Strung

I turned around and whispered, “Ready?”

Nat nodded. I unlocked the door and grabbed her hand as we slowly made our way across the backyard and up to her door.

Everything was blanketed in black. I hadn’t turned on the sensor lights because the last thing we needed was to put a spotlight on the fact that Nat had been in our house all day.

Not that it mattered. The media already knew, which meant Nat’s normal life was about to be over. I didn’t want to freak her out, but she needed to be warned. The desire to pull her into my arms and comfort her damn near overwhelmed me.

Nat’s hand stilled on the doorknob as I leaned in and whispered, “Everything’s going go to change, Nat.”

“What do you mean?” her voice wavered a bit.

“You’re going to be on every news station, every radio station, every gossip site. I just want you to know, it’s about to change and it’s not going to be easy.”

Nat looked away. “They’ll get bored with me.”

When I didn’t say anything, she simply wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me.

If I died tomorrow — it would be with a smile on my face. Her body felt so right pressed against mine. “Nobody could ever get bored of you, Nat. That’s impossible.”

“You’re just being nice because I’m sick.”

I chuckled and stepped back so I could look into her eyes. “I’m not just being nice, I’m being honest. Now get some rest.” One kiss. On the cheek. Just one. I leaned in, but just as I was about to brush my lips across her cheek, a flash went off. Rage pumped through me. “Get in the house, Nat. Now!” I pushed her into the house and turned to face the photographers.

“Don’t you guys have anything better to do then stalk an innocent girl?” I spat.

“Whoa.” The photographer kept snapping pictures of me as I stalked towards him “There a reason your so chummy with your brother’s girlfriend? Does he even know?”

“We’re friends.” I yelled. “Now get the hell off our property!”

“Why are you really here?” The other photographer smirked. “Come on, Seaside?” They both cursed at me and laughed.

I was just about to attack both of them when Demetri ran up to us. His arms wrapped around my chest as he pulled me back. “Come on, man, it’s not worth it.”

“Let me go, damn it!” I lunged for the guys again.

Demetri held me firm and ushered me back into the house.

“What the hell, man?” I yelled once Demetri locked the doors again then turned to face me. “You should have let me punch them, they got pictures.”

Demetri was calm, his voice low. “Of what?”

“Nat hugging me.” May as well have the word guilty written across my forehead. “But she was just thanking me, thanking us for taking care of her!”

“Really?” Demetri crossed his arms and paced in front of me. “Why are you being so defensive? So you hugged her, big deal.”

“But…” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “You kissed her yesterday, I hugged her tonight. It makes her look…”

“Well shit.” Demetri groaned into his hands. “Thanks, I know exactly how it looks.”

“If the media found out…” I choked a bit. “If they found out about our past, and what I did to you, and now with Nat…”

“Look” — Demetri’s eyes flashed — “They aren’t going to find out, okay?”

I wasn’t so sure.

“We need body guards.” Demetri sighed and pulled out his phone. “I’ll get Bob up here, ask him to bring one of the usuals from the tour.”

Was I seriously that shaken up that Demetri was the one thinking with a clear mind? I still wanted to run outside and ram my fist through those bastards’ faces!

In that moment I saw a side of Demetri I had always hoped existed, but had given up on long ago.

Maturity.

And again, I was back to square one with Nat. Because blood always came before a girl… I shuddered. The problem? I knew we weren’t blood brothers. And he didn’t. He didn’t know. He didn’t know anything.

If he ever found out.

The secrets I kept from him.

I’d lose him forever.

Demetri got off his phone and tossed it onto the couch. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “Thanks for…” I pointed at the door. “That.”

“We’re brothers.” He said it like it was so simple.

I nodded and smiled. “Yeah man, yeah, we are.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Demetri

NAT WAS STANDING in her driveway with her hands on her hips. Most of her hair was pulled back in a haphazardly done ponytail and she had a scowl on her face. “Geez, took you long enough to get ready,” I said, scaring the crap out of her.

Her eyes narrowed. “I overslept.”

“I couldn’t tell.” I eyed her up and down and winked as she blushed bright red and tightened her arms across her chest. “Do it again.” I tugged her into my body and kissed her mouth.

“What?” Her voice was soft.

“Blush. It’s sexy.” And she just blushed two shades darker. I. Am. Awesome. I picked her up off the ground and twirled her around then kissed her cheek. Wow. I could totally survive life if I had a girl like her standing in my driveway every freaking morning.