Scarred: A New Adult Romance (The Anderson Brothers Series Book 1) (13 page)

“It’s
you
I’m concerned about. You think I
don’t notice the way you drag your ass around? Keeping your head in the clouds
and not paying attention to tonight’s meeting?”

“I
was paying attention.”

“Then
when and where’s our next poker run?”

Shit. Did they mention a
poker run?

“Exactly,
Genius,” Lonz says when I take too long to respond. “You got till next month’s
meeting to get it together, or else I’ll see that you’re demoted back to “Prospect.”
And believe me, I will. That’s a promise.”

Glaring,
I slam the helmet over my head. “Noted.” Without another word, I crank the
engine and zoom off.

Chapter 13

To my relief, Trinity’s not waiting outside when I return
home. Hopping off the bike, I rush through the back door into the kitchen. As I
toss off my gear, I hear the TV in the living room and Chris cursing. Entering
the living room, I spot Trinity curled up on one end of the couch. She watches
Chris, who sits on the other end, playing his football videogame. She doesn’t
look the least bit entertained.

“Chris?
Trinity?”

Trinity
turns and gasps. “Dominick!” She hops up and rushes into my arms as if I’d just
rescued her from death by boredom.

I
huff as she slams into me, her soft, curvy body pressing against mine.

“’Sup,
dude,” Chris says, not looking up from his game.

Trinity
wraps her arms around me and squeezes tight. She rests her head on my shoulder.
Way too clingy for my taste.

Tensing,
and smashed into her, I can’t help but look down at how her jeans pull tight
across her rounded ass, and she rises up on her toes to grind against me a
little bit. I gently pull away enough to breathe, and as I do, her purple,
snug-fitting shirt smoothes out as her large tits bounce back into place. She
falls back to her heels, her feet covered in blue socks with cartoon cats.

“It’s
about time,” she mutters. “I don’t think I could take another minute of
listening to him swear at that damn game.”

“Aw,
come on, you son of a bitch! He ran out of bounds!” Chris yells at the TV,
slamming his fingers on the controller buttons.

I
unwrap Trinity’s arms from around me, march over to Chris, and swipe the
controller from his hands.

“Dude!
What the fuck?” Chris says.

“Sorry,
man. I need the TV. Movie night.” I power off the game console.

Grumbling,
Chris gets up and leaves. “Fine. I’m gonna call Adri. Keep it down in here, you
two.”

I
flip him off while his back is turned.

Trinity
snorts and covers her mouth. “You two are hilarious.”

“He’s
cool once you get to know him. He’s been my best buddy since high school.
Anyway.” I look apologetically at her. “I didn’t mean for movie night to start
out like this.”

“What
are you talking about? I’m just glad you’re here.”

I
sigh. “How long were you waiting?”

“Not
long. The bus dropped me off about fifteen minutes ago.”

I
retrieve the thick binder of movies from under the TV. “So what kind of movies
do you like?”

“Mm …
thrillers and comedy mainly.”

I
idly sift through pages of white-faced discs with handwritten labels. Looks
like Chris acquired some more movies. My mind drifts elsewhere. I feel like
such an ass for almost standing her up. My fingers pull out a random disc.
“Ever see
The Shining?
”

Her
eyes light up. “That’s a classic! Let’s watch it.”

I
pop the movie into the player. “Get comfortable. I’ll make some popcorn. Want
something to drink?”

She
curls up on the couch. “Some water’s fine.”

Returning
to the kitchen, I search the cabinets for the box of microwave popcorn. The
sound of the TV fades to a dull buzz. Tonight feels weird, as if it’s not
supposed to be happening—at least, not with Trinity.

Denise is supposed to be the
one on that couch.

I
tear open the popcorn pack and throw it in the microwave. I know things
probably won’t work with Trinity, but how the hell do I tell her? She and
Denise are friends, for God’s sake. Sighing, I grab a beer from the fridge and
fill up a glass of ice water.

The
popcorn done, I carry it and the drinks back to the living room. I hand Trinity
her water and then plop down on the couch.

“Thanks,”
she says.

I
put the popcorn bag between us. I don’t want to give her any ideas. But she
takes the bag, sets it on the floor, and scoots close to me.

I
try to enjoy the movie, my beer in hand, but her constant shifting has me
nervous.
What is she thinking right now?

She
lays her head on my shoulder and watches the TV for a moment. “I can’t believe
this is happening. Me watching movies with DJ Kevitron’s brother.”

I
can’t help but laugh. “Is that all I am to you?”

“Of
course not.” She idly traces her finger along the top of my thigh. “I, uh,
kinda have a confession. So, I think it’s cool you’re his brother and all, but
I was wondering, if, um … you can hook me up with him?”

I
gawk at her. Wow, she’s obsessed with him, all right. “What?”

She
smiles apologetically. “Don’t get me wrong, Dominick. You’re a pretty cool guy,
but I know you’re into Denise. Let’s be real here.”

I
blink. “Wait. How do you—”

“Oh,
come on. It was pretty obvious when my friends and I saw you at the club, and
when you talked to Denise that night outside. Judging by the way your eyes were
ready to pop out of your head and the line of drool about to fall out of your
mouth, we figured you have a thing for her.”

I
huff. “I was
not
drooling.”

“You
totally
were.” She prods me in the
tricep with her finger.

“All
right. Fine. So I
might
have a bit of
a thing for her. Does Denise know?”

She
shrugs. “Maybe? I mean, we didn’t tell her anything. Not with her thing with
William.”

William
. I lower the TV volume and
turn to face Trinity. “What’s going on with Denise and William, anyway?” I ask,
trying not to dry-swallow.

She
shakes her head. “I really shouldn’t say anything about her personal life, but
I don’t care for William. He kinda creeps me out, y’know? But he loves Denise,
and Denise loves him, too, I think, so that’s all that matters.”

“You
‘think’? What about him creeps you out?”

“He’s
a frat guy. One of the obnoxious types. The ones that think girls are supposed
to be nothing but arm candy.”

“What
frat is he in?”

“Xi
Rho Nu, I think. At least, that’s what I overheard him telling Denise before.
Not sure if it’s true or not. Maybe he’s trying to impress her or something.”

I
scowl.
What is that asshole up to?
“I
have a friend in Xi, but he’s not like that.”

“Denise
is my best friend. I just want her to be happy.” She fidgets with the couch
cushion. “It hurt her when he had to move to Chicago.”

I
lower my voice. “You have no idea how much I want to fuck up that guy.”

Her
lips twist into a smirk. “You’re jealous.”

I
scoff at that. “Well, how the hell does someone like William get someone like
Denise?”

“He
was a smooth talker in high school. And a soccer jock. Denise always had a
thing for jocks.” She covers her mouth. “Oops. I wasn’t supposed to say that.”

Well, shit.

“Don’t
tell her, okay?”

“Don’t
worry, I won’t.” So Denise likes jocks, does she? “Y’know, I was a jock in high
school, too. So was Kevin.”

“Really?”
She bites her thumbnail.

I
nod. “I played football. Kevin played basketball.”

“That’s
cool. I like you, Dominick. You seem like you’d make Denise happy. And you’re a
jock. That’s always a plus.”

“So
I guess the question is, how do I get her to want me?”

She
shrugs. “I don’t know. I should stay out of it. She might think I’m conspiring
behind her back or something. I guess technically I am.” Her smile returns when
she looks at me.

I
place my hand atop hers. “You’re an amazing girl.”

She
rolls her eyes. “Mhmm.”

“Seriously,
you are. And thanks for telling me all this, by the way. I swear, I won’t say
anything to anyone about it.”

“Thank
you.” She blinks, as though suddenly coming to a realization about something.
“Wait. Did you say Kevin played basketball?” Her eyes widen.

I
furrow my brow. “Uh, yeah. Like two minutes ago.”

“
Your
brother? DJ Kevitron?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh
my God. Does he still play?”

“Sometimes
he plays pickup games at the parks. Why?”

“I
want to watch him play. You know how sexy that is? Wait, of course you don’t.
God that sounded so weird. Okay, um … never mind. So yeah, can you talk to him
for me?”

I
just stare at her, speechless. This girl is not only into his music but his
athletic skills, too. And she’s a big girl. He
loves
big girls. Holy shit, maybe she
would
be perfect for him. “I’ll see what I can do.”

She
beams, then kisses me on the cheek. It’s a light, gentle peck that I can tell
was intended to be a friendly gesture. “Thank you.” Looking back at the TV, she
reaches down and grabs a handful of popcorn. “Ooh! Turn up the volume. One of
my favorite parts is coming up.”

I
crank it up, but right now, not even an axe-wielding psychopath can distract me
from my thoughts.

Chapter 14

Wednesday after work, I catch up with Kevin at his
apartment in Eastlake. He finally got his mess straightened out, and
everything’s all good. He’s not working tonight, and it’s pouring outside, so
we hang out and shoot the shit. His wall-mounted TV is tuned into a basketball
playoff game.

I’m
sprawled on the couch, a bottle of beer sitting on the floor, as I fiddle
around with the circuit board of one of his broken mixers. The mixer had
finally breathed its last due to overuse, and I’m trying to repair it. It’s not
the first time Kevin’s asked me to repair some of his deejay equipment.
Besides, what better way to get some hands-on study time in for my circuits
class? I occasionally look up from my project to the TV, but I’m not really
paying attention to the game. My phone vibrates. It’s a text from Chris asking
if I want to meet him over at Chauncey’s for a few drinks. I ignore it for now
while I decide. “Whatcha doing tonight, bro?”

Kevin
kicks his feet up in the recliner. His shirt’s off, revealing the string of
tribal tattoos covering the left side of his arm, all the way up to his
shoulder, across the side of his neck, and down to his pec. “I dunno. May go
down to the park for a while after the weather lets up. Get in on some pickup
games.”

I
pause to take a long swig of beer, remembering him playing ’ball for the
Huskies. “Have you thought about finishing school this fall? I mean, c’mon.
It’s just one semester and that’s it. You’re done.”

He
glares. “Shut the hell up about that already. I’ll finish when I finish, so get
off my fucking back about it.”

I
arch an eyebrow at him. He’s not usually this pissy at me. “You okay?”

He
says nothing and scowls at the TV.

“Kev?
Come on, man.”

His
fingers dig into the fabric of the armrests and his knuckles whiten.

Now
he’s starting to scare me. “Kev … ”

He
looks daggers at me, bangs the footrest down, and stands. He storms out of the
living room, and the door to his bedroom slams so loudly the framed basketball
posters on the living room walls shake.

I
set the detached circuit board aside.
The
hell?
I jump from the couch and rush toward his bedroom. “Kev? Kevin!” I
knock lightly. “Kevin.” It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him act like
this. And that was when
that shit
happened.

He
doesn’t respond, so I slowly open the door a crack. In the midst of the deejay
equipment and album-filled bookshelves lining all four walls, Kevin sits on the
edge of his unmade bed with his face buried in his hands.

I
enter his room. “Kev,” I say softly. “Talk to me, man.”

His
phone slides from next to him on the bed to the floor. When Kevin doesn’t stir
from his spot, I walk over and pick it up. The screen wakes up, revealing the
list of recently missed calls. I spot a name that makes me seethe.

Michael.

I
haven’t talked to my oldest brother in years, and I damn sure don’t miss him.

“He
called again this morning from New York,” Kevin says. “I didn’t answer.”

“Good.”
I toss the phone back on the bed. “Maybe he’ll take the hint.”

“He’s
got the balls to keep calling, I’ll give him that.”

“Can’t
you block his number?”

“I
did. Three times. But he kept calling me from a different number each time, so
I gave up. He’s been calling from that number more often now, so I just saved
it and make sure not to answer whenever it comes up.”

“What
do you think he wants?”

“I
don’t know, I don’t care. And neither should you. I’ll never forgive him for
running like a scared bitch when we needed him.”

“Yeah.”
I stare at the wood-grain patterns on the floor.

“Hey,
sorry for freaking you out before. I’m just … Every time I see his name, I wanna
punch something. I’ve been angry all day about it.”

I
put my hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go to Chauncey’s.”

Kevin
lies back in bed. “Ehh … ”

“C’mon,
man. I think you and I can both use a couple drinks right about now. Hell, I’ll
drive, if you want.”

“No.
I’ll
drive.” Kevin lies there with
his hand over his eyes. “Gimme a minute.”