In Love with My Brother's Best Friend: Complete Box Set (15 page)

“
Leave
those two alone,” she said sternly, as she handed me a group of
balloons.

“
What?”
I asked.

“
You
and Tim are too hard on her,” she said.

“
He's
not right for her,” I said.

“
That's
not for you to decide, Jackson,” she said in a sympathetic
tone.

I
finished what I was doing without saying a word. Then I walked over
and let my body fall into a chair with my head in my arms on the
table. I looked under my arms to see Chris against the wall on his
phone. He never even bothered to help at all.

I
heard a chair scrape across the floor right behind me. When I looked
up, I saw Tina standing on her toes on the chair trying to reach a
decoration on the ceiling. I heard the chair slip, jumped from my
chair, and caught her just before she hit the ground. She grabbed
around my neck as I scooped her up. I felt her body shiver, as I set
her on her feet. That fucker never moved from his spot on the wall
and never took his eyes from that damn phone. I lifted her chin with
my hand so I could see her eyes.

“
Are
you okay?” I asked her.

“
Yes,”
she said, as she pushed off of me. “Thank you.”

She
moved to stand on the chair again, and I grabbed her hips, lifted her
off the floor, and moved her to the side.

“
Let
me do it,” she barked out at me.

“
You
shouldn't be up there. That fucker should help you,” I growled
out at her. “Now move.”

I
got up on the chair and pulled everything from the ceiling at once
before throwing it to the ground. When my feet hit the floor, I slid
the chair in with a bang. Tina's mom looked up at me from across the
room and shook her head. I reached down, scooped the stuff from the
floor, and shoved it into Tina's hands.

“
Here
you go, Ms. Independent,” I snapped.

She
wouldn't ask for help if her life depended on it. I had to wonder
what her life was like. Did she struggle without anyone knowing?

Tina
threw the stuff from her hand into the garbage and took off around
the corner. I looked over and that ass hadn't moved. He didn't go
after her to check on her or attempt to make sure she wasn't hurt.
That was total bullshit. I tried with all I had to walk away. My
hands were clenched at my sides. Then it happened, he started
laughing at something on his phone, and I lost it.

I
stormed over, took his phone in one hand, and grabbed him around the
neck with the other. I threw his phone hard into the wall he was
standing against. It smashed into at least three pieces that I saw
fly through the air. I held him up against the wall and glared at
him. Then the fucker had the nerve to smirk at me. Before I could
even think it through, all of the feelings I'd had those last two
days came to the surface. I pulled back the hand that had thrown the
phone and punched him in the face.

“
You
don't fucking deserve her,” I growled out.

Tina
came running into the room, pulled at my arm, and grabbed Chris'
face.

“
Oh
shit!” she yelled. “What the hell is wrong with you,
Jackie?”

It
made me sick to see her caring about that cheater. She was holding
his face and shaking her head. I backed away and stood watching them.
He was leaning over with his hands on his knees, as blood dripped
from his lip. Tina's mom came running over with some rags and ice.

“
I'm
so sorry, Chris,” Tina was whispering. “This is all my
fault. Are you okay? I am so sorry.”

“
What's
wrong with me?” I let out in a snarl.

I
was so angry.

“
I
saw that asshole at the club last night. He'd just taken you back to
the room and had come back down. I watched him sit there and kiss
someone else. He was kissing a guy.”

Chris
looked up from ground like he'd been caught. Tina kept apologizing to
him over and over.

“
I
hope you can forgive me, Chris,” she said. “I can't
believe this. You know I love you. I'm so sorry for pulling you into
this mess.”

Chris
looked into her eyes, let go of his jaw, and stood tall. Seriously, I
thought. He wanted more. I could go all damn night. I had so much
pent up aggression and hadn't been in my gym to get rid of it for two
days. Tina stepped in between us and turned to me. I couldn't
remember the last time, if ever, that I had seen her that pissed off.

“
I
can't believe you. Will you ever grow up?” she asked me.

“
Did
you hear what I said?” I asked. “Your precious, perfect
boyfriend was making out with someone else last night while you were
in your room.”

She
stood up on her toes and looked me right in the eyes. I could feel
her breath on my cheek. She was so close. It was quiet around us, and
her mom was right there. Chris was watching me. I knew he wasn't
going to back down.

“
What
do you care?” she asked.

“
What
do you mean what do I care? He's cheating on you, Tiny.”

I
could not believe she was making me look like the bad guy. I'd stuck
up for her, and she was turning it on me. Who did she think she was?
Why would she put up with a guy who was cheating on her? Where the
hell had the girl I'd known gone? I was dumbfounded at the way she
was reacting.

She
let out a loud laugh and shook her head.

“
You
don't know one fucking thing about my life, Jackie. He's not my
boyfriend. He doesn't even like girls. He's my best friend.”

She
let her body relax a bit, took a step back, took Chris by the hand,
and looked up at me.

“
Even
if he did kiss someone else, would it really matter?” she asked
sadly. “You're no better than he is. At least he didn't fuck me
and then disappear before the sun came up. He wouldn't be embarrassed
to have been with me.”

She
pulled Chris by the arm and walked out.

“
Tiny,”
I yelled out after her, but she kept going.

Embarrassed,
did she say embarrassed? No way. I would never be embarrassed. How
could she think that? Because you took off you dumb ass, I thought.
Shit! It didn't have anything to do with being embarrassed of her. I
would have proudly admitted to being with her. As it was, I was
chasing guys away from her from hundreds of miles away. Crap! I had
to talk to her. I needed to go after her. I knew it was too late. The
damage was done. She was upset with me and would never want to talk
to me again. It didn't matter. I had to be honest with her. She
needed to know that my leaving had everything to do with not losing
my best friend and the only family I really had. How could I have
been so stupid?

I
was so wrapped up in her words that I'd totally forgotten about where
I was. Her mom was watching me carefully. She was still standing in
front of me. I looked at her, and she had a look of sympathy on her
face. She should have wanted to beat my ass, but she didn't say a
word.

Everything
was quiet around us. You know the saying, you could have heard a pin
drop. It was so true. There wasn't a sound around, but I wasn't dumb
enough to think that nobody had heard what she'd said.

I
took a deep breath in and released it before turning to face what I
knew was coming.

Tim
stood on the other side of the room looking angrier than I had ever
seen him. His hands were in fists. Renee had her hand on his arm, and
was looking nervously at me.

“
Really,
Jackson,” he said with disappointment. “I asked you one
thing in our entire friendship. You just couldn't do it, could you?”

Jackson

I
walked toward Tim. It was time to take it like a man. I knew what was
coming but couldn't help the relief that filled me knowing it was all
out there and I could stop beating myself up for what I had done to
both of them, to all of them really.

It
wasn't what I wanted to do. I wanted to run after her and fix
everything that had happened. She needed to know it wasn't her. She
was memorable, more than she would ever know. How could she think
that? She was amazing. I wanted to hurry and tell her, but I knew I
had to face the man in front of me before I did anything else.

“
Tim,”
I started. “It wasn't supposed to happen. I swear to you that I
did not plan it. It happened one time only, and I made damn sure it
never happened again. Please believe me. I made a promise to you, and
I broke that promise.”

He
looked at me, but didn't say a word.

“
You're
my best friend. You always have been. I love your family. You know
that. Your mom and dad have treated me as their own since we started
hanging out. They pushed me and believed in me when my own parents
didn't. I would never do anything to hurt any of you.”

I
looked over at his mom, who had a sympathetic look on her face.

“
When?”
Tim yelled.

“
What?”
I asked.

“
When
did it happen, Jackson?”

I
took a deep breath.

“
At
the party for your eighteenth birthday.”

“
It
was you she was talking about in the parking lot last night,”
his voice rose even louder.

“
Yes,”
I answered.

“
I
remember that night. You were gone for hours. When you came back, you
said you weren't feeling well and left.”

“
Yes,”
I said. “I had run into one of her friends. She said she hadn't
seen Tina in a couple of hours. I was worried about her and went
looking. She was down at the beach away from everything. We talked
for a long time and got caught up in the moment. It just happened. I
swear neither of us has spoken to the other since. I never meant to
break my promise to you.”

“
You
kept it from me for ten years,” he said, as he inched closer to
me. “How could you do that? I can't believe I didn't know.
She's my sister. You fucked my sister, Jackson.”

“
I
regretted it right after it happened, Tim. I didn't regret it, but I
did. I've lived with that shit for ten years. You have no idea how
damn hard that's been. I've seen you and your parents over and over,
and it's hurt so badly. I wanted to tell you, but I knew you'd hate
me. I didn't know what you'd say to her. It wasn't her fault. It was
mine. I didn't know how she'd feel about me telling you. You asked
one thing of me during our friendship, and I let you down. You will
never know how sorry I am.”

“
There
were so many girls you could have had. They were falling all over
you. You were in college. Why her, Jackson? Why did my sister have to
be one of those numbers for you? My. Damn. Sister.”

“
I'm
so sorry. It's not like that. She wasn't just a number to me, Tim.
I've felt horrible every single day since it happened. I never even
talked to her about it. I left her alone and never went near her
again. Don't think I did it just because. It wasn't like that with
her. I swear it wasn't like that.”

“
You
were supposed to be my best friend,” Tim said. “You need
to go.”

“
Tim,”
I said.

“
I
said go,” he yelled.

Tina

“
I'm
so sorry, Chris,” was all I could say over and over the entire
drive back to the hotel.