Chapter 59
Escape and Evade
Friday after class, Shyanne and I are in the living room when Adrian brings Brandon to meet us.
“Oh my," are the words that escape Shyanne’s mouth, before she can stop them.
"I completely agree," I say.
Brandon stands about two inches taller than Adrian, but he's built like… well, a Marine. His light brown hair is cut short, and he’s a few days past needing a shave. He’s definitely hot, but he's got that baby face look that I've never really been attracted to.
"Hey now,” Adrian says, scowling at me, “if you girls can't control yourselves, I’ll take him back to my place where he’ll stay for the rest of the weekend."
I wave him off. “We’ll be fine," I say with a wink to Brandon, "you leave him right here and you go take care of whatever it is you need to do."
I look at Shyanne to see if I can get her to play along, but her face is redder than I've ever seen it. I guess her slip up when Brandon came through the door, was too embarrassing for her.
Adrian clears his throat, getting my attention. When I see his irritated expression, I decide to stop the teasing. If I'm the only one laughing, then it’s not so fun. I straighten my expression and reach out my hand.
"It's nice to meet you, Brandon. I’m Keegan, and this is Shyanne,” I say, nodding in her direction. “She and I are going to go finish getting things ready for tonight.”
Brandon returns the handshake and gives a little wave to Shy. I grab her hand, stick out my tongue at Adrian, then drag her off to the kitchen. I text Robert to let him know about the eye candy we’ll get to enjoy this evening, and not surprisingly, he's at the door twenty minutes later.
That night I learn that Brandon is the exact opposite of Adrian. He’s actually kind of shy, and definitely gets embarrassed by too much female, or Robert, attention. I feel kinda bad because every girl, and Robert, in this house has come to flirt with him at one point or another. Some sit at the table, swooning over him while others try to be more subtle and flirt from afar. It’s not just that he’s hot and wearing a U.S. Marine Corp shirt, proudly announcing his job, but he’s fresh meat here on campus. He has to feel like an injured lion being stalked by hyenas.
I scold Adrian for deciding to have a party on the night his introvert marine brother comes to visit.
"He's fine," Adrian says, sounding like his grumpy persona.
I leave him, having no clue what his problem is, and sit back at the table to talk with Brandon. We bond over discussions about guns, and other weapons, and he promises to give me a list of all the contents in a Marine E&E—evade and escape—kit. That will make a perfect Christmas list for me.
Brandon talks animatedly when we ask questions about being a marine, and it's obvious that he loves his job. When I ask about the girl he went chasing after before he enlisted, Brandon becomes much less animated. I’m pretty sure this is a girl he’s not yet gotten over.
At one point, in the evening, I realize I’ve not seen Adrian in a while, so I head off to find him. After searching my apartment, I shoulder my way through the crowd, where I find him in his kitchen. He’s sitting on the counter, pretending to watch the card game being played at the table, but really he’s sulking.
I wiggle my way between his legs so that his knees are pressing into my sides. He gives me a sidelong glance, then takes a pull from his beer.
“What’s wrong, one of the other girls tie Brandon up and drag him off to a bedroom?” he asks, sounding bitter.
Is he for real? He’s jealous I’m spending time with his brother.
“Come on Adrian, he's your brother are you seriously jealous that I was talking to him?"
He shifts his gaze over my shoulder, avoiding my eyes. ”Yes, Keegan, yes I am.”
As irritated as I am, I’m also kinda proud of him. A few weeks ago he would’ve made a huge scene, managing to piss me off, and probably upset his brother.
I lean in closer, forcing him to look at me. “You’re freaking adorable.”
He wrinkles his brow, trying to look pissed. “That’s not helping. Can you see that this is not helping?"
I try, unsuccessfully, to bite back my laugh, which only makes his jaw twitch faster.
"Okay, okay," I say putting up my hands. "I won't talk about how cute his dimples are or how much his story about Chloe makes every girl in this room fall instantly in love with him.”
Adrian’s jaw muscle twitches faster.
I manage to straighten my face to look serious. "I'm not flirting. I promised you I would not flirt, and I certainly would not flirt with your brother. Can you trust me, please?"
He watches me, looking thoughtful. "Can you tell me three things you like more about me?”
Seriously? Is he that insecure or just insanely obsessed with me?
“Are you kidding?” I ask.
He raises his brow, indicating he's very serious.
“You're not kidding,” I confirm, then hold up one finger. “Okay, one second."
I want to be sarcastic, but I can see this is something he needs, and since he’s controlled his jealousy, I give him this.
“He's entirely too serious,” I tell him. “You make me laugh and I like laughing way more than I like being serious.”
His lips turn up slightly on one side and he gestures for me to go on.
I roll my eyes, but I’m smiling.
I go on. “You let me beat up on you. I can't imagine Brandon would allow me to nearly break his fingers, rip off an ear, or threaten bodily harm on a daily basis."
Adrian smiles a little more, now placing his hands at my waist, pulling me closer. "I am very tolerant of your abusive nature."
"You love my abusive nature," I tease.
"I do,” he says with an adorable smile. “Okay one more thing you love about me.”
I chew the inside of my cheek, then tell him my favorite.
“When you're thinking about kissing me, and you're staring at my lips, you breathe really heavy before you even kiss me because just the thought of kissing me gets you worked up.”
With this confession, Adrian's gaze falls on my lips to do exactly as I described.
Almost automatically, he begins to lean closer, causing my breathing to also increase. I’m staring at him as he’s staring at my lips, then his gaze flicks up to meet mine. Although I want him to kiss me, I’m not sure that I’m ready for what comes after that. He’s watching for an answer, any kind of permission, but I just continue to stare.
With one last look at my lips, he mumbles “Fuck it,” before he leans in, claiming my mouth with his. The relief I feel is instantaneous.