  “That’s obvious.” Amelia comments. “Oh, Brady, you’re such a heartbreaker.” she teases.

  “Okay, everyone. Here’s your drinks and your food will be up in a few a minutes.” Lilly announces and she brings our drinks out on a tray.

  She stands beside me and when she leans over, I’m unable to resist the urge to run my hand up the inside of her thigh. I feel her tense a moment and then relax. I drop my hand before anyone can see us, but damn, the contact felt good. As she walks around the table, she brushes her hand across my shoulder. I know it was no accident even though no one else sitting at the table seemed to notice.

  I take a sip of my coke and steal glances at her as she walks over to Kelly’s table to take their order. I try to listen to the conversation going on at my table, but my mind is in a Lilly haze. Her legs wrapped around my waist. Her nails digging into my skin. Her tongue tasting mine.

  “Hey, sweetie, I got your usual.” Talk about a boner killer. My mom sets my plate in front of me and gives my eagerly waiting friends their plates as well. “I don’t see how in the world you can eat anything after all the breakfast you had this morning. It was like you’d worked up some kind of appetite.”

  My mom pats my back and I feel my cheeks heat a little. I choke a little on the cheeseburger I’m chewing.

  “So, Kelly’s out, but someone else is in.” Madden smirks.

  “Oh please, Kelly didn’t have to be out for someone else to be in anyway.” Landon comments.

  I open my mouth to reply, but Kelly’s high-pitched voice pierces the air. “I said diet coke! This isn’t diet!”

  Kelly proceeds to pour the contents of her glass onto the floor, causing some soda to splash onto Lilly’s shoes. Several patrons stop eating and stare at the spectacle Kelly is making of herself.

  Jade quickly comes to Lilly’s side with paper towels and I can hear her telling Kelly that’s not the right way to send a drink back. Jade and Lilly clean up the mess while Kelly laughs with her friends. Lilly brings her a new drink, obviously a diet coke, and Kelly accepts it with a sarcastic smile. If Casey were here, she’d be wearing it in her lap.

  “Everything okay over here?” Lilly asks, coming back to our table, but the cheeriness from a little while ago is now gone.

  “Yeah, everything is good here, Lillian.” Madden answers. “You won’t get any hissy fits from us.”

  When she heads towards the bar, I stand up and hurry after her. “Lilly, I’m sorry about that. You know that was because of me.”

  I notice Jade give us a curious look, but she doesn’t say a word. She knows how Kelly can be, so I’m sure she understands.

  “It’s fine, Brady. I can handle a fussy customer.” she brushes me off and walks behind the bar.

  I take her cue and go back to my seat. I don’t want to cause a scene any more than I want Kelly to cause more of one. I dig into my cheeseburger and ask the guys to tell me more about this display their wanting. As we’re talking, another outburst from Kelly interrupts our meal.

  “Are you fucking deaf or something?” Whoa. “I ordered a grilled chicken salad with the dressing on the side! You brought me a fried chicken salad and ranch dressing is all over it!”

  I frown at the scene and anger starts setting in. I don’t want this to be the new normal at the bar, but it looks like Kelly’s ridiculous antics are just beginning. Fucking hell.

  Chapter 28

  Lillian

  I just stare at Kelly, totally dumbfounded. I know Brady said he broke things off with her and after seeing her behavior when they were together, I figured she wouldn’t handle it well, but this is absolutely insane.

  I sigh, knowing that it’s not worth it to get into a big fight with her. It’s what she wants and I refuse to play into that. “All right, Kelly. I will take this back and get you a new salad.”

  She rolls her eyes, “You damn well better. I have been coming to this place since I was a kid. You know, since I actually grew up here and belong here.”

  Again, I don’t take the bait. I can feel Brady’s intense glare on us and when I look over, I see he’s about to get up from his seat. I subtly shake my head over at him. I don’t want him to think he needs to be my knight in shining armor. I can handle this.

  He stays seated and I simply say, “I’ll be right back.”

  I pick up the plate of the salad I know she ordered and give the cook Kelly’s new order. He quickly makes it while I stand at the bar with Jade, who is eyeing me with sympathy and maybe a hint of curiosity. “You okay?” She asks.

  I nod my head, placing a big smile on my face. “Of course. I can handle this.”

  She grins back at me, “I’m so damn proud. Your first pain in the ass customer and you’re handling it like a true pro.”

  I laugh at that and then gladly take the plate from the cook to take to Kelly. The sooner I can be done with her the better. I glide across the room with a big smile on my face and set it down in front of her, “Here you go, Kelly. Hopefully this is more to your liking.”

  Kill her with kindness. I’m trying my mother’s way of thinking even though what I would really like to do is slap the shit out of her. She glares at me, clearly not caring for my happy attitude. “Finally.”

  I just give her another polite smile and go back to taking care of the few patrons that are left from the lunch shift. Luckily her friends and her don’t give me much more trouble as they eat and then eventually leave.

  When it’s just Brady’s table left, Jade joins them and then waves me over after I finish cleaning my last table.

  “Probably won’t have any more customers for a couple of hours. Come join us.”

  I put my washrag in the sink and gladly sit down at their table, grabbing the chair between Amelia and Jade with a nice view of Brady directly across from me. I wonder if he will come over tonight?

  I shake that thought from my head. That’s a Kelly thought. I’m not that girl.

  “So, what the hell was up with Kelly? That girl is psycho.” That question comes from Landon, who has sort of taken over Caleb’s role in bluntness. Althou
gh, he doesn’t offend me nearly as much.

  The question was aimed to anyone that would answer. I shrug my shoulders, “I’m not sure. I guess she was just having a bad day.”

  I don’t miss Jade’s face, she clearly has a theory of her own. Brady clears his throat and addresses me, “I’m sorry, Lilly. She’s obviously not handling me breaking things off with her very well.”

  He says it to me in a manner that implies I don’t already know. I play along, “Well, I suppose being broken up with would put anyone in a bad mood.”

  He grins at me, pleased that I went along with it. It’s not like I’m ashamed about what happened between us, but I’m not sure I’m ready for everyone else to find out about it just yet. I know that everyone will have an opinion and our arrangement is a little unorthodox. At least, for me it is.

  “Hopefully she doesn’t take it out on every woman in Hollis.” Brady adds to take the heat off of me I’m sure and I’m grateful to him.

  Landon slaps him on the back, “Oh Brady, you just must have a magic cock.”

  Everyone laughs at that and I can feel my cheeks heat up just thinking about it. Brady shakes his head, “Don’t you have to get out of here soon?”

  Landon’s face turns serious, “Yeah, I do. Hollis has taken up too much of my time already.” He turns to Amelia and Keegan, “You guys finally ready?”

  Amelia takes a drink of her water, “It’s Sunday, Landon. What’s the rush?”

  “The rush? We’ve been here since Thursday. I have an early meeting tomorrow.” Landon answers like he can’t believe her question.

  “Who the hell schedules a meeting early Monday morning?” Madden asks, goading his brother.

  Landon rolls his eyes, “Someone who gives a damn.”

  Everyone laughs again and it’s not long before they all leave. Madden walks them out to their vehicle and Jade turns to me as Brady slides his jacket on. “Well, Jack will be in soon. Do you want to catch a movie?”

  I ask, “They have a movie theater here?”

  Jade laughs, “No way, but they have one in Redbud. Casey is there with her boyfriend and we thought we would have a girl’s afternoon. We’d love it if you would join us.”