Chapter Seventeen
Brady
I was fast asleep when I was woken up by a knock at the door. I looked at the time and saw that it was four in the morning. Who the hell would come here at this time? Not even Grant would come over this early. I got out bed, threw a shirt on, and made my way slowly downstairs. At the last minute, I decided to grab the shotgun. I probably didn’t need it, but it was better to be safe than sorry in this case. I pointed the gun to the door and opened.
“Dude! What the hell?”
I lowered the gun when I saw Ryan standing in front of me.
“No wonder they called you Shotgun.”
I chuckled. “I did the same thing to Grant once, and he said the exact same thing. But why the hell are you knocking at my door at four in the damn morning?”
“Oh, come on! You should be happy to see me at any time of the day. I decided to get an early start. Beat the traffic and all that. I was aiming for five, but I got here way earlier. Aren’t you going to let me in?”
“Come in,” I said and then closed the door behind us. I looked at my brother. “You’ve gotten taller.”
“Nah, you’ve gotten shorter,” Ryan said.
“And you’ve gotten more tattoos.”
He grinned. “Probably. And I assume you’ve still got none.”
“I haven’t. But Grant has.”
“What? Grant has a tattoo? Since when?”
“Since he fell in love with Emily.”
“That’s your neighbor, huh? Wow, she has a tattoo?”
“According to Grant, she has one on her ribs and one on her back. She convinced him to get one, too.”
“I like the sound of her already. I thought all the girls around here were prudes.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Oh, that’s one thing they’re definitely not.”
“Wow, maybe I should consider moving here too, then. So, what does a brother have to do to get some coffee around here?”
“You’re very lucky I want some so badly myself. Come on, sit down, I’ll get us a cup.”
I made my way to the kitchen while Brady mocked me for being such a perfectionist when it came to the coffee. He saw me measuring the beans and grinding them, and he laughed.
“You’re such a hipster.”
“A what?”
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t you know what a hipster is?”
“No. I’m assuming someone that likes coffee.”
“Well, sort of. But many other things too. You don’t have a bicycle hanging on your wall do you?”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
He laughed. “Nothing. Sorry, I forget that you’re in your own little world now. I mean, you don’t even go on the internet.”
“Are you going to sit there and mock me all morning or are you going to be nice? Because I’m close to pouring your coffee down the drain and drinking mine in front of you.”
“Have I told you lately how much I love you? And how good you are looking?” he said and grinned at me.
I shook my head. “You’re a pain. You know that. I’m going to need more than one cup to get going this morning.”
“I thought you were an early riser.”
“I am. But four is pushing it a little.”
“So, what time do you usually wake up?”
“About quarter to.”
“Six?”
“Five.”
“So I only woke you up forty-five minutes early, and you’re complaining?”
“Hey, I’ll have you know that those forty-five minutes are important to me. You’re lucky I’m happy to see you.”
He chuckled. “I knew you would be.”
“I still can’t believe my little brother is an MMA fighter.”
“Not so little anymore,” he said, and he flexed his muscles.
I groaned. “Please don’t tell me you use that line on women.”
“I don’t have to use lines on women. And it’s not like I’m that much younger than you, anyway. But yeah, I know what you mean. Who would’ve though I would’ve done this with my life? Remember how scrawny I used to be?”
I chuckled. “You and me both.”
“Man, I must say, despite how I busted your chops, this coffee is damn good.”
“Thank you.”
“So, how’s life on the farm? Tell me everything about this movie. Are they still shooting? Do you get involved at all? Are you in the movies too?”
I laughed. “So many questions. Well, it’s going well. They came for just over a month, so we still have a little bit of time left. I was so annoyed at first. I mean, you know what I’m like with that place. It’s like my sanctuary. And all of a sudden there are all these people in suits and dresses who do not look like they belong at all, and they’re in my space.”
Ryan snickered. “I can so picture you getting annoyed with something like that.”
“Yeah, it was super annoying. But I guess I’ve just gotten used to it now. It’s not that bad. And it’s interesting to see how it’s all put together. I mean, I thought they filmed a movie exactly the way it’s going to play on screen. But they do little bits and pieces all over the place and then put it together at the end. It’s interesting.”
“And what are the cast like?”
“Oh, I’m not sure if you’ve heard of Patrick Restler?”
“He’s in the movie? Of course I’ve heard of him! Wow, what’s he like?”
I shrugged. “He doesn’t talk much to me. I mean, I’m supposed to be there to help them if they have any questions, but he doesn’t seem like the guy that wants to admit to not knowing anything. He’d rather look it up on the internet.”
“Jerk. So, who else?”
I rattled off some of the names that I remembered, which wasn’t many, and then I casually told him about the lead actress. “Her name is Sloan Hill. She’s —”
But before I had the chance to finish Ryan gasped. “SLOAN HILL! Are you kidding me?”
“I take it you’ve heard of her?”
“Uh, yes. Everyone has heard of her. Oh no, don’t tell me you hadn’t?”
“Of course not. Why would I know who she is?”
He laughed at that. “I bet she wasn’t too impressed with that.”
I pictured her asking if I wanted her autograph and I laughed. “Yeah, she wasn’t impressed at all. But she’s not so bad.”
“Oh yeah? Not stuck up?”
“She was, at first. But she’s really gotten into the role of someone who lives on a ranch. And now that she’s not prancing around in her fancy outfits, she’s actually really nice. She’s easy to talk to.”
“Is there something going on between the two of you?”
“What? Why would you say that?”
He laughed. “Because I know you better than you know yourself sometimes. Go on, spill the beans, is there something going on between you and Sloan Hill?”
“Well,” I said and finished my coffee so that I didn’t meet his eye. “I mean, we’ve hung out a few times. I’ve been showing her what life is like out here.”
“Has she been here? In your house?”
“Maybe.”
“Brady, come on, I’m going to get it out of you so you might as well tell me. Spill it, have you kissed?”
I nodded.
He grinned. “Nice. Anything else?”
“Okay, we slept together. Twice.”
“Hang on a second. Are you telling me that you have slept with a famous actress twice?”
“It’s not such a big deal for me because I didn’t even know who she was.”
Ryan boomed with laughter so loud I wondered if he’d wake up Grant in the house next door. “Oh Brady, I’m so proud of you.”
“Weird thing to be proud about.”
“But what’s going to happen when she leaves?”
I shrugged. “She’ll just leave. There’s nothing going on or anything.”
“Okay then. Well, I hope I get to meet her.”
“Sure, you can meet her today.”
“Nice! Man, this is gearing up to be a very interesting day already. Hey, I wanted to ask you, have you spoken to Pop at all since he got cancer? I know he’s better now, but I wondered if you’d spoken to him?”
I shot Ryan a look that I hoped portrayed everything I wanted to say without having to say a word. Thankfully Ryan just nodded and said nothing more.
“So, how about another cup of coffee before we get ready for the ranch?”
“Yes, please!” Ryan said. “And then we can go and meet some famous people.”
Later that morning, I took Ryan over to meet up with Harold, who was walking around the ranch with his tea. It was becoming quite a habit to see him there early now.
“Morning, Brady,” he said.
“Morning, Harold. Bright and early again, I see. I wanted to introduce you to my brother Ryan.”
The two of them shook hands and immediately got into a conversation. Ryan was telling him all about the MMA fighting, and Harold was telling him all about the farm. I stood there looking at the two of them and marveling how easy it was for some people to talk to strangers. It always took me such a long time to warm up to someone.
“You’re certainly much more talkative than your brother here,” Harold said to Ryan and the both looked at me.
“Yeah, he’s always been the quiet one in the family.”
“And Ryan has always been the family clown,” I said, and Ryan punched me in the stomach lightly.
“Oh hey, there’s Sloan. Come on, let me introduce you.”
We walked over to Sloan, who grinned when she saw me coming. The moment I saw her, my mind went back to the night at the hotel. I didn’t seem to even notice what she was wearing anymore because the only thing I could think about was what was underneath.
“You must be Knuckles,” she said.
Ryan turned to look at me. “Are you kidding?” Then he turned back to Sloan. “Knuckles, or Ryan if you prefer. It’s great to meet you, Sloan.”
“Ryan, it’s good to meet you too. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
The two of them spoke briefly until Sloan was called away to start the first shoot. I stood back with Ryan as we watched them. He was fascinated by the whole procedure and as excited as Harold was. I usually kept to myself throughout the shooting, so this was the first time that I had actually stood to watch them.
“Come on, I can’t stand here all morning. I need to get some work done,” I said to Ryan.
“Okay, I’ll come and keep you company,” he said. “Although, keeping company doesn’t mean working, you know.”
“Well, you could maybe help me with some of the heavy lifting, at least.”
“I’ll think about it,” he said.
We walked over to the barn and I asked him what he thought of everyone.
“It’s so much fun watching them. And Sloan is even more beautiful up close. She seems nice. I mean, she was very friendly to me. But . . . she’s maybe a little too materialistic for someone like you. Sleeping with her is fine, but it’s good that she’s going. No offense or anything. I mean, I’m complimenting you here. She just doesn’t seem to be the type that could truly understand a man like you.”
“Yeah,” I said and then abruptly changed the subject.
I thought about the conversations I’d had with Sloan and realized that I didn’t see her in the same way I used to anymore. Ryan had taken one look at her and seen her as a materialistic person. But I was sure that there was more to her than what meets the eye. I’d seen a different side to her that was hard to un-see.