Best Friend's Brother #3 (Best Friend's Brother Romance Series - Book #3) (5 page)

What I needed was to clear my head and decide what I
really want. All I can think about is Alexa. Part of me is still pissed about
how judgmental she was and part of me wants to call her and talk to her about
it so she can see that I’m not that guy any longer. I wouldn’t even mind
arguing with her a little bit. I like her spunk even though it pisses me off
when it’s directed at me. It’s a lot better than that fake shit Kristie gives
me. I loved just hanging out with her. We didn’t have to go anywhere or do
anything. I loved when it was just her and me. The sex is…unbelievable, but
it’s not even about that. I’ve never experienced before, missing someone the
way I
miss
Alexa.

I wonder sometimes if maybe the feeling is
intensified because I’m missing my little sister so badly at the same time.
Maybe I have my emotions all tangled up and being with Alexa seems so right
because she’s such a strong connection to Emma. I’m not sure, but I do know
that I need to figure it out because it was making me crazy. Did I actually
want to be with someone who was holding things I did years ago against me? If I
decided that I did, would she want to be with me? We’d only known each other a
little over a month and we’d already had two fights. Those odds weren’t great
either. The fact that we got together just after my sister and her best friend
died caused a lot more stress than an ordinary new relationship would have, so
I had to factor that in too. I fell asleep that night with all of this on my
mind and woke up the next day with a whopper of a headache. I suppose it could
have come from
Wreckin
’ Ralph’s well-placed right
cross to my temple…but I think it was more likely the other stuff.

I forced myself out of bed and shook several Tylenol
out into my hand. I washed it down with a protein drink and then after a quick
shower, I headed to the gym. Maybe some exercise would clear my head. If it
didn’t, maybe it would make me look like
Wreckin
’
Ralph when I grow up.

I did my day one workout. Usually the day after a
fight I rest and start my day one the next day but if I stayed home this morning
there was going to be no rest. I started with the bench press and I did fifteen
reps times two. I had a guy named Leonard spotting for me and he was chatty.
Sometimes that annoyed the hell out of me, but today it was a nice distraction.

“I got me a new truck,” he was saying.

“Five…Oh yeah,” I grunted out, “Six…What did you get?”

“I got a Ford F-450.”

“Seven…Damn…Eight…Nice.
Big
truck…Nine.”

“Yep and I put a six-inch lift on her,” he said.

“Very nice…Ten…What…Color…Eleven…”

“She’s a royal blue with a lot of chrome. She’s a
beauty.”

“Sweet…Twelve…I always wanted…Thirteen…a truck.”

“You should get one. I’ve been going to your fights
man, you’re awesome. You have to be making some good money, right?”

“It’s okay…Fourteen…I’m saving up…Fifteen….”

“For what?”
He asked as I put the bar down.

“You just never know what’s going to happen, you
know. I don’t want to find myself unable to fight someday and broke, you know?”

“True, smart kid.”

Dumb kid who let himself be kicked out of school his
sophomore year. If I’m ever not able to fight, the best I’ll be able to do in
the job department is flipping burgers.

“Yeah, I guess,” was all I said out loud. “Thanks
for the help.”

I finished my workout and stopped by to check on my
mom and dad on the way home. Mom said that Dad went to work so I hoped that
meant he was feeling better. Mom looked a little better. She wasn’t dropping
and spilling things. She was knitting and watching an old movie on television…I
guess that was a start. I made a run to the grocery store to make sure they had
the basics and then I headed home.

I was doing great until I was
back
home alone. Every time that happened lately I felt like the walls were closing
in on me. It was weird, because I used to prefer being alone. Alexa was the
first person I ever met that I actually wanted to see every day. In the past,
even when I was in a relationship for a long time, I was good with a couple
days a week.

I spent the rest of that day obsessing and the next
day was pretty much an exact duplicate. Finally on the third day after my
disaster of a date with Kristie I called Alexa, pushing the button quickly
before I could change my mind. She picked up on the second ring, “Hello?”

“Hey.”

“I’m glad you called. I’ve been thinking about
calling you all week.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.
I went to your fight the other night. You were awesome.”

My mind went to Kristie and I automatically began to
sweat. It was stupid. I didn’t do anything wrong.
“Oh yeah?
Why didn’t you say hi?”

“I didn’t think it was the time or place to talk to
you. I wanted to apologize about that last night we were together. I don’t have
any right to judge you. Everyone makes mistakes. I think my emotions are just
on such high alert lately because of Emma.”

“Yeah, mine too. I miss her like crazy. But thanks
for the apology. I appreciate it.”

“I mean it,” she said. “I’ve felt so bad since that
night.”

“You should have called me,” I told her.

“Yeah, I should have. I’m stubborn like that.”

“Can I see you?”

“I’d like that,” she said.
“When?”

“Tomorrow afternoon? Maybe I can order a pizza and
we can talk, watch a movie,
play
a game…whatever. I
just want to see you.”

“I want to see you too,” she said. “I’ll be there.”

I hung up and mentally kicked myself for not calling
sooner. Oh well, I finally have something real to look forward to. I couldn’t
wait to see her.

******

ALEXA

I woke up early the morning after Ian called me with
a smile on my face. The anticipation about seeing him later was balled up in my
chest and coursed through my veins like a dose of nervous energy. It tingled
through me like electric sparks and eventually gathered in my toes. Once I got
out of bed, I couldn’t sit still. The house was spotless clean from my cleaning
binge last week and there was nothing left to do…so I went out for a run. While
I was out, I decided to run by Emma’s house and see her mom. Ian’s mom too, I
suppose. It was weird, but I still just thought of them as Emma’s parents.
Anyways, I’d been putting it off, but I had to do it. I knocked on the door
twice and was about to leave before her mom pulled open the door. My heart hurt
when I saw her. She looked like she had aged ten years in the past month. She
was pale and her usually beautiful dark hair was un-styled and uncut and the
gray was more plentiful now than the dark brown. Her eyes were rimmed with
pink…probably from crying herself to sleep at night. I almost regretted coming
until her face broke out in a smile and some of the old spark was there in her
eyes.

“Alexa!
Hi honey! How are you?” She grabbed me up in a bear hug and when she let me go
I said, “I’m good. I’m sorry I didn’t call. I was out for a run and I thought
I’d just come by really quickly and say hello. Are you doing okay?”

“Fine,” she said, “Oh Alexa! Come in honey! I’m
sorry.” She led me into the living room. It was dark in there
like
my room had been for that entire week I was so
depressed and mad at the sun. The house was really clean though. I could
probably run a white glove over things and come back without a speck of dust. I
wondered if that was what she’d been doing with her time.

“The house looks really nice,” I said. It was for
lack of anything better to say but I was surprised when she said, “Thank you.
It’s all Ian. He comes by and cleans two or three times a week. I tell him not
to, but it makes him feel better to help.” My heart swelled at that thought and
at the same time I was angry
at
myself again for the
assumptions I’d made about him. There was no way he was anything but a good
man. Only a good man would take such good care of his family.

“How is your husband doing?”

“It’s up and down for us both, you know? He went to
work today. That usually means it’s a good day for him. They let him make his
own schedule since technically he’s retired already, so that’s nice too. When
he’s having a bad day, he stays home and works in his shop.”

“I know that feeling. Good days and bad days.”

She looked lost for a second and then she said, “I
don’t have many good ones. It’s so hard to know what to do…you
know?
”

“I know. I wish I came here today with some words of
wisdom, but I can barely function some days myself.”

She nodded and looked like she was fighting back
tears. Then suddenly she said, “Oh! Ian brought over the best cookies
yesterday. Do you want some coffee or tea and some cookies?”

Ian brought over cookies. This guy was killing me.
“Sure, that sounds good,” I told her. We went into the kitchen and while she
was fussing over making tea I looked at the chalkboard hanging on the wall. It
said:
“Dinner is in the microwave. Eat.
Both of you.
I love you both so much! Ian.”
I felt the
tears stinging my own eyes as I read that. His mom noticed me looking at it and
she said, “He leaves dinner a few times a week too. I’m not sure that either of
us would have made it through this without him. He’s been our rock.”

I understood that. He was mine too.

*****

After my visit with his mom, I was even more excited
about seeing Ian than I thought possible. There is nothing sexier to me than a
man who takes care of his family. So what if he screwed up when he was a kid.
He was a man now and from what I saw, a damned good one. I started getting
ready for our evening early. I couldn’t sit still anyways without staring at
the clock. It wasn’t moving fast enough and it was making me crazy. I took a
long bubble bath and then I spent almost an hour deciding what to wear. I
wanted to look good for him, but I didn’t want to look like I was trying too
hard. I finally settled on a tan A-line skirt that came to just above my knee
with a tan lace blouse and a camisole underneath. It was casual but nice at the
same time. I wore my tan cowboy boots with it and I straightened my hair. I
just let it fall to my shoulders and frame my face. Nothing fancy, but again,
nice. I put on just enough make-up to make my eyelashes pop and my lips look a
little plumper. When I was finally ready, I was pleased with the look. I looked
at my phone. It was two-fifteen and I had a text from my dad. It said,
“Honey, if you’re okay I was going to have a
drink with Tom after work and then I’ll be home.”

I texted back.

“I’m
going to spend some time with a friend tonight. Don’t worry about me. Stay at
Tom’s if you drink. I don’t want to worry about you.”

I got one back that said, “
Okay, but if you won’t be home, text me, okay?”

He needed some medication. His neurosis was getting
out of hand.

“I
probably won’t be, Dad. But I’m going to be at my friend’s house, not out
driving. Please don’t worry.”

“Okay.
Love you.”

“Love
you too.”

CHAPTER
NINE

ALEXA

I made it over to Ian’s apartment right around three
o’clock. I met the pizza guy on the stairs. I knocked on the door and Ian
pulled it open. He looked surprised to see me. I think he thought the pizza guy
had forgotten something. He looked me over and the look he had in his eyes made
me all tingly
inside
. “Wow, you look…wow. Come in.” I
felt my face go hot from his compliment. He didn’t have to finish the sentence.
His face said it all and I was so glad.

I stepped inside and he closed the door and then he
said, “Damn, I missed you.” He opened his arms but he looked like he wasn’t
sure if he should hug me or not. I stepped into them and he wrapped me up in
his strong arms. It felt really good to be there. “I’m glad you came,” he said.

“Me too.”

“Are you hungry?”

“Yeah, sure,” I said. He went into the little
kitchen and took out two plates. He handed me one and then opened both of the
giant pizza’s he’d ordered. One was half cheese and half pepperoni. The other
was half all meat and half bacon and jalapeno.

“I forgot to ask what you like on your pizza,” he
said. I laughed, “I like it all,” I said. “But I hope you’re really hungry or
you like leftover pizza because I don’t think we’ll be able to eat all of
this.”

“I’m really hungry,” he said. “And I love leftover
pizza.” He grinned and said, “You first.” I took a piece of the bacon and
jalapeno and one of the all
meat
. He smiled again and
said, “My kind of girl.
Beer or soda?”

“Water?”

He made a face and said, “All I have is tap.”