Bad For You: (An Older Brother's Best Friend Romance) (9 page)

* * *

“I’ve been trying to call you.”

I look up at the sound of the recognizable voice
to find Kelly standing in front of me, a look of disappointment burned on her
face.

I’m out of it. My brain is delirious, and I’m
unable to think about anything but the amazing sex I just had. I stepped out of
the office a few minutes ago while Nautica scurried off to the bathroom to
clean herself up. I’m not sure how long we’ve been gone or were screwing, but it
was long enough that we were both a sweaty, panting mess.  

“I’ve been busy,” I answer. I still haven’t
returned a call or text from her. My mind has been on other shit.

She pulls her plump, shiny lips together. “I
see that,” she says, sarcastically, before letting out a laugh. “The best
friend’s little sister. Very classy, Bracken.”

My stance straightens.
Shit.
Are we
that obvious?

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I
glance around for Nautica, trying to play it coy, but I know better. Kelly is a
smart and perceptive woman. She was valedictorian of our class.  

If I weren’t caught up with Nautica at the
moment, I probably would’ve been fucking her in that office, to be honest. She’s
a good lay, and there is no denying how attractive she is. She’s standing only
inches away from me in high heels and a black dress that shows off her ample
cleavage. Her straight brown hair tumbles around the outside of each breast.  

“Friends who are banging,” she argues. I give
her a look, and she smacks my shoulder. “Don’t insult my intelligence. I’m a
Sexual Relations major. I know when two people are fucking, and you two people
are
fucking.”
She points to the office we just christened. “Not to mention, I
just watched her race to the bathroom, her head down, her hair a mess, and her
dress wrinkled. A few seconds later, you come strolling out with a satisfied look
on your face.” She swings her glass from side to side and stares at me, long
and hard. “Does Simon know?”

“There isn’t shit to know,” I fire back.  

“Whoa, settle down killer. I’m not going to
say anything. I don’t want you to hate me because when you and little miss
innocent over there end things, which I know will happen, I don’t want you
cutting my ass off from good cock. I want you to come back to me.” She takes a
sip. “I’m probably more exciting, anyways.”

She has no idea how much better Nautica is in
and out of the bed than she is, but I choose to keep that to myself. Kelly can
be the grenade that blows us up. Keeping my cool with her is mandatory.  

“How are you not a man?” I ask, around a
chuckle.

She downs the rest of her champagne and
laughs. “Trust me when I say this isn’t the first time I’ve been asked that
question.” She pats me on the back. “Be good, and let’s pray Simon doesn’t kill
you when he finds out. It would be a waste of a perfect body.”

She disappears before Nautica makes her way
back to me.  

nautica

“Late night?” Macy asks.

I groan as she strolls into my bedroom and
rips open the curtains. I cringe, trying to get accustomed to the sunlight
beaming through. She got home sometime yesterday, and we have plans to hang out
and go shopping today.

I blink a few times to allow my eyes to
adjust to the light. “I guess you can say that,” I mutter, a yawn coming next.
More
like a rough night
– considering how hard Bracken fucked me.

She stops at the end of my bed and looks at
me. Her blonde hair is neatly straightened, her lips a bright red. “And what
exactly did this night consist of?” She already knows the answer. She’s trying
to be a pain in my ass, per usual. 

I rise up and stretch out my arms. “I went to
the dealership’s holiday party,
remember?”

“Oh yeah, with your little fuck buddy,
Bracken. How did that go?”

I give her a dirty look, and she laughs. “Be
careful saying that shit,” I hiss. “If Simon hears you, we’re all done for.”

The mattress shakes when she crashes down
next to me. “You need to tell Simon to get the hell over it. You’re a grown
woman. You’re in college, and you can’t stay single forever.” She lets out a
huff. “I mean,
he
thinks he can go out and screw everyone, but keeps a
tight leash on you? That isn’t fair, and you know it. It’s time you put your
foot down.”

“I know, but I’m not only protecting myself.
I’m looking out for Bracken, too. I don’t want to go and tell Simon without
making sure he’s okay with it.”

“Bracken doesn’t need protecting. He needs to
grow some balls and set Simon straight. He’s a big boy.”

I’m afraid to stir the pot right now after my
night with Bracken, but we need to talk. Maybe last night was a reality check
that we’d be good together. Simon seemed fine with us going out.

I snag my phone from my nightstand and notice
two texts. One is from Bracken. The other from Quinton. They both say pretty
much the same thing.
“Good morning beautiful.”
I curse when my phone is
ripped out of my hand.

“Damn,” Macy draws out, her eyes scanning the
screen. “Look at you, playgirl. You went from having no boyfriend to having two
in only a few days. Go best friend. That’s my best friend.”

I reach for my phone and snatch it from her. “Neither
one of them are my boyfriend, thank you very much.”

“So what are you going to do?” She rests her
head on my shoulder. “I mean, no offense to Bracken, your one true love and all
that shit, but I can’t see much going forward with him, to be honest. He’s too
worried about your brother hating him. Plus, I’m pretty sure dude is a
commitment-phobe.”

My stomach sinks at the validity of her
statement. I shut my eyes and remember last night. The way he rushed me into the
office and lost his control, and then our second round in his truck before he
took me home. My longing for him is becoming stronger with every kiss and
screw.

But am I thinking our late night screws mean
more than they should? Is this just a fling? He leaves me with too many
uncertainties.

“God, I don’t know what the hell to do,” I
tell her. “If I had to pick one of them to be with right now, you already know
my answer would be Bracken. Unfortunately, like you said, I’m not sure if
that’s even a choice.”

She lifts her head up. “If he doesn’t, then
it’ll only verify he’s as big as a dumbass as I think he is.” She gets up and
holds her hand out. “Now get your confused ass up. I’m starved. We can talk
about your boyfriends over pancakes.”

* * *

I walk through the front door with Macy to find Bracken and
Simon in the living room.

“Hey guys,” Macy calls out. She tosses her
shopping bags on the floor and falls down on the couch next to Simon. She slaps
his arm when he dramatically scoots away from her.

“Hey sis,” he says, giving me a wave. He
looks over at Macy and frowns. “And Macy. What are you two hell-raisers up to
tonight?” He whips around to look at me. “And don’t think because your little
bad-influence sidekick is home that you can go out and act a fool.”

“Screw you, Simon,” Macy says, flipping him
in the head. “You’re only jealous that I’m not a fucking prude like you. You
need to loosen up.”

I tune out them arguing back and forth and
sit down in a chair. I refuse to look at Bracken. I haven’t texted him back yet
because I’m trying to get my head straight. I need to distance myself until we
can talk about where this is going.

“We’re actually planning on going ice
skating.” I hear Macy tell Simon. “Totally PG. Do you guys want to come?”

Simon hesitates for a moment, surprising me.
I figured she’d be answered with an immediate
fuck no
as soon as he
heard her question. He never hangs out with us, and he openly expresses how he
can’t handle being around Macy.

“Oh come on, it’ll be fun,” she goes on. “And
FYI, if you don’t come, we’re inviting other guys. I’m sure
Quinton
and
some of his friends would be up for hanging out with us. Last chance before we ask
them.”

She shrugs innocently when I give her a dirty
look. I’m planning on strangling her when we’re alone. I still can’t look at
Bracken, but I could feel his eyes narrow at me when Macy said Quinton’s name.

“Ice skating doesn’t sound too bad,” Bracken
says. “I mean, we don’t have shit to do tonight.” All of the blood drains from
my face at his answer. He can’t be serious? He’s actually going to put us in
the firing pit of Simon? He must be losing his mind.

“Fine,” Simon replies, around a groan. “But
we’re stopping and getting some food. I’m starving.”

Macy jumps up from the couch. “We’ll meet you
down here in thirty minutes.” She grabs my hand and drags me upstairs.

“Have you lost your damn mind?” I ask,
slamming my bedroom door shut behind us.

She crosses her arms. “You’re welcome,” she
replies.

“You’re welcome for what? Setting me up for
disaster?”

“No, you’re welcome for helping you figure
shit out. I’ll keep Simon occupied.” I give her a blank look, and she slaps my
arm. “Not like that, perv. Not all of us have active sex lives right now. I’ll
talk to him and keep his mind off you and Bracken.”

“Okay?” I draw out, still confused.

“I want to see how Bracken acts around the
both of you. I need a first hand experience so I can give advice.”

“This isn’t going to go well.” I point to
her. “And when it blows up in our faces, you better be helping me fix it.”

She flicks her hand through the air. “Nothing
is going to blow up, drama queen. We need to figure out if Bracken is wasting
your time or not.”

“Let’s hope Simon doesn’t find out before we
want him to.”

I change my shirt and put on some make-up
before heading back downstairs.

“Who’s driving?” Bracken asks.

“You can,” Simon answers. “You truck is
bigger than mine. More room.”

Macy giggles, and everyone looks at her. “I
bet there’s a lot of things of Bracken’s that are bigger than yours,” she says.

Simon shoots her a murderous glare. “Keep
talking shit, Macy. See where the fuck it gets you,” he fires back. “Your ass
will be walking home from the rink.”

My jaw drops as I watch their exchange. What
the? I know they don’t like each other, but it’s never been this bad. I look
over at Bracken. He shrugs.

“Shit, let me go grab my coat,” Simon says,
bumping into Macy’s side as he dashes upstairs.

Macy looks at Bracken. “Have you had your
backseat cleaned?” she asks him.

“No,” he draws out. “Why?”

“Because I don’t want to sit in your guy’s
sex juices.”

His gaze swings to me. “You told her?” he
questions, irritated. “She’s got the biggest damn mouth in town.”

“Of course she told me, dumbass,” Macy
replies. “You think she can keep something like that from me? Nope.” She gestures
my way. “The girl has sex written all over her.” 

“Macy,” I whisper harshly, ignoring the evil
eye coming from Bracken, and tip my head towards the staircase.

She rolls her eyes. “I’m going to start
calling your brother Ray Charles. The guy doesn’t see shit that’s right in
front of him.”

Just as I figured, this is not going well. We
haven’t even left the house yet and it’s already a fiasco.

We pile into Bracken’s truck. Bracken and
Simon take the front while Macy and me get in the back. Macy sticks out her
tongue dramatically as we climb into the backseat. I shove her before pulling
the seatbelt across my body. I run my hand along the soft leather as Bracken
takes off, remembering every detail of our nights in here.

Damn you, Bracken Casey, for giving me
everything I’ve dreamed about since I was a little girl and showing me that you
can make me happy. Damn you, for not making me any promises, confusing the shit
out of me, and leaving me in the dark.

* * *

“I’m trying to act as normal as possible right now, but it’s
challenging,” Bracken says, quietly. He falls down next to me on the metal
bench while I start to untie my skates.

I pull my left skate off. “Tell me about it,”
I say, with a sigh. “I feel so paranoid, like he expects something when he
probably has no idea.”

So far, ice-skating has been an interesting
event. We went to dinner first. Pizza. I wanted to strangle Macy the entire
time. She was trying her damnedest to make everything uncomfortable as
hell. 

When we got to the pizzeria, she squeezed
into the booth next to Simon before he could stop her, resulting in Bracken
having to sit next to me. I can’t be mad at her, though. She might have a sucky
way of doing it, but I know she’s only trying to help. She was the one who kept
the conversation flowing. It wasn’t necessarily
good
conversation, considering
it consisted of her mainly talking about the parties we’ve gone to since
arriving at KU, but it erased the awkward silence. Her and Simon spent the rest
of the time arguing about stupid shit while Bracken and I sat quietly.

Bracken gets down on one knee and helps me
take off my other skate. My heart skips a beat. The last time he’d done this
was in his bedroom our first night – our first time.

“I know,” he says. “This whole sneaking
around shit isn’t fun.”

I look down at him. “Then maybe we should
stop,” I reply. I’m shocked at myself for even suggesting it, but I think Macy
is getting to me. I need to find out where Bracken’s head is. We either need to
move forward or move on.

His face pales. He grabs the bottom of the
bench to bring himself up and sits back down. “Stop hooking up?”

I take a calming breath. “Or stop hiding.”

He takes off his black beanie to run his
hands through his thick hair. “You know that isn’t an option.”

“And why not?” I let out an aggravated huff.
“Are you really that terrified of my brother?” Simon is built and all, but
Bracken has at least fifteen pounds on him. “Yeah, he’ll probably be pissed in
the beginning, but he’ll get over it. It won’t kill him.”

“It has nothing to do with me being afraid of
Simon. It’s not that. It’s just …”

“It’s what?” I cut off his bullshit reply
because I know it’s going to piss me off. Whenever we attempt to have a
conversation with our clothes on it always turns ugly.

“Why can’t we wait a little longer? Let’s see
how this break plays out before we tell him, okay?”

I scoot away as nausea builds up in my
stomach. “I get it,” I say, through clenched teeth. “You don’t want to tell him
because it would be a waste, right?”

He looks at me in confusion. “What?”

“I’m not dumb. You’re not actually planning
on
being
with me. You want to fuck me, but not date me. You’ll never
change. So let’s end it now. It’s better this way.”

He’s shaking his head with his eyes down to
the ground. “That’s not what I meant. Those aren’t my intentions.”

 “Then explain to me what I got wrong.” I’m
on the verge of tears. Breathe … breathe … don’t let him know he’s hurting you.
 

“It’s just …”

“Are you guys already done?” Simon asks,
coming up and interrupting us. Him and Macy stayed on the ice when I told them
I wanted to take a break, and Bracken offered to come back with me. “Dude, I
planned on showing your ass up.” He looks over at Bracken with a competitive
smile.

Bad fucking timing, brother.

“Let’s see what you got then, asshole,”
Bracken says, bringing himself up. He doesn’t look at me once as he walks away
with him towards the ice.

 “Something just happened,” Macy says,
taking his spot. “I’m pretty sure we walked in on something, and from the looks
of it, it wasn’t something pretty.” She stares at me, her eyebrows drawn
together, while she waits for me to tell her the scoop.

I scrub my hands over my face and release a
heavy sigh. “I’m wasting my time with him,” I tell her. My voice loses power at
the end. I want to fade in the background and disappear from here.

She releases a heavy sigh. “I was afraid of
that, but at least we know his intentions now.” Her shoulder bumps into mine. “Do
you want to know the best thing to do now is?”

I give her a sideways glance. “What?”

“Show him he’s not the only guy you can get.”
She points to the crowd of guys a few feet away from us. “Look at all of them.
If the jackass doesn’t claim you publically, show him he has no claim over you,
period. Make him aware that you’ll do whatever you want until he pulls his head
out of his ass and mans up.”

“That’s the thing, though. He’s never going
to pull his head out of his ass because he doesn’t want a commitment.”

“Then that’s another issue. Do you know what
the only solution to the problem of a man who’s afraid to commit is?” I look at
her but don’t answer. “Moving on. Forget about him. You might love him now, but
you don’t have to always love him. You’re not Whitney Houston.”