CHAPTER NINE
Ryan
I woke up Monday morning to the sound of knocking on my door. Hoping it was Jacqueline, I threw my covers off and ran into the living room. I’d been trying to call Jacqueline for two days, ever since she left after we had sex, but she never answered. When I threw open my front door, I expected to see her standing there.
“Bradley,” I said in shock. “What are you doing here, man?”
My heart raced. If Bradley was showing up unannounced like this, then something must have been wrong. I studied his face for a second, trying to discern whether he knew about me and his sister.
“Get dressed,” he ordered. “Meet me outside.”
With that, he turned and walked toward the parking lot. I let the front door swing shut before moving to my bedroom. I threw on whatever clothes I could find and then brushed my teeth quickly. I still didn’t know why Bradley was here, but I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. If he did know about me and Jacqueline, what would he say? Would this be the end of our friendship?
As I walked outside, I wiped my sweaty hands on my jeans. After all the missions Bradley and I went on together, this one felt the most dangerous.
“Hey,” I said, stopping in front of Bradley. He was leaning against his car and eying me with concern. “So, what’s up?”
“You hungry?” he asked. “I think I saw a diner just across the street,”
I nodded. “Yeah, it’s pretty good.”
“Let’s go,” Bradley said, jerking his head to the side.
Together, we crossed the street and stepped into the diner. I led Bradley to my usual booth in the back corner, and we sat down. It wasn’t long before a waitress appeared to take our drink orders. We ordered and then she walked away, leaving us alone.
“Are you going to tell me why you’re here or what?” I demanded. Being blunt was always something Bradley and I did well. We never bullshitted each other.
“You need to come see Mom and Dad,” he said with a determined look on his face.
“Are you fucking serious?” I groaned, leaning back against the booth. “That’s why you’re here?”
“Yes,” he said. “And yes, I’m serious. Enough is enough, Ry. It’s time.”
“Look,” I began, but the waitress appeared by my side. She put our drinks down and then took our food orders. When she left, I turned back to Bradley. “I understand why you’re doing this, okay? I really do, but you’re wasting your time. I’m not going. I won’t see them.”
“Why?” Bradley demanded. “Give me one good reason and I’ll drop it. I swear.”
“You know why,” I snapped. “You were there the night they kicked me out, remember? You watched while your dad dismissed me like I was nothing. Brad, they took me in, adopted me, and then threw me to the wolves. What the fuck am I supposed to do? Run back to them on bended knee? You know me better than that.”
“That was years ago,” Bradley said. “They’re over it, and you should be too.”
“Well, I’m not,” I said. “Honestly, I don’t think I’m ever going to be over it.”
“Family is forever,” Bradley argued. “No matter what you do or how long you stay away, we’re still your family. We always will be.”
“You are my family,” I corrected. “You are the only person who has never turned your back on me. To me? That’s what family means. Your parents? The almighty Keetons? They aren’t my family. Can’t you just accept that and move on? Please. It would make both our lives so much easier.”
“No,” Bradley said with frustration. “Dammit Ryan, when are you going to grow up? When are you going to realize that not everything is their fault?”
“I know it isn’t,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm. “But this is. They were supposed to stand by me, Brad. They were supposed to be my parents, just like you claim they are. But they didn’t. They weren’t. They didn’t act like parents or even family. They acted like assholes, and now? I’m done. Okay? I’m done with them.”
“Is that true?” Bradley asked. “Or are you just too afraid to face them?”
I glared at Bradley with anger, but he didn’t back down. He stared right back at me, waiting for the answer I would never give. Finally, our food came and broke the tension between us.
“Let’s just eat,” I said with a sigh. “This conversation isn’t getting us anywhere.”
“Fine,” Bradley said, raising his hands in defeat. “For now.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
We dove into our food, demolishing it in seconds. The diner had an amazing breakfast menu, and we both finished our meals in record time. When we were done, I was ready to leave. Seeing Bradley was great, but bringing up the Keetons was not. It wasn’t easy to remember how I felt back then, how broken I was after they made me leave.
“Have you seen Jacqueline?” Bradley asked suddenly. “She said she’d stop by.”
“She did,” I said, clearing my throat. “Yeah, we had lunch.”
“Great,” Bradley said. “How was she?”
“You would know the answer to that better than me,” I said, grinning. “I barely recognized her when she showed up at my door.”
Bradley laughed. “Really? Yeah, I guess she’s grown up a lot, huh?”
“She has,” I agreed, trying not to sound too enthusiastic.
As we talked about Jacqueline, all I could see was her naked body in my mind’s eye. I watched her perky breasts bounce with the rhythm of my thrusts. It took everything in me to pull my focus back to reality.
I could always tell Bradley everything. We were brothers, best friends, confidants. But this? I couldn’t imagine what he would say if I fessed up to sleeping with his sister. He was already livid with me about his parents. How would he feel if he found out about Jacqueline?
“You two gonna hang out again?” Bradley asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know, man. She’s busy with the vet clinic. I don’t want to bother her.”
“You won’t,” Bradley promised. “She loves you just as much as I do, Ry. She missed you. You should have seen her at the homecoming party. God, she was pissed.”
“She was?” I asked. “About what?”
“Well,” Bradley said, smiling. “Mom didn’t put your name on the cake. She tried to tell Jacqueline that you weren’t even coming, but Ash didn’t care. She got so pissed about it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her that upset.”
“I doubt it was that bad,” I scoffed. “Come on, she barely knows me.”
“That’s not true,” Bradley said, shaking his head. “Look, you may have disowned all of us, but we haven’t disowned you. Jacqueline still cares about you, man. Why else would she fly off the handle about a damn cake?”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t know what to say. The thought of Jacqueline coming to my defense sent a warm feeling shooting through my chest. It took all my strength to keep the smile off my face, in case it gave me away. Still, it brought even more confusion to our situation.
If Jacqueline still cared about me that much, why did she run out Saturday morning? After we had sex, she just bolted without any explanation. She’d been avoiding my calls ever since. I refused to believe it was because she thought of me as a brother. There was no way, after what we did, that her feelings for me were familial. She wanted me. I saw it in her eyes. I heard it in her moans.
As Bradley and I finished our coffee and paid the bill, my mind stayed focused on Jacqueline. More than anything, I wanted to talk to her, to see her, and to find out exactly what made her run.