#Heart (Hashtag #6) (6 page)

Ivy

It was almost too easy.

Too easy to talk B down after he saw the bruises. Especially coming off the heels of what it took to pull him from his nightmare last night.

‘Course, maybe that’s why this was an easier battle. He was already tired.

My heart hurt for him. It ached. He was so incredibly hard on himself in every aspect. When we first met during freshman year, I never in a million years would have guessed a guy like him would expect so much from himself.

It explained a lot really, now that I stood here and thought about it.

He never got too close, he was a
just for fun
guy for a reason. Yeah, he said it was because he was a wild stallion and liked to roam free. But I knew better now.

He was protecting himself.

He knew if he allowed himself to fall, to get close to someone, it wouldn’t be just for fun. He was too guarded for that. He was too protective, too cautious that something would take away everything he cherished.

The car accident had only made it worse. He’d been faced with his worst fear, literally thought I was dead until he pulled me out of the wreckage.

I was reluctant to tug out of his embrace because his smooth shoulder felt so good beneath my cheek and because the steady rhythm of his heartbeat was like music to my soul. But I pulled back anyway, my eyes searching for his.

Braeden’s arms loosened and slid down around my hips, his fingers brushing casually over the white fabric of my shirt. His eyes were the color of milk chocolate and rimmed with thick, short lashes that looked more like dark chocolate. Without thought, I hooked my index finger into the waistband of his jeans and dipped it down past the waistband of his boxers.

“B?” I asked tentatively. He seemed relaxed and unperturbed. Still, I wanted to be sure. It was important to me to know he wasn’t just shoving the anger with himself down where I couldn’t see it.

“Hmm?” The sound rumbled in his throat, his eyes never leaving mine. My finger rubbed lightly across his skin. The milk chocolate of his irises deepened in color just a bit, looking more like coffee without any cream.

“Aww, come on!” a voice groaned from the doorway. “You can’t just entice a guy down here with the scent of brewing coffee and then punch him in the guts with the image of his baby sister on the island—
where we eat
—and her half-naked boyfriend.”

I rolled my eyes, pulled my hand free of B’s waistband, and looked over my shoulder all at the same time.

Drew was standing there with rumpled, uncombed caramel-colored hair and a pair of gray sweatpants hanging low off his hips to reveal more of his lean waist than any sister cared to see. His feet were bare, which made me shiver because even though the heat was on inside, it was winter outside and there was snow on the ground. His mouth twisted into a grimace as he looked between Braeden and me. Like he’d caught us having sex or something.

“Please,” I retorted. “Braeden has on more clothes than you do.”

He grunted and came farther into the room, grabbed a barstool, and plunked himself on it. “Tell me the coffee’s done.”

“You look hung-over,” Braeden observed, sounding rather amused. I frowned as he grasped me around the waist to lift me off the counter.

He set me on my feet but didn’t move back, his warm body pressed close, and I relished in the feel. Even with my brother in the room, it was easy to forget we weren’t alone. He reached behind me and snagged his shirt off the counter and pulled it between us.

I sighed and smoothed my palms out over his chest muscles, getting in one last caress before he covered back up.

He pushed my chin up with one finger, and a smile played on his lips. “Later.” He promised quietly, dropping a quick kiss to my lips.

Behind us, Drew groaned again, and I stepped away from B to pull some mugs down out of the cabinet and fill one with black coffee. I carried it over to Drew and set it in front of him.

“You’re my favorite sister,” he said.

“I’m your only sister.” I reminded him.

His smile was lopsided and totally endearing as he lifted the cup to his lips to take a sip. “Well, I like you better than Cam, too.”

I laughed. “I’ll be sure to tell him that.” Camden (aka Cam) was our other brother, the middle child in our family.

“Traitor,” Drew muttered as he sipped more of the coffee.

I scrutinized his face. He looked tired. Braeden said he looked hung-over, and yeah, I could totally see why. But it was the middle of the week. Surely, my brother hadn’t gone out last night and gotten drunk…

Arms wrapped around me from behind, and B’s chin rested on my shoulder beside my ear. I leaned back into his body, momentarily giving him my weight. It kinda felt like a relief, like I was more tired than I realized and the moment of rest was welcome. “Left my phone upstairs. I’m gonna go grab it.”

I covered his hand with mine, and he caressed my wrist with his free hand, lightly skimming his fingers over the bruises my shirt covered. The action told me a lot.

Like maybe he hadn’t quite forgiven himself.

I leaned back to glance up. “I love you.”

He nuzzled his face in my hair, and I felt his chest fill with air when he inhaled. He was totally smelling me.

That’s okay. I liked it. I liked knowing that simply the way I smelled gave B some kind of high.

“Times two,” he whispered before leaving me alone with Drew.

The absence of his warm, solid body behind me made me feel slightly off balance. A little fuzzy headed.

“Why do you look so tired?” Drew asked, scrutinizing my face.

“Because it’s super early and I haven’t had my coffee yet,” I retorted like the bratty little sister I was. I pushed away from the island and went to the pot on the counter behind me.

A wave of dizziness came over me, and I pushed it aside and reached for a mug. My hand was slightly unsteady as I poured the rich-smelling liquid into my cup. Clearly, I needed this caffeine a lot more than usual this a.m.

“Ives,” Drew said from close by.

I jumped. The hot brew sloshed around in the pot but thankfully didn’t spill over. I looked at Drew in surprise. I hadn’t even noticed him approach.

“Geez! For someone so hung-over you sure move quietly.”

Drew frowned and took the pot out of my hand, returning it to the machine. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” I reached for the mug, wanting to wrap my hands around its heat.

Drew caught my hand and cupped it in his, pulling me around so I was facing him. He was taller than me, close to six feet. He had a long body. It wasn’t as bulked up as Braeden and Romeo. He didn’t train the way they did. He didn’t have to. He definitely had muscle definition, but it was leaner.

“You’d tell me if you weren’t, right?” He pushed.

I looked into his blue eyes. They were lighter than mine, more of a sky blue to my ocean. “I’d tell you.”

He nodded. “I guess I feel kinda shitty.” He began. “I moved here to spend more time with you, but I feel like we haven’t seen each other much.”

“Are you kidding? You’ve been so busy. Driving
and
working,” I said. “And I’ve had school and work.”

“And the YouTube stuff.” He reminded me.

I nodded. I was in the process of setting up my own YouTube channel for fashion and styling. I loved watching tutorials on makeup and videos on fashion, so much so that I decided to start my own. It was something I’d wanted to do for a while, but I was just getting around to setting up everything I needed.

I’d needed some time after everything with Zach…

And now that I was finally feeling better, I knew it would go a little faster.

“About that,” I said and batted my eyes at my brother. “Will you help me set up some programs on the computer? Video editing, sound, stuff like that? And maybe show me how to optimize the channel once it’s all set up?”

He nodded. “When I’m done with you, everyone on the internet is going to know who you are.”

Excitement curled in my middle, and I gave a happy squeal and threw my arms around him. He chuckled and hugged me back. “You’re my favorite brother,” I told him.

“I’m your only brother who knows his way around a computer.” His voice was dry.

I pulled back. “I really like having you here, Drew. It means a lot to me.”

Now why the hell was I suddenly feeling all sentimental?

I reached for the coffee. I needed this. STAT.

“I like it here, too,” he said. “Feels right. You know?”

I nodded. It was because he belonged here. He was family.

“So…” I began, taking my mug toward the fridge to grab the creamer. “Why are you hung-over in the middle of the week?”

He wasn’t the only one that could be concerned.

“Who’s hung-over?” A new voice joined the conversation. I peeked around the open fridge door as Trent strode into the room.

“Dude!” Drew greeted him from his casual position against the counter.

Trent poked me in the ribs on the way past. “Ivy,” he greeted and then took up residence right beside Drew, mirroring his pose, his back to the island and one foot crossed over the other.

‘Course, Trent had on more clothes and didn’t look like he swallowed a case of beer the night before. In fact, he looked the most alert out of everyone, in a pair of loose-fitting jeans and a red hoodie with a big silver Nike check across the front.

His hair, which was actually almost the same color as my brother’s (Trent’s was slightly darker), was short but still styled neatly. As opposed to my brother, who likely hadn’t had a haircut in months so it was all grown out and flopping around his head like he had a family of rats living in it.

The pair fist-bumped and Drew said, “How’d you get in?”

“I let him in,” Braeden replied, stepping into the room. Prada was running along beside him, and I smiled and called her name.

She raced over to me and put her front paws on my legs. I abandoned the fridge and bent to give her some love. I picked her up, and she licked my chin, which made me laugh. “I wondered where you were,” I told her.

“She was under the bed,” B said. “Came out when I went to get my phone.”

I knew it was because his dream had scared her, but I didn’t tell him that.

“I’d hide too if I could,” I told her. “It’s too cold to get up today.”

She licked me again, then wiggled around until I put her down. I reached in the fridge for her dog food and then stood there pondering the contents, looking for something other than creamer. When I didn’t find it, I sighed and grabbed the caramel-flavored kind and shut the door. After it was added, I took a sip of the coffee and frowned.

For a girl who seriously needed a cup to jumpstart her morning, it just wasn’t what I wanted.

Braeden was pulling down a box of cereal, and I stepped to his side and handed him the coffee. “Here, made this for you.”

He grabbed it and took a sip. “That’s some good shit, baby.”

“So…” I began and went to grab the milk for B and a paper plate for Prada’s food. “Are you going to tell me where you were last night that you came home with a hangover?” I asked Drew.

“You went out last night?” Trent said, mild surprise in his voice.

I glanced over at them, surprised myself. Drew and Trent were attached at the hip. I would have thought if one had gone out, then the other had, too.

“I’m not hung-over,” Drew muttered. “I’m just tired.” To punctuate his point, he added more coffee to his cup.

“I heard you come in late,” Braeden said, sitting down to eat.

I put Prada’s food in the microwave for a few seconds to warm it up before giving it another stir and placing it on the floor for her to attack.

“There was a big race across town. I went.”

“You went to Lorhaven’s turf alone?” The tightness in Trent’s voice along with the underlying tone of dislike drew my attention away from the open fridge, where I was standing once more.

Drew went to races all the time. For months now, he worked during the day and then spent the rest of his time racing and building a name for himself in the driving circles here in Maryland.