by Franca Storm
“We haven’t been best friends for a while now. You never have my back. Instead, you bad mouth me across town and ridicule me with your condescending comments, acting like you’re better than me, because you supposedly have your shit together.”
“I am better,” he seethed.
His response had my fists clenching and I had to check myself quickly to reel in my temper.
“You’re running your dad’s company. The family business. You don’t have your shit together. It just fell into your lap, along with that house of yours. I’ve worked for everything. So you can stand there and tell me I’m the shit on the bottom of your shoe, but we both know it’s not true. And we both know where this animosity is coming from; what it’s really about.”
“It’s about you fucking my sister!”
“No! It’s about what I did to my father last year! Your guilt that you weren’t there for me during the fallout!”
He stopped in his tracks. His eyes bore into mine. “You almost killed him. It takes a man with an extreme violent streak to do something like that. You’re out of control and dangerous. You’re the last person I’d ever want my sister to be with.”
“You weren’t there that day.”
He scoffed. “I didn’t need to be. I know what happened. The whole town does.”
My conversation with my mom played in my mind and for the first time I actually understood what she’d been saying. Before I’d physically heard her words, but I hadn’t actually given them the weight they’d deserved.
Finally, after all this time, I realized the truth of it. “I did what I had to do to protect her. And I’d do it again if he came at her.”
I heard footsteps behind me. And then Soph’s voice calling, “Walk away Ollie. Don’t do this.”
Thinking she’d left like Ollie had told her to, I was so caught off guard by her suddenly reappearing and my fear that she was walking into a dangerous situation with two big guys who were close to throwing down, that I took my eye off Ollie and turned to her.
Before I could get a word out, or figure out why the hell she had Roy Williams with her, Ollie took his shot.
His fist smashed into the side of my face.
Not expecting it, I stumbled back a couple of steps. Shit. I’d forgotten how fucking strong Ollie was. That was one brutal hit.
“You asshole! You dare to touch my sister?” he roared as he thrust another fist my way.
But I was ready.
I deflected his blow and pushed him back.
He lost his footing easily and crashed onto the grass. That was when I realized he was drunk. I hadn’t noticed before, because I’d been caught up in his verbal tirade. But for Ollie to go down that easily, there was no other explanation. The guy was normally hard steel, like me.
As he struggled to get to his feet, Roy stepped in and captured him in a body lock. “You got in a good hit. You’re done.”
“No! He slept with my sister!” Ollie yelled, struggling against him.
“Ollie! Stop!”
It wasn’t Soph’s voice this time.
Tiff barreled around the corner and stood in front of Ollie. I watched her whisper something in his ear. He blew out a frustrated breath and eyed Soph sadly.
He looked back at me and asked, “You love her?”
I could hear the incredulity in his tone. No wonder. I knew he didn’t believe me capable of doing anything with a woman other than fucking her. His doubt was just another nail in the coffin of our friendship. The fact that he couldn’t even entertain the possibility and the fact that he clearly didn’t know me anymore, burned. But I sure as hell wasn’t going to show him that. No, we were done.
“Yeah, I love her,” I answered.
He laughed then. A derisive laugh. “Is that what you told her to get her into bed, Brad?” he said, viciously. “If you don’t want this to go any further, I want your apology and a promise that you’ll stay the fuck away from her.”
“Ollie!” Soph yelled. “You don’t get to—”
I took her hand and pulled her to me. I smiled at her reassuringly and told her softly, “It’s okay. I’ve got this, darlin’.”
I turned my attention back to Ollie who was now fixing me with a death stare, because I had my arm around Soph. Well, too fucking bad. He’d just have to get used to it. “I’m not gonna apologize, because I’ve never treated her with anything but respect, Ollie. We’ve been dating for a couple of months. And…yeah…I love her. Either accept it, or don’t. But whatever you fucking decide, know that I won’t be going anywhere. We’re together.” As Ollie choked on that, I whispered to Soph, “Let’s go.”
She hesitated, looking back at Ollie worriedly.
I released her and stepped back. “Okay,” I told her softly. She wanted to stay with her brother. She had her own damage control to do.
I turned to leave, but stopped after a couple of steps as I heard Ollie cursing me. I turned back. “This thing between me and her? Suck it up. But as for you and me? We’re done, Ollie. Done.”
And with that, I turned my back and walked away.
Chapter 21
~Brad~
I was four beers in and I finally felt the adrenaline coursing through my veins ebb a little at long last.
It’d been a couple of hours since I’d left the town square.
I sat on my couch watching God knew what on the TV in the background while I made my way through the first of two six packs resting on the coffee table.
I hadn’t heard anything from Soph since I’d left her there with Ollie, Tiff and Roy. No call. No text. Fuck all.
I had no idea what she was thinking about what’d gone down at the fair, because she’d chosen to stay with Ollie, rather than leaving with me.
She’d made it clear before that she hadn’t wanted her brother to find out. In fact, she’d been so worried about it affecting our relationship. Last time we’d spoken about it, I’d thought my reassurances had managed to get through to her. I hoped I wasn’t majorly fucking wrong about that.
Her choosing to stay with Ollie had honestly pissed me the hell off, especially considering he’d fucked up my face with his underhanded bullshit punch. But that ridiculous blow hadn’t hurt anything close to what her choosing to go with him instead of me had. I couldn’t say anything about it though. He was her brother and her only family after all and I did get that she wanted to try to smooth things over with him.
What concerned me about it was how far she was willing to go to make that happen.
She’d spent her life caving to his demands. He’d been like a father to her since their parents’ death and she’d always listened to him in the past. I honestly didn’t know whether she’d do the same with his disapproval of our relationship.
I figured she’d be pissed at me for the way I handled the situation. I hadn’t apologized and I knew she’d expected me to. She’d wanted me to appease Ollie, not stand my ground. I’d probably come off as a complete dick for not doing that. I would’ve apologized if I’d only fucked her. But we were in a goddamn relationship. I’d told her I’d loved her for Christ’s sake. We weren’t just screwing around.
There was no way in hell I was gonna apologize for loving her.
I wanted to fucking celebrate it, not admit fault over it.
I was done being the villain in everyone’s eyes, including Ollie’s. And I didn’t give a crap what anyone thought about it.
The only problem was, I knew Soph did. She always wanted to please everyone. And it worried me. What did it mean for us?
There was nothing I could do. Not until things calmed down with Ollie. It was killing me, but I knew the best thing to do was to back off and give her space. She had to come to me.
And that was why I hadn’t tried to contact her since I’d headed home.
It was also why I’d now knocked back my fourth beer and was currently reaching for my fifth.
I needed to dumb down my senses and try to fucking relax.
The ent
ire thing had made me more fucking angry than I’d been in a long time.
I was sick of the entire town judging what they didn’t understand. And, these days, Ollie was just another one of them. He’d reacted far worse to the news of me and Soph than I’d imagined. And then he’d had the nerve to call me his best friend. How could he be so vehemently against me being with his sister, if I was really his closest and most valued friend? It was all bullshit.
Ever since that day with my dad, he’d pulled away from me. At a time when I’d needed someone the most, he’d looked the other way.
But Soph hadn’t.
She’d been trying to comfort me that night when I’d drunkenly confessed to her that I hadn’t been handling what had happened very well. The night we’d slept together for the first time. I hadn’t known it at the time, but I sure as fuck knew it now. That night had changed everything between us.
Maybe it was selfish, but I couldn’t bring myself to even consider letting her go. Whatever Ollie and the goddamn town threw at us, I wouldn’t let go.
She was mine.
But all that was moot if she didn’t see things the same way.
As much as I hated it, she had me held hostage.
***
A sharp, relentless rapping jolted me awake. I found myself face down and sprawled out on the couch.
Groaning with annoyance at being woken up in my groggy, drunken, fucked up state, I forced myself to sit up and try to figure out what the hell that aggravating noise was. I glanced at the coffee table and saw there were only three beers left unopened. Somehow, I’d made it through nine of the things. Shit. That’s gonna hurt in the morning.
It took me several more moments to realize the noise was coming from the front door.
I struggled to get up off the couch and then made my way towards it.
“Yeah?” I called out in a drunken drawl.
Even in my drunken state, my brain screamed at me to check first.
If it was Ollie, I wasn’t gonna open it. I was in no state to go a few rounds with him. Who knew if I’d be able to hold back being this drunk?
It was too dangerous. For him.
“It’s Sophie,” a small voice replied.
Sophie? She’s here? Now? I didn’t even think twice about it.
I lunged for the door, almost tripping over in my haste.
I hauled it open and she stood on the doorstep smiling warmly at me.
My foggy brain remembered something then and it came rushing to the surface.
She hadn’t said shit to me or tried to contact me in the last few hours. She’d just basically dismissed me in favor of her brother and the rest of the town. And, in that moment, I couldn’t separate emotion from fact, so I ended up snapping, “What the fuck are you doing here?”
She didn’t seem startled at all. Instead, she just smiled and stepped into me.
Placing her hands on my chest, she gently eased me back so she could step into the lobby. “It’s okay. You’re drunk.”
Enjoying her hands on me, I let her do it.
She released me for a second to lock the door and then she grabbed my hand and led me back into the living room. I slumped onto the couch and, before I could stop her, she sat down beside me.
I rubbed my eyes tiredly. “Look, Soph. You should go. We’re not gonna discuss what happened right now.”
“I’m sorry.”
I gazed at her through glazed eyes. “What?”
“I’m sorry I didn’t leave with you. I needed to talk to Ollie.”
I sighed with exasperation. “You always try to please everyone.”
She shifted her weight on the couch and sidled up close to me. “Right now, I’m gonna please you.”
I didn’t get the chance to ask what she meant by that, because in the next second, her hands were working to undo my jeans.
A moment later, they were on the floor along with my boxers and my cock was in her hand.
Her eyes widened. “Already so hard,” she said with disbelief.
Yeah, I was already hard. As soon as she’d laid her hands on me at the door, I’d been ready and raring to go. The woman just did things to me.
I reached out for her, but she batted my hand away. “Just relax.”
“Soph—”
“It’s my turn to please you. Just sit back, baby.”
She ran her hand up and down my cock in a slow, sensual rhythm, rubbing the head with her thumb at the start of every down stroke.
“Ah, fuck,” I groaned.
Resting my head back against the couch, I closed my eyes and savored her soft fingers all over my eager cock.
It was fucking ecstasy. She had the most amazing grip—just the right amount of pressure.
I opened my eyes as her hand left my shaft and slid down to cup my balls. She played with them eagerly.
Her eyes met mine and she flashed me that sexy-as-fuck grin of hers.
And then her lips wrapped around the head.
She barely paused to adjust her mouth to my size before taking the rest of me all the way down her throat. I heard her gag for a second, but she found a way to recover and continued to drive me deeper until I felt my cock hit the back of her throat. The sensation was fucking amazing and I shuddered beneath her. Fuck me, she’s really fucking good. Jesus Christ.
Her mouth worked a skillful rhythm, just like her hand had and she was building me up so damn quickly that I wasn’t sure I was actually in any sort of control anymore. Her mouth was devouring me wildly and determinedly.
She was driving me out of my mind.
I was panting, grunting and cursing as she worshipped my cock like no other woman ever had.
I fisted my hand in her hair and tugged lightly, gasping, “I’m gonna come.”
But she didn’t stop. She picked up the pace.
“Fuck!” I grunted as I came hard, exploding in her mouth with wild jerk after wild jerk.
She lifted her head and licked her lips, smiling at me. She looked so damn proud of herself. And she had every goddamn right to be. Holy fucking shit.
“Christ,” I breathed, resting my head back against the couch.
She climbed onto my lap and laid her head on my chest.
The last thing I remembered was wrapping my arms around her waist and closing my eyes.
Chapter 22
~Sophie~
I watched Brad open his eyes. Judging by the look there, he instantly regretted it.
“Hungover, huh?” I teased.
He grunted a response and then he raised his eyebrows at me sitting on top of him with a mug of coffee in my right hand. “Is that for me?” he asked, hopefully.
“After you rehydrate and take those two pain meds.” I gestured to his left beside table.
He snatched up the glass there and downed the pills and all the water. And then he reached for the mug in my hand. I smiled and handed it to him. He adjusted his weight in the bed and leaned against the headboard as he sipped at his coffee.
“Thanks,” he said, after a moment.
“When you’re done with that, there’s breakfast waiting for you downstairs.”
Unease played on his face. “Soph—”
I blew out a breath. “I didn’t make it, you ass. I picked up some breakfast sandwiches from town. You don’t have to look so scared.”
His brow furrowed. “You went into town on your own? You don’t have a car and this damn place doesn’t have a bus service.”
“I had Tiff drive me in.”
“Good.”
“It’s only a twenty-minute walk. It just happened that she was nearby.”
“I don’t want you walking into town alone. It’s dark in the mornings now.”
I laughed. “Right, because Marsden is such a crime-ridden town?”
He didn’t seem amused by my comment. “I want you safe.”
I rolled my eyes. “Stop being such a caveman. I can take care of myself. You know that. You were the one who taught me all those self-d
efense moves.”
“Not the point.”
I folded my arms across my chest and glared at him, getting increasingly agitated with his attitude. “Then what is?”
“It’s my job to protect you.”
I shook my head at him in disbelief. “I never knew you were that much of a ridiculous alpha-male. You know I don’t like that, Brad. I don’t like being controlled.”
He grabbed my arms and demanded, “Look at me.” When I did, his tone softened as he said, “The last thing I want is to control a free spirit like you. I…overreacted. Sorry. I would tell you that it won’t happen again, but I’m not sure I can live up to that.”
“Why not?”
He smiled. “Because, you’re my little princess, Soph. You’re…everything to me. And I worry about you all the time. Not because I don’t think you can take care of yourself, but, because I can’t bear the idea of losing you.”
Shocked, all I could do was stare at him, open-mouthed.
“Soph?” he pressed, amusement dancing in his eyes.
“That was…I didn’t know you could be so romantic.” I ruffled his hair. “Aww!” I teased.
He batted my hand away. “Shut up,” he said, laughing.
I climbed off the bed and ordered, “Get up and come get your breakfast.”
He chuckled. “Wow.”
“What?”
“I could get used to this.”
“Not likely. I’m just taking pity on you this morning.”
“Oh really?”
“Yep. You were really messed up last night.”
“Yeah, I remember the beer.”
“Do you also remember falling asleep with your…thing hanging out of your pants?”
I saw the recollection on his face. He grimaced at the memory. “Shit, did I…I let you blow me…on the couch? Yeah, oh fuck, I did.”
“Let me?” I asked, confused by that odd choice of words.
“I was wasted, Soph.”
“And?”
“And you should’ve kept your distance. You know after the first time we were together last year, I never wanted to do anything with you when I was smashed again.”
“You didn’t want to talk, so I showed you how I felt another way,” I said, winking at him.