AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Not hearing a word Alley had been saying until she was snapping her fingers in front of my face, I blinked at her clueless.
“Geez Jurnee, wipe that look off your face. When I know it’s for my brother, it kinda creeps me out.” She laughed in a totally amused tone.
“I don’t have a look, you don’t know what you're talking about.” Alley usually always knew what she was talking about, but I wasn’t about to tell her that. She would just be smug about it. Plus, I didn’t really want to give her the willies and make her have second thoughts about me and her brother spending time together, because I was going to make it happen.
Someone help me now.
“So, how are you feeling, and when are you headed back to work?”
Change of subject, probably worked in my favor right now.
“I’m heading over there for awhile tomorrow. Everyone there has been doing an awesome job while I’ve been recovering, but I miss it something fierce.” I was ready to go back and see all the kids and get back in my groove. It was another one of my happy places. My job, here with my friends and maybe, just maybe, spending time with Braxton could be another one too.
“Just don’t overdo it,” Alley said cautiously.
“I know, Mom, I will be careful.”
“You're a real comedian,” she said, laughing.
“I know, right? I made you laugh,” I smarted off. “Don’t you need to get back to writing your hot and heavy romance shit?”
“You're just dying to read it is why you want me to get back to work.”
“Darn tootin’ I am.”
“Fine girl, back to work I go. But watch your dirty thoughts about my brother while I’m busy.”
She stuck her tongue out at me and walked out of the room. Rolling my eyes because it’s what I did best, I just laughed and started contemplating my next move that would get me near Braxton again.
Chapter Six
Braxton
It seemedlike forever since I’d seen Jurnee, but in reality, it had only been a few weeks. I was dying to be near her. I’d been busy so one would think it wouldn’t be so bad, yet she was always on my mind. Those big brown, expressive eyes were etched in my mind and her timid, dimpled smile starred in my dreams every night. I knew the reaction I was having for her seemed crazy given the way we’d grown up, and who she was to my sister, but I couldn’t help myself. There was something special about Jurnee and I needed to explore those feelings, almost as much as I needed my next breath. The anticipation to see her again was thrumming through my veins.
I had gotten most everything done at my new house, office, and the facility for the business too, so things were moving forward. It was pretty much set up and ready to go. This new venture with Gyth and our company was a chapter in my life I was ready to explore. Kinda like Jurnee. I wanted to see where that went too.Geez, see she takes over my thoughts again and again. The girl has already weaved her way in like nobody ever has.I needed to get my head in the game so Gyth knew I was serious about this place and could handle the demands running your own business could take. I had been talking about this for some time during our military days, but it wasn’t until he was medically discharged that he decided to come on board. It was both of our futures now on the line.
Arranging some things in my office, I heard the wheels of Gyth’s wheelchair rolling down the hall. He must have been having a hard day or he’d be out of the chair and using his cane. Things had been improving slowly, but I wasn’t sure he’d ever be one hundred percent again, and I knew he worried about that. All that shrapnel to his leg after the explosion had done a number on it. But the man was still a beast physically, as well as a wiz on the computer. Who would have thought, right?
Rolling into my room, Gyth asked, “You all set up in here, man?”
“Yup, how about you? You ready to rock and roll, take on some clients and shit?”
“Man, I was born ready. I miss the old life and the guys, the ones we lost and those we served with. But I am glad we are doing this.”
Gyth still struggled with the loss of a couple of our close buddies. Finding a way to cope with their deaths had been one of the hardest things I’d had to do, and I knew it was for him too. But on top of our brothers dying, Gyth’s injury and when he had to leave the military made it even harder for him. Our friendship was strong and I’d hoped I’d be able to help him navigate through this rough patch in life.
“Earth to Braxton. I said, are you gonna make the lady wait any longer and torture yourself in the process, or are you going to go see the girl?”
I hadn’t heard him the first time, but I did now and I had no doubt who he’d been referring to. Jurnee, since I talked about her all the time.Pretty much non-stop is more like it. “Hey, she just got hurt, something I should have prevented. Plus I’m trying to give her space to heal.”
“Braxton, that’s bullshit. That crap was not on you. It was a crazy situation and you did what you could. She doesn’t blame you at all, you told me yourself she said the same thing at the hospital. And by the way, with the way she was looking at you at the club and in the room as you’d sat by her side, I would say the girl is just as smitten with you as you are with her. So put both of yourselves out of your misery and go to her. You think retreating and making her feel like you don’t like her is the best course of action?”
“What the fuck man? I didn't say I didn’t like her, and I wouldn’t want her to ever feel that way. And did you really just say smitten?”What the heck, this big bear of a man is using words like smitten, what in the hell is going on around here?I wondered.
“You’re damn right I did, and don’t say another word about it. Just go see your girl.”
“My girl, nobody said anything about her being my girl. She is younger, I grew up with her and she is my sister’s best friend.”
