Always with You (WIth You Trilogy) (32 page)

I’d only been back
on social media for a couple of months and I was already majorly regretting it. I now had a dozen updates with comments on my faux break up.

“What the hell, Jake?” I demanded. “What if Jason sees this?”

“Probably already has,” Jake smirked. “You broke up with him twenty minutes ago.”

“Argh!” I screamed at him and aimed a newspaper at his head.

“Jelly,” Ian cut in, still sounding uninterested but warning me with his eyes to dial it back.

I started
calling Jason’s number, hoping I could explain what had happened before he saw. It went straight to voicemail and I continued glaring at Jake who looked like he couldn’t care less as he sat smirking with his hand down his trousers.

The front door opened and I dashed out into the hall in the hope it was Jason returning and he wasn’t too pissed at me.

“Hey, little squirrel,” he grinned, opening his arms for a hug.”

“Jason,” I breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing because he obviously hadn’t seen
Facebook yet.

He scooped me up and enveloped me in a scorching kiss. I could smell the soap on his skin and just a hint of the fresh paper smell that affected me so thoroughly. His hair was still damp and mussed up from his shower and he looked delicious.

“Could you stop eating my sister’s face for a while so I can get into my house, Reed?” Craig snapped from somewhere behind us.

“Sorry,” Jason smirked, not looking sorry at all.

“Uh huh,” Craig rolled his eyes, edging past us and heading up the stairs. “Whatever.”

Jason took my
hand and led me into the lounge, still carrying his gym bag in one hand. Rab followed behind him, his eyes lighting up when he saw Alex again.

“Jamie?” Jason prompted, nudging me down to sitting on the sofa.

“Yeah?” I looked up at him, my brain a million miles away trying to figure out if I could delete the status change without Jason noticing.

“These are for you,” he grinned, handing me a bag of
bath bombs, body wash, and other delightfully scented luxuries.

“What for?” I frowned, looking up at him curiously.

“I figured I could try and talk you over before you dump me,” he winked.

“Oh,” I blushed furiously. “Jason, I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

He pushed his fingers over my lips gently, cutting me off. “I know, baby,” he reassured me. “Just tell me which one of them did it.”

I grinned. I shouldn’t have even been worried, Jason knew me too well. I would
never
have done something like that. He knew that one of my brothers was to blame.

My eyes darted to Jake who looked both amused and slightly disappointed. Jason glanced at Ian for a second before saying something in Arabic to Rab. The two of them jumped Jake,
wrestled him to the floor, and pinned him down. I was only slightly surprised that the others let it happen but, to be fair, Jake had earned it.

“Get off!” Jake protested
, wriggling furiously as the two of them held him down.

I smiled inwardly, deciding I deserved a bit of payback as
well. I tickled him between his ribs, knowing that he absolutely hated it and not relenting until he was red-faced and completely out of breath.

“Pass me his phone will you, Jamie?” Jason asked, mischief in his eyes.

I obliged and watched as he pinned Jake’s arms under his legs so that he could use his hands to fiddle with Jake’s phone.

My brothers were all watching in amusement, checking their own phones to witness whatever it was Jason was doing.

“That should do it,” Jason grinned, pushing away from Jake and pulling Rab up with him.

“Oh, this is gold!” Alex giggled, his eyes locked on his phone.

Jake shoved up from the ground with a look of irritation on his face. He straightened his clothing and glared daggers at me.

“Don’t even think about it, Jacob,” Ian reprimanded, anticipating Jake’s firecracker retaliation.

Jake just scowled and held out his hand for his phone. Curiosity got the better of me and I looked over Alex’ shoulder to see what Jason had done. Jake’s latest status update was staring me in the face:

Jake Carter: Sorry ladies, if we’ve slept together, it’s time to go get tested.

The majority of the family had already liked it and there were a few derogatory comments added in for good measure. I laughed out loud and considered justice served.

“For fuck’s sake,” Jake groaned, seeing what Jason had done. “Asshole.”

Jason just grinned and pulled me into his lap on the sofa. “Did you see the comments on your little status update?” He asked me.

“No?” I frowned, pulling my phone out of my pocket to check.

There were a few sad faces but mostly the comments comprised of people from the MMA and athletics clubs offering to kick Jason’s ass for me.

I laughed. “Why did they assume it was your fault?”

“Baby,” Jason laughed. “They only have to take one look at you to know it wasn’t your fault. You’re too sweet to have done anything wrong.”

I shook my head and sighed at him.
A flicker of guilt hit me for retaliating against Jake. I knew he’d just been messing around, I probably shouldn’t have been as annoyed at him as I was. I looked over to see him sulking in a chair, playing with his phone, and probably doing damage control.

“Alright, kids,” Ian smirked. “It’s too close to Christmas for you two t
o have another one of your fallouts. Fix it.”

Jake was a stubborn pain in the bum
. I knew I’d have to be the one to make the first move. I placed myself on the arm of his chair and slid down so I was sat right next to him. He studiously ignored me and maintained his scowl.

“You started it, you know,” I said with a half-smile.

“I was only messing,” he grumbled quietly.

“I know,” I smiled, squeezing his arm. “I probably overreacted.”

“You did,” he nodded, his lips quirking up slightly. “Brat.”

“Moron,” I returned with a grin.

He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer so he could kiss my forehead, the definitive sign that all was good with us.

“
I didn’t think he’d actually believe it, Jelly,” Jake assured me, his voice low because my brothers were pretending to watch TV whilst they eavesdropped.

“He didn’t,” I smiled.

“But you were worried he would?” Jake teased.

“Yeah, that was stupid,” I frowned.

“It was,” he agreed with a grin.

“Take more than a Facebook update to get rid of me. Sorry, Jamie,” Jason interrupted.

“Good to know,” I smiled, letting him pull me up from the armchair.

“Come on, it’s our
turn to cook dinner.”

Monday, 25th December 2013

My brows were furrowed in concentration as I expended all my energy on mustering a perfect poker face. Just once, it would have been nice if I could
have pulled it off. I took a sip of my liqueur hot chocolate and tried to pretend I wasn’t holding the best hand ever.

“Jelly thinks she’s going to win,” Ian smirked at me.

“What? No. Do not,” I answered far too quickly, inwardly cursing myself.

“She never wins, why would she think that,” Craig grinned, winking at me from the other side of the table.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I snapped, watching as Karl changed the direction of play, meaning I’d have to wait even longer before I kicked ass.

“Poor baby,” Jason mocked, pressing a kiss to the side of my head.

I scowled at him and pulled my cards close to my chest so he couldn’t see them, muttering cheater under my breath.

“I don’t need to cheat to win, Jamie,” he laughed.

“Yeah, he just needs extreme luck and for the rest of us to be drinking,” Matt scoffed, swirling his whisky tumbler in one hand.

“Sore loser?” Jason goaded him.
He’d only won one round but that was still one more than Matt.

“No fighting,” I reminded them, smiling sweetly.

It didn’t matter if Ian could read right through my lack of poker face, I was going to win anyway. I had a green number two and a colour changer. All I needed to do was remember to shout “Uno” before I put my last card down and I was home free.

“Slow down on your hot chocolate, Jelly,” Karl reminded me, watching me take a long sip.

“It tastes so good,” I drooled. “I can’t believe you let me drink these when I was a kid. It’s pretty strong.”

Much to my confusion, they all laughed.

“What?” I frowned.

“Jelly, we just gave you hot chocolate with hazelnut syrup in. Why would we have given you alcohol?” Danny chortled.

“Oh,” I frowned. I guess that made sense but I felt a little sorry for the younger version of myself who’d thought she was all grown up being allowed to drink alcohol.

“Although,” Ian interrupted, changing the direction of play again. “You liked it so much that you helped yourself
to more once. Only you took mine and Karl’s drinks and ended up a bit giddy.”

“I don’t
remember that,” I cocked my head.

“Of course you don’t,” Karl laughed. “You ran around giggling for about half an hour and then slept for the rest of the day.”

I pursed my lips together and tried to prevent a smile at the fondness in his voice. Liqueur hot chocolates were one of our Christmas traditions and occasionally made appearances at Sunday lunches. They were also delicious and way too strong.

Jake changed the direction of play back to Ian and made him pick up two cards, to which Ian groaned and threatened to give him
paper cuts on his eyeballs. Jake just grinned and watched Ian add to his growing hand.

I was anxiously awaiting my turn to play. With all the back and forth
, I hadn’t had chance to make my awesome move of awesomeness yet. I wanted to win.

“You’re practically vibrating, little squirrel,” Jason whispered in my ear, his eyes smiling down at me. “Relax a little.”

Maybe the hot chocolates were affecting me a little more than I realised. Regardless, I was going to win. I grinned inwardly and concentrated on my cards.

Rick’s turn was right before mine, as long as nobody changed direction again.
The closer it got to my turn, the more I fidgeted. Jason kept squeezing my thigh and chuckling as I buzzed excitedly in my seat.

“She’s acting like the firs
t time we gave her coffee,” Ian laughed.

“Oh, that was adorable,” Elise smiled from the sofa nearby. She and Adam were playing with Elise who was dressed in her gorgeous little elf outfit and kicking her legs in a sort of jig.

Rick looked across at me when it was his turn, his eyes narrowing as he scrutinised my face. “What you holding onto there, Jellybean?”

“Cards,” I answered, trying my best to act nonchalant.

“How many?” He probed.

“More than one,” I answered quickly, hiding them under my hands.

“Can’t let them get lonely,” he said with an evil grin, dropping a plus four card onto the pile.

“Noooo!” I wailed, my shoulders slumping in disappointment. I
never
won at card games. “You suck, Rick.” I pouted, watching as Ian slid four extra cards towards me.

“You love me really,”
Danny winked.

“Eh?” I stared
at them in confusion.

“I think we’re going to have to cut you off, Jelly,” Ian grinned across at me.

“Why?” I pouted.

“Because that’s Danny,” he pointed to the twin sat next to me.

“No, his name badge says Rick,” I frowned, squinting my eyes to focus on the name badge I’d given each of them that morning as tradition dictated.

“Right,” Karl drawled. “Because they
never
swap name badges.”

“You two are sneaky!” I accused, poking my finger in their general direction.

“How many has she had?” Craig asked, raising an amused eyebrow at me.

“Three
,” Ian and Jason answered at the same time.

“Lightweight,” Jake slurred.

“Looks like both of them need cutting off,” Elise chuckled.

“You’re doing an appalling job as legal guardian,” Karl smirked at Ian.

“Hey, they’re both adults now. I am officially relieved of my duty,” Ian raised his hands and smirked.

“That never stopped you before,” Jake mumbled.

“You can’t cut me off!” I blurted, intervening before Jake said something to piss Ian off.

“Oh yeah?” Ian smirked. “And why’s that?”

“Because it tastes
so
good,” I hummed appreciatively, tipping up my glass and then sulking when I realised it was empty.

“You can have the child friendly version,” Ian laughed, pu
tting his penultimate card down – a colour changer. “Uno!” He declared with a smug grin before he placed his last card.

“No fair!” I pouted whilst the others groaned. I had a sneaking suspicion he was counting cards or cheating because he won far too often when we played card games. Not that I would call him on it.

“Right,” Ian called us all to attention. “Craig clear up the cards. Karl, whiskey refills to anyone who isn’t already sloshed. Mini-Carters, go drink two glasses of water and then we’re going to play a new game.”

“Mini-Carters?” I fake-scowled. “That would be Grace.”

“True,” Ian smirked. “But you’re also quite tiny.” He dropped a kiss onto my forehead and pulled me up from my chair, handing me off to Jason.

“I’m not tiny,” I scowled for real this time. “And Jake’s not either, look he’s
huge,
” I stressed, standing next to Jake for emphasis.

Jake nodded approvingly and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, probably more for
vertical support than to show solidarity.

“Alright,” Ian laughed happily. “Either way, the two of you need to go drink some water, and Jake?” He prompted. “Would you
check your blood sugar?”

I looked at Ian wide-eyed because I’d never heard him
ask
Jake to check before. I knew he was working really hard at cutting us all some slack.

“Alright,” Jake nodded, continuing the movement for a little too long.

Ian smiled and Jason guided the two of us into the kitchen, one arm round my waist and the other over Jake’s shoulder. I suspected Jake needed the support more than I did. Honestly, I wasn’t
that
drunk. I was just happily buzzed and enjoying a perfect Christmas.

To be fair, it was hard to tell the twins apart when they
weren’t
purposely trying to confuse us. Although, I’d admit the alcohol wasn’t helping.

“You’re a very cute drunk, little squirrel,” Jason grinned, pulling me into his safe, warm arms.

“I’m not cute normally?” I blinked up at him through my mascara-lengthened lashes.

“Always,” he grinned. “
But the little Miss Santa outfit is definitely helping.”

I blushed and smiled, drinking in the appreciative look he was giving me.
I was wearing Alex and Rab’s Christmas present: an adorable little velvet red skirt and corset with white fur trimmings. It came complete with red and white striped tights and a little Santa hat.

“You like?” I grinned, doing a twirl.

“I like a little too much,” he nodded, checking over my shoulder to make sure we were alone before lifting me up onto the worktop and sliding his hands up the sides of my skirt. “These tights are in the way though,” he grumbled, settling himself between my legs and pulling me right up against him.

“Honestly,” I sighed with a grin. “You need to make your mind up about tights. One minute you insist I wear them, the next you hate them.”

“I hate them when they’re in my way,” he mumbled, his lips exploring the crevice of my neck.

“Hands off, Reed,” Ian’s deep voice b
oomed as Jason’s weight was wrenched away from me and I slipped onto the floor with a squeak.

“Sorry, Ian,” Jason grunted with a smirk. “Didn’t hear you come in.”

“I gathered,” Ian answered dryly.

“It’s because he’s a ninja,” I explained in my slightly tipsy wisdom.

“Don’t you forget it,” Ian winked. “Now stop groping each other so we can play.”

“What are we playing?” I asked, beaming with happiness because Ian hadn’t reprimanded us or taken a swing at Jason.

“We’re going to place bets on which mini-Carter can stay stood on one leg for longest,” Ian grinned, bending down so he could lift me up over his shoulder and carry me like a sack of potatoes.

I was too busy giggling to beg him to put me down but he did so once he’d carried me down the stairs to
the gym.

“I am so going to win this,” I declared once Ian set me down on my feet.

“You reckon?” Craig smiled his lop-sided smile.

I was so happy to see him relaxed and at ease that I jumped up to g
ive him a hug, almost knocking us both over.

“Woah, easy there, Jellybean,” he laughed. “What’s gotten into you?”

“It’s Christmas,” I sung happily.

I did win the competition, mainly because Jake was definitely more wasted than I was and Grace couldn’t actually stand in order to compete in the first place. Still, a victory
was a victory and I made sure I was appropriately celebrated with hugs.

Although the Christmas before had been one of the best by a long shot, it had nothing on this year. 2012’s Christmas involved no fighting, no bickering, and no major hostility but it felt like everybody was going out of their way to keep it that way, making a physical effort to keep the peace after Jason and Ian’s fight.

This year, nobody was making an effort because they didn’t need to. There was a good deal of bickering and banter but it was all good-natured. This was what a family was meant to feel like. Effortlessly fun and without fear.

As I watched Ian and Jason playing with the
brainteasers Granddad had sent, it struck me how similar they were. I chuckled inwardly at how gross that should have been. The first time I met Jason, I’d recognised the aura of control they shared. It had made me feel both safe and uncomfortable at the time. There was more to it than that though. They were both protectors, both alphas, both extremely clever. I loved and admired Ian more than anything and I couldn’t help but wonder if some of those similarities had been what drew me to Jason in the first place.

If they had been, they weren’t what kept me interested. For all that they had in common, they were still very different. Whereas Ian was rough, stern, and disciplined, Jason was gentle, even though he didn’t share that side with everyone. Only me.

Don’t get me wrong, Ian could be gentle too, but it wasn’t the same kind of gentle Jason was. Jason was gentle in the reverent touches, the way his eyes held mine when he was talking, the way he noticed every single thing about me and cherished the details.

He was the ki
nd of gentle that brought goosebumps out on my skin and still warmed me to the very core. The perfect kind of gentle. And he maintained that gentleness at the same time as being a delicious mass of sexy as hell male deliciousness.
Mine
, I grinned at the thought.

“What are you grinning about?” Craig asked, dropping down on the sofa next to me.

“Nothing in particular. I’m just happy,” I sighed contentedly.

“I like seeing you happy,” he smiled.

“You’re happy too, right?” I prompted.

“Happier than I’ve been in years,” he nodded.

“Jelly!” Elise interrupted. “Grace finally woke up.”