AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You ready to talk about it yet?” He stands from the bleachers, watching Matthew, Nolan, and Carter kick around the ball after our regular sibling grudge match. It’s the only way we’re able to spend time with each other outside of family dinners since Matthew and Adam are always busy with Sidelines.
“I think I might be.”
“Good, let’s go get a drink at Donna’s. I could demolish their wings right now.”
We say goodbye to the boys before heading to the bar. It’s still early, so it’s not too crowded, and the music doesn’t get loud until the sun goes down. I send a quick text to Ben, letting him know I’m telling Adam about the break-in and then put my phone away.
“Whenever you’re ready,” Adam says, his blue eyes serious but full of love. It’s the look of understanding and steady strength that makes the flood gates open, allowing everything to spill out.
I tell him everything that’s happened since Ben got into town: how he was an asshole and then he saved my life, about the attack and the break-in, which led to me telling him that I have a stalker, and lastly, I tell him how much Ben has come to mean to me.
Adam doesn’t say a word throughout my whole rambling story, although by his expressions, I know he’s pissed at me for holding back.
When I finally run out of words, we’ve made it through two baskets of wings, two beers each, and enough under-the-breath cursing to last for a year.
Adam runs a hand over his face, taking his time to formulate a response.
“First of all, I’m relieved you’re safe and that Cooper is finally looking into this. Secondly, I am beyond pissed at you for keeping it to yourself. I don’t fully understand your reasoning for keeping it from all of us, but what’s done is done. What are the next steps in finding this bastard?”
“Cooper ran prints from the break-in, but I guess he’s not in the system or something because nothing came of it. At this point, I’m to be on guard and pay attention to my surroundings, as well as doing my best to never be alone.”
“Hmph. I’m going to call Cooper and see what else can be done. That’s not good enough.”
I roll my eyes at Adam. I know he wants me safe, but the caveman behavior can be annoying.
“Now, on to Benjamin. I’m happy you’ve found someone capable of taking care of you without stomping on you. That’s incredible, although he’ll still need to be put through the brother test. I don’t care if he was my friend first. It’s been twenty years, and he’s trying to get in my sister’s pants.”
“Nottrying,” I mumble under my breath. “He’s coming to family dinner on Sunday. You can do your alpha posturing then. Just know, he and Tucker are already gym bros, so Tuck will be on his side.”
“Of course he will be.” Adam rolls his eyes, then looks at me as if something occurred to him. “That’s why you started self-defense classes, the attack, isn’t it?”
I nod my head.
“Good. I’m proud, even though I’m mad at you.” He glares at me as any good big brother would.
“Thanks. I’m sorry I didn’t come to you sooner.”
“You can make it up to me by beating the shit out of Nolan. It’ll make him sad that his sister can knock him on his ass.”
I grin at Adam, enjoying the idea of using my defense skills for something other than actual defense. We clean up our table, and Adam pays for our meal. As we walk out to the parking lot, I see someone talking on the phone by my car. If I’m not mistaken, I think Model Barbie is about to attack me.
“What is it with parking lots these days?”
“Huh?” Adam’s gaze lands on Rebecca as we walk closer. She’s wearing another flawless dress, this one tightly fitting with a deep V showing off her admittedly fantastic cleavage. Her heels look like they could be weapons while making her Amazonian tall.
“Rebecca.” I raise my eyebrow at her in question.
Her face pinches as she hangs up her call without even a goodbye. “Well, if it isn’t Ben’s revenge side piece. You should know Ben is just getting back at me for our misunderstanding.”
“Ha! Sure, you cheating on him was a misunderstanding.” I laugh, my tone dryer than the desert.
“Which means you’re temporary,” she continues, ignoring my comment. “He told me we can get back together when he finds someone to take over. It shouldn’t be much longer now, so enjoy him while you can. It’s not like you have what it takes to hold his attention, anyway. I’ve seen the two of you together around town. It’s pathetic. You might as well cut your losses now.” It’s then she notices Adam standing next to me. She eye-fucks him for a solid few seconds before speaking again. “It seems like you have already moved on. Lovely.”
“Excuse me?” Adam starts.
I put a hand to his chest to stop him from going into protector mode. “Not that you deserve this information, but this is my brother, Adam. And I love that you think you have Ben all figured out, but you know nothing. This is his home now. You were the distraction until he found what made him happy. So, you can take your designer heels right on out of town because nobody wants you here.”
Rebecca scoffs. “Ben wants me. I know it. He told me so himself. And when he comes crawling back to me, I’ll get to tell youI told you so.” Her smile is icier than a snow cone before she walks away without waiting for me to respond.
