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“Why me?”
“I’m good at keeping people out. Letting them see what I want them to. You and Val, you haven’t known me for years. You don’t look at me with sad eyes like my parents, or concern like my brother. You don’t see me as the badass ex-fighter my friends do. There are no preconceived notions where you two are concerned. I need that. A fresh start with new friends.”
Friends.While I would love to explore more with him, friends I could do as well. I could use more of those.
“I’d like to be friends,” I admitted with a smile.
“Good. Now, can you go tell my brother to stop looking at me like that? He’s starting to piss me off.”
I glanced toward the patio where people were in chairs while others stood. Dexen leaned against Greer’s side with his arms crossed while he watched Xaiden and me like he could figure out what we were talking about from over there. “Are you two fighting?”
I didn’t have any brothers or sisters. Sometimes the dynamic between siblings was lost on me. Others, it fascinated me. I always wanted a sibling but understood why I never had one. My mom almost lost her life giving birth to me. They had to do emergency surgery once I was born. They saved her but she also lost the ability to carry another child.
“No, Dex and I don’t fight. We’ll argue but we get over it fast. He tries to get me to pour my heart out to him. While I appreciate that he wants to help, if I wanted to talk, I would. When he watches me like this, like I’m a puzzle he’s trying to put together, it gets under my skin, makes me jittery.”
“As if he can see what you won’t say,” I murmured.
“Exactly.”
“I’m not telling your brother anything, just so you know. I don’t feel like getting my ass kicked.”
Reaching over, Xaiden felt my bicep. “You have some muscle under there, don’t you?”
“I work in an ER, Xaiden. When I’m not there, I’m enjoying my time off, not trying to bulk up. I do go for runs when the weather is nice. I’ll drive to the West Dremest Park and jog. A lot of the time, I want to sit and do nothing, relax, enjoy the quiet.”
“What are you doing after this?”
“Nothing. I don’t have to work again until Monday.”
“It’s early. Follow me home and hang out. You can sit on my back patio and soak in the nothingness.”
“Are you sure?” I felt like I was imposing. I didn’t want to interrupt his day.
“I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t.”
“Okay.” I would enjoy spending more time with Xaiden. If that was what this was and not him letting me sit on his patio while he did something else.
Dexen finally gave up looking at us and walked our way. He stopped in front of the swing, peering down at his brother. They had a lot of similarities. Their hair was the same color, as were their eyes. But they were different too. I noticed tattoos peeking out from the bottoms of Xaiden’s rolled up sleeves. I hadn’t seen any on Dexen, though he could have them where they weren’t currently visible.
Dexen’s eyes had this sharpness to them, like he noticed everything around him. He was also very sure of himself, especially when it came to his club and his relationship with Greer and JJ. Xaiden seemed a bit more laid-back. He didn’t want to be in the thick of the action today the way his brother was. Xaiden’s voice was deep but also softer. He didn’t command a room like Dexen did when he spoke.
“What’s going on, Xaiden?” Dexen asked.
“Why do you think anything’s going on?”
“You were talking with Pey then came over here. Did something happen?”
“Trying to take the big brother role from me?”
Dexen frowned. “No.” He glanced to me then back to his brother. “We haven’t talked in a while.”
“I’m fine, Dex. I appreciate your concern. Corbin and I were making plans to hang out after we leave here.”
That shot Dexen’s eyebrows up. “You were?”
“I can have friends.”
“I know but…”
