Olivia Ford’s POV
I glared at my oldest brother Nate and crossed my arms. “Nate! Please get out of my room. Right… Now!”
Nate just stared at me with a smirk on his face as he leaned onto the doorframe. “I will but only after you hear me out.”
I scowled and had to hold back the overwhelming urge to throw something at him. “Fine. What do you want to talk about? I have a flight tomorrow morning, and I need to pack.”
Nate raised an eyebrow and grinned. “I know, and I’m telling you, you better not have any funny ideas while you’re in London. No hooking up, no drugs and no booze.”
I frowned and narrowed my eyes. Who does my oldest brother think he is? And, surely, he knows me well enough that I would never do drugs. I felt the urge to throw at him a pillow. Or maybe a purse…
“Nate, seriously. I’m an adult. Treat me as such. Also, please get out of my room,” I repeated impatiently and watched as my oldest brother roll his eyes at me. At that moment, I felt like I was a kid again.
Nate made a face and shrugged casually as he leaned against the door frame of my room. “I’m not leaving until you agree to my rules.” He gave me a bright mocking grin as he sang his words out and his eyes glinting with amusement.
I sighed exasperatedly and crossed my arms. “Okay. Yes, get out.” I pointed to the door, and Nate gave me a smirk before his face softened as he watched me packing my stuff into the little black suitcase on my bed.
“I don’t even see why you’re working as an air stewardess of all things. You can work at the family company or something.”
This topic was an ongoing conversation for the past two years of my life. You can say that my family was very wealthy, and I am an heiress. However, I didn’t really want to depend on my family’s wealth for a living nor did I want to work in the family business. I wanted a job of my own. I felt that being an air stewardess allowed me to earn my own income and allowed me to travel a little. It was one of my dreams to travel around the world.
As I packed my small black suitcase, my second older sister, Elena, entered my room and knocked, alerting me to her presence. Giving her a distracted smile as she sat on my bed, I asked, “Hey Ellie, do you need anything?”
She shook her head, and her dark hair bounced on her back as she smiled, “No, I just wanted to ask you if you remembered what’s going on this Thursday?”
I frowned and slowly shook my head as I tried to remember any events that would be taking place on said date. “Nope. Sorry, nothing rings a bell.”
Ellie grinned before prompting. “My engagement party will be held on this Thursday!”
My eyes widened. Good god, I had completely forgotten about it. “Oh god, I completely forgot about it. Ellie, I’m so sorry.” I apologised and bit my lip as I turned to face her.
“It’s alright, but you will be there, right? You’re my sister, and I want you to be there.” Ellie hugged me and grinned.
I nodded, “Definitely. I’ll be there, and I’ll be back on Wednesday.” I reassured her before stopping as I realised something. “Wait a minute, why are you so chirpy about it?” I questioned suspiciously. I had a hunch that Ellie was up to something. She was never good at hiding or keeping things a secret.
Ellie bit her lip and averted her eyes, “Uh. Nothing. It’s just that Scott has a younger brother who is only one year older than you and—”
“No. Absolutely, not. I’m not interested in blind dates. Not with guys you and Lily are trying to set me up; not even Scott’s younger brother,” I said and narrowed my eyes at Ellie. At least, she had the decency to be embarrassed. I saw her expressions changed — from embarrassment to disbelief and finally, annoyance.
“Am I that obvious?”
“Yes. It’s pretty clear. At least, try to be less obvious about it like Lily. I don’t see why you and Lily have to keep setting me up.”
Ellie crossed her arms defensively as she sniffed, obviously miffed, that I had seen through her act. “It gets lonely if you’re single. All Lily, mum and I want is just to see you happy,” she said.
“I know. It’s just that I’m happy as I am now.”
She hugged me and grinned. “Okay. As long as you’re happy, but Scott’s younger brother is really, really hot.”
I rolled my eyes and zipped my suitcase. “I’m not interested Ellie.”
I could sense that Ellie was pouting but sighed as she responded, “Alright. Anyway, Mom called to tell me to ask you to come down for dinner.”
I nodded and pushed my blonde hair back. “Okay. I’ll be down in a second; I just have to pack some last few items. You can go first.”
Ellie stood up from my bed. “Okay. Be quick.” With that, she walked out of my room.
As I headed down for dinner, I could hear my brothers yelling in the living room. I rolled my eyes. Even though I was the youngest in the family of six children, my brothers never seemed to grow up.
“Whoop! Score! Ha! Take that you bloody losers!”
“What the fuck, Nate? I’m so going to get you for this!”
“Jake, Go get Tristan!”
I ignored them and walked to the dining room, where my oldest sister Lily was with her husband, Parker, and their two children, Phillip, and Penny. Ellie was there already, sitting next to mom and dad. I took the vacant chair beside my father.
“Just to double check, everyone in this family will be home for Ellie and Scott’s engagement party, right?” My mom questioned as she glanced at all of us for confirmation. Lily and Parker said yes while I simply gave a nod. On the other hand, all three of my brothers yelled, “Hell yes.”
“Language!” I snickered inwardly at my mom’s narrowed gaze towards my brothers.
“Of course, we have to. We’ll be here to see if Scott has any second thoughts and stuff.” I tried not to laugh at Ellie’s horrified expression at Nathaniel’s announcement.
“Mom! You’ve got to do something! Please!” She begged while shooting evil stares at our brothers.
“You boys are going to interrogate Scott on Thursday?” My dad asked with his eyebrows raised.
“Yeah. All three of us.” Nathaniel grinned. Tristan cleared his throat, and Nathaniel sighed before grumbling out. “Two of us.”
My dad wrapped an arm around my mom’s waist and said cheerily, “Well! I’ll join you.”
Ellie shook her head, and her shoulders slumped in defeat. “I thought that you approved of Scott!”
My dad grinned. “Yeah, I did, but he may jilt you at the altar. And, no daughter of mine will go through that.” At this statement, I was really thankful that I didn’t have a boyfriend. Lily started laughing while I tried not to laugh at Ellie’s horrified face.
“Dad!” Ellie glared at dad while my brothers smirked smugly at her.
“So Liv, you don’t have a boyfriend right?” I glanced up at Jake, Nathaniel’s twin and spooned some soup into my mouth.
“No. I’m not interested in having one.”
“Good, you’re still twenty-three. No rush.” My dad butted in as he ate.
“Great. There goes my chance of getting eloped,” I replied dryly.
I watched in satisfaction as Nathaniel tensed. “You’re getting eloped?”
I shook my head in frustration. “No! It’s called sarcasm. God, you’re stupid.”
Jake glared at me mockingly. “Not funny Liv.”
Rolling my eyes at them, I started to eat and hoped that dinner would pass soon. Being the youngest in the family sucked. Lily was the oldest in the family while Nathaniel and Jacob — also known as Jake — were twins. They were followed soon after by my sister Ellie, and finally, another twin, Tristan and me.
It really was not a walk in the park to be the youngest in the family.
Drake Henderson’s POV
“Okay, Drake, I have something really important to say, and I need you to listen to me.” I glanced up curiously at my older brother Scott and slid my phone into my pocket.
“Okay, you’re scaring me. What is it?” I grinned as my older brother rolled his eyes at me.
“I’m engaged.”
“And?” I raised an eyebrow and commented dryly.
Scott frowned. “Yeah, that’s it. I’m engaged. Why aren’t you freaking out?”
I smirked in response. My brother thought that he was being sneaky with his girlfriend who I have yet to meet. But, honestly, was I born yesterday?
“I knew you had a secret girlfriend all along, and well, to hear that you’re engaged is not that big of a deal. I mean, sure, I’m annoyed that you didn’t tell me or let me meet her, but it’s your choice.”
Scott grimaced, most probably sulking that he wasn’t that good at keeping secrets before smiling at me. “Alright, whatever. Yes, I have a girlfriend who is now my fiancée. I’m sorry for not telling you. You’re bound to mess it up somehow.”
I shot him a scowl; it was nice to know that my own brother had such little faith in me. “Thanks for your everlasting confidence in me, brother.”
“It’s true, and you know it. Anyway, her name is Elena Ford, and we’ve been together for three years.” Scott grinned before shoving a playful punch in my arm.
I blinked and shrugged before replying, “Okay. When can I meet her?”
Scott beamed, happy that I was taking his not-so-secret news easily without making a fuss.
“This Thursday, her parents would be throwing an engagement party for us at their family home. You can go, right? Seeing that the only family member I have is you. Mom is in Hawaii, and Dad is in Scotland.”
“Yeah, yeah, sure. What’s the dress code?”
Scott shrugged. “Really fancy. Wear a suit with a bow tie.”
“That fancy with so much fuss? Why not elope? Surely that is easier.”
“I don’t have a death wish! She has three brothers that all play football. The eldest used to be in the army. So, you can imagine their size.” Scott gave me a pointed look, and I snorted, already imagining the image of three tall, muscular guys pounding my older brother for eloping with their sister.
“Three brothers? That’s a lot. Does she have any other siblings? Also, you’re only twenty-seven. You don’t have to get married this early you know.”
Scott sighed before frowning at me. “Look, I love her, and nothing you say or do can change that. Yes, Ellie has two sisters, an older one and a younger one.”
“You’re hopeless, but it’s your death wish.” I shook my head and shrugged. It doesn’t mean that because I didn’t share my brother’s idea of commitment, I was going to discourage him about it.
Scott narrowed his eyes at me before exhaling heavily. “Whatever, man, it’s my life. Not yours. Also, do remember to wear a bow tie. Aren’t you going to pack your bags? You’re leaving tomorrow morning aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I already did. The groupies in London are worth a second look, you know?”
Feeling a disapproving stare at me, I looked up to see Scott looking at me with exasperation. “One day, some girl is gonna knock your world off its axis, and you’re gonna see that being a man-whore is not that appealing.”
I shook my head and smirked. “Sure. She can try, but I like the way my life is now.”
Scott simply shook his head as head and went back to his room.
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