My Brother's Best Friend (Crazy in Love Book 1) (9 page)

As I step out of the shower, he asks, “Hey, Reagan, we didn’t use anything in there. Have you kept up with your shots?” “Yes, I have, Colin. I promise I won’t try to trap you in a teenage marriage.” His eyes meet mine, and he wraps me in my towel before carrying me into my bedroom. “You don’t think I want to marry you right now, baby? Cause I’d marry you tomorrow if you’d let me. But before we have a baby, I want to be able to give you and it everything that I can. That’s all. I don’t want to not be able to provide for you how I want. My number one goal in life is marrying you and making you happy.”

Stunned, I look at him until he makes a funny face at me. “Commitment is not a problem you have, Colin, huh? Wow, I never really thought about marriage before. My parents had such a bad one, that I guess I never gave it much thought. But good to know that someday you want to marry me.”

He shakes his gorgeous head at me and is standing with his ripped chest still exposed. I can hardly take my eyes off all the eye candy but the serious look in his eyes brings me back to his face, “Not someday, Reagan. After you graduate, I want to get married. I know we’ll be in college, but by then we can make it work. My plan is to either get into the NFL or become a doctor. I’ll know within my first year of college, which way things will be going. I want us committed and our futures connected as soon as possible. I told you that I never want to live without you, and I meant it. I don’t want to wait until the perfect time. Everything we go through, I want to do it together.”

Sometimes it’s scary to hear how sure Colin is about the future when so much of the time it feels like I’m only trying to get through right now. But I love him, and I know that. So I tell him, “I’ll be there, Co. If you want a definite future together, we’ll make it happen.”

Hearing loud pounding, we both look towards the door, and Wallace starts yelling, “Damn it, you both better be dressed in there. I need to find his girl so both of you better be ready to go in two minutes!”

“His girl,” Colin complains, “he talked to her for what, two seconds last night?” In my best lecturing voice, I argue, “Hey, now, we met at a party at my house. You had a beer in your hand, and a girl moving towards your lap. But I still knew that I wanted to know you more.”

Colin gave me his shy grin before telling me, “Yeah, you’re right. I knew when you jumped in Blaine’s arms in your bright pink bikini that you were the one for me. The second I looked at your face, I couldn’t breathe or speak.” He gave a nervous laugh before picking me up and throwing me over his shoulder.

“What are you doing?” I ask through my giggles. “Getting you ready to help your brother find his one true love. How weird will that be? Watching Wallace moon over and make googly eyes at some girl.” We reach the living room as Colin finishes his sentence, and Wallace picks up on the last part.

“What the hell are you talking about, asshole? I’m never going to act like a whipped idiot the way you do. You don’t think I hear you on the phone with Reagan when we’re at away games.
Oh, baby, I’m coming to you as soon as I get home. I can’t even wait to shower. We’ll shower together as soon as I get there.
It’s not just sad but disgusting seeing as I’m her brother. I’ll never be that bad. This girl is hot and seems really sweet. This isn’t a romance of a lifetime or anything.”

As Colin flips me off his back, he give me a look that says, sure it isn’t. I start to climb into the back of our Range Rover when I feel Colin pulling me back out. “If I have to be out of your bed before ten in the morning, you’re at least going to sit on my lap while we search for Wallace’s dream girl.”

Wallace groans and protests, “Hell, no, man, you two will be making out and kissing the whole drive. I don’t want to have to see that.” Colin laughs and tells him, “You shouldn’t have insisted that we come with you then. Blaine would have been a much better choice for this seek and find mission.”

“I couldn’t ask Blaine cause he’s still in bed with Brittany this morning. I walked in on the two of them when I was trying to find both of you.” Colin and I give a quick look to each other before I say, “Wallace, I’m so sorry. Brittany’s my friend but she can be such a bitch. She’s never been known for her loyalty. Are you upset?”

Looking surprised, my brother shakes his head and says, “Uh, no, I’m not upset, sis. She’s been acting like we’re a couple to all the girls at school, and we’d never been anything other than convenient fuck buddies. I’m glad that Blaine took her off my hands. That’s why I didn’t want to pull him from that this morning.”

Colin clears his throat before adding, “And Brittany’s doing me a favor because the more occupied she keeps Blaine the less he’ll be flirting with you.” Blaine can be a little over the top when it comes to me, but he’s family. And I can’t push him completely away. He’s been a dependable constant in both Wallace and my lives. But I always lecture him on respecting Colin since he’s my boyfriend.

As we ride to Randall, Colin starts to run his hands up and down my legs and leans in for a few kisses before Wallace complains, “I’m right beside you; I can see everything you’re doing with your damn hands. And I’d really like you to stop caressing my sister’s legs in front of me.”

Frustrated, Colin slams his hands on the side of the seats and complains, “I don’t know what the hell you want me to do. It’s a long drive, and I’d still be in bed with your sister if your needy ass didn’t make us come on a wild goose chase to find a girl that probably isn’t even awake yet.”

We pull into Randall, and I can tell that both the guys need to eat something before we start talking to people and checking around the town. I see a little diner in front of us and point it out to Wallace. He parks right beside it, and Wallace leads us inside but stops suddenly and makes me plow right into his back.

What the heck? I look around him and see a blond girl staring at him from behind the diner’s counter. She’s tiny, not much bigger than five feet, and absolutely gorgeous in a sweet way with ringlets of gold curls hanging past her shoulder and deep brown eyes. Immediately, by Wallace’s reaction, I know that this is the girl from last night.

I take charge and pick a table for us to sit down at. Crossing my fingers, I hope this table is in my brother’s mystery girl’s section. When she walks over to us only a minute later, I know I made the right choice.

Looking down at her notepad, Anna, she has a nametag on, says, “Um, can I get your drink order, please?” My brother, looking way more nervous that I’ve ever seen him before, says, “Uh, Anna, were you at the party at my house last night.”

Lightly sighing, Anna finally looks up at my brother before answering, “Yeah, we were there. I know we crashed, and you probably don’t think kids from Randall are good enough for your rich kid party. But none of us stayed long, and I promise we didn’t take anything.”

Baffled, my brother states, “I’m not accusing you of taking anything. I’d only wanted to try to talk to you. And after I told you my name, you left.”

Looking surprised, Anna blushes a little before explaining, “Look, I knew that even talking to you wasn’t a good idea. Decker is my foster brother, and I didn’t want you to think I was trying to cause any trouble.” Anna turns her pretty gaze to me, “He really likes you, Reagan. He has since he saw you all those years ago. He wanted a chance to tell you, any chance, so he took it last night.”

Trying to be polite, I tell her, “Thank you for explaining that. He was sweet when we met all those years ago, but last night, my boyfriend didn’t really appreciate what he said and the interruption.”

Anna smiles shyly at me and then Colin, “I know. I told him it wasn’t a good idea, and any time I’d ever seen you two, you look happy. But somehow, he’d convinced himself that this was his chance and he had to go for it if anything was ever going to happen between the two of you.”

Colin breaks in at this point, “Well, I appreciate the guy wanting to have his chance and all. But Reagan and I’ve been together for years, and we’re happy. And I’m determined to keep her happy.”

Anna smiles and admits, “I know. I could see that when I watched the two of you last night after the guys left. That’s the reason I stayed. And I told Decker that too, but he doesn’t want to listen to what he doesn’t want to hear. So sorry if you have to deal with anything else. For some reason, he’s convinced that this is his year for a chance with her.”

Wallace clears his throat and says, “Enough about Decker, is there anyway I can get you to go out with me?” Giggling, Anna slowly shakes her head no. I can see that she like Wallace from how much more nervous she is with him than me or Colin. I wonder why she won’t go out with him.

“I have to work every night this week, and I don’t really date anyway. I don’t think you or I have anything in common.” Wallace looks stumped at the fact she said no. He’s probably never been turned down before and wasn’t prepared for it at all. Anna takes our order after that and walks off before Wallace finally talks. “What the hell do I do with that? I don’t know if we have anything in common. I only know that I like her and want to get to know her better. I could just stare at her all damn day and be happy. That’s how beautiful I think she is.”

Laughing, Colin states, “Man, you can’t give up that easy. A girl like that takes work. One visit to her restaurant isn’t going to cut it. You’ll have to come every day and get to know her better. Stay late and offer her a ride home. It’s going to take some serious effort to win this girl, but I have faith in you. It’ll take a lot more time and work than you’re used to!”

Wallace looks back at where Anna’s making drinks for us before uttering, “You’re right. I’ll need to make more effort with her. I can do whatever it takes. But both of you are going to have to come with me. I can’t make small talk every damn day.” He sends me a pleading glance before saying, “You know how bad I am at it, sis.”

He was awful at talking period. I always thought he had a certain amount of words rule per day. Now he was going to have to try to figure out how to get Anna to talk to him. I giggle at the thought of his attempts at conversation with Colin and I before agreeing, “Fine, we’ll come when we can but be flexible with us.”

Anna comes back with our drinks at that time, and I tell her, “Thank you,” before asking, “Anna, is this your last year of school too? Are you a senior?” She shakes her head and tells me, “Nah, I’m a junior like you, Reagan. I’ve got one more year.”

Noticing my surprise, she says, “Hey, don’t be alarmed. Everyone at our school knows all about you, Wallace, Colin, and Blaine. You’re famous not only in your town but in ours too. The parties you throw are legendary now. Everyone wants to be invited to them.”

Signaling Wallace, he nods slightly in understanding before telling Anna, “Well, any party you hear we’re throwing, you’re automatically invited, that goes for all your friends too.” Colin starts to protest, before Wallace jumps in, “Come on, man, you’re always with my sister at that stuff. It’s not like you have to worry about anybody else hitting on her, even Decker. Besides you showed him what you were made of last night. We need some fresh blood in the mix.”

I can see Colin’s not happy with how things are going, and I pull his face down to mine before kissing him softly and nibbling on his lip. He kisses me back harder and pushes his tongue in to stroke mine before Wallace yells, “Hell, no, you two. There are kids in here. You need to save all that for much later in the privacy of one of your bedrooms. I sure as hell don’t want to witness it.”

Looking up and trying to remember what we were doing before I put my lips on his, I ask Wallace, “So how did the rest of that go?” Wallace looks a little less serious than usual before holding a napkin up with a number on it. “She told me to give her a call and let her know when the next party happens and she might meet me there. I’m going to try to come see her again, and we’ve got to hold a kick ass party at our house this weekend, Reag.”

Shaking my head, I can’t believe it, but it appears my brother has fallen hard and fast. I like Anna though, and I don’t think she’ll use him for his popularity or money. I look back at Colin and hope that Wallace can know love like I have. With the kind of childhood we’d had, it’d be amazing for us both to find happiness.

Chapter 6

Colin

              Is it a damn sin to want to be alone with my girl? Since Wallace and Anna have been talking, he wants us to go everywhere with them. And I love Wallace like a brother, but I don’t want him with me every time I try to make a move on my girl. He’s nervous and unsure, and I feel bad for the poor guy. But I went through it myself without anyone holding my hand.

              And I don’t get it. Anna’s pretty, and she seems nice but quiet. She’s got none of Reagan’s fire or spirit. But Reagan really likes hanging out with Anna, and I do love to see her happy. So I’m trying to deal with this double date shit getting in the way of my sex life, but on a Friday night, it’s hard to swallow. I want to be alone with my girl instead of heading to the mall with two others in tow.