Rebel: A Brother's Best Friend Standalone Romance

by Brittany Crowley

  “You could always clue him in like a big girl,” Penny jokes.

  “I will, soon.”

  When we get a few feet from my door, Penny looks over at me with bulging eyes. “Kelly Clarkson. This can’t be good.”

  At least it isn’t Alanis Morissette.

  The second we step into my apartment bad goes to worse. Leo is frantically running around my apartment with bags and clothes strewn all over the place. Penny runs over to the stereo and shuts the music off not wanting it to further fuel his hate fire.

  “Alright, Leo, let’s sit down and talk about this rationally. We’ve got provisions.” I hold up my bag of food and Penny holds up her alcohol selections.

  “This is beyond that ladies. We need to jet, and I mean J-E-T. I already stopped at Penny’s and packed a bag and just finished packing yours Reb.”

  “Wait, bag? What’s going on?” Penny places the alcohol on the table and walks over to Leo.

  “Ladies, you have ten minutes to make arrangements. We are leaving, and I’m not sure when we’ll be back. We planned our little faux biker road trip for next summer, well, it’s now being fast-tracked to right now. It’s go time girls.”

  “Right now?” I shout. “I just got my license a month ago. You know I’m not that great at turning.”

  “You won’t need to turn, not on the highway at least.”

  “Highway?” Now Penny sounds as hysterical as I feel. “Explain Leo, now.”

  “I need to get away. There’re too many memories. Everywhere I turn I see Dillon.” He runs to the windows and pulls the curtains back to peer out. “That lamppost on the sidewalk…” he takes a deep, ragged breath. “That’s where we had our first kiss.”

  “Breakups are tough. You’ll pull through this Leo. We’ll help you.” I try to reassure him as I start to unload all the food.

  “This is different Emmy. I thought he was the one. Little did I know I was more like number two after finding out he has a fucking husband.”

  Christ, I don’t know what to think. With the frantic look in his eyes I know he’s truly distraught, and that’s enough for me to go on.

  “Let’s be rational. We can’t leave right this second. There needs to be planning, and schedules need to be made. A week off is a long time when you have no notice. Also, I had my meeting today.” I beam at them.

  “Two.” He corrects me. “Maybe three weeks. And holy fuck, why haven’t you said anything?”

  “Because Kelly Clarkson,” I say by way of explanation. “Now on this road trip, can I continue my training? I can’t lose my momentum.”

  “Girl, you will be so ready, no worries. I’d never let you slack. You might even be able to get your drink on as long as you keep up with a strict diet.” He winks as I groan.

  “Three weeks?” Penny asks mystified obviously stuck in her head. “I can’t get three weeks off work on a whim. I have clients, I have responsibilities, I have…” Leo cuts her off.

  “You have a job that you can do over the phone and a best friend in need. I’m taking my job on the road with me and you can too.” He looks at her earnestly. “I know it’s selfish of me to come to you guys considering your lives don’t revolve around me. I just…” He looks down at the ground. “I didn’t know what to do or where to go. Everything reminds me of him.”

  I walk over to Leo and wrap my arms around his waist. “Stop it. Best friends are there for each other.” I look over toward Penny and express with my eyes that she needs to get in on this action. She looks hesitant which makes me mouth, get the fuck over here.

  “Yeah, we’re here for you,” she states unenthusiastically. “There’s just one problem.”

  He puts his head up and looks confused. “What’s that?”

  “Me and Em are the world’s worst bikers. It was a nice thought and all for this summer, but we don’t even have bikes. Maybe we can drive next to you? Not to mention its September. You know how unpredictable the weather is here.”

  “No, no, no. That won’t do. It’s the experience, plus I was going to wait until Christmas…” A smile lights his face as he leads us to the window that overlooks the busy street. “Surprise!”

  We stand there, mouths agape, as we stare at the two very shiny motorcycles with big red bows on them. How the hell did we miss seeing them on our way into the building?

  Well shit.

  Chapter 2

  Emerson

  It helped that he got me a purple Harley Davidson Sportster. It has all the pizzazz that I would require to actually ride the beast. Penny’s is the same model in glittering black, and so her. She doesn’t require flashiness like I do. She likes understated beauty.

  The nerves slammed into me once I sat on my bike. Is this crazy? Can I really do this? I feel like people with zero motorcycle experience should not be traipsing off on road trips. I can drive a straight line with the best of them but put me in a sharp turn and I stop, get off and walk it around. I’m not about to become road kill. Let’s not even talk about the fact that I’ve never gone faster than twenty-five miles an hour and now we’ll be heading out of the city, jumping on the pike to places unknown. I had plans to drive around with my dad in the spring before our planned trip to get more experience. Be one with the bike and all that hoopla. I can’t ruin my street cred when there are photos released of me being anything but spectacular atop my beast. I was dubbed Rebel, and I have an inner struggle to maintain the name.

  I do, however, look kickass in my new leather jacket that matches my bike. Leo thought of everything: helmets, boots, jackets, pants. We’re certainly fashionable if nothing else.

  Leo loves to spend his money and does it a lot. We usually put a money cap on presents because he tends to go overboard, as one usually does when they have a never-ending supply of the green stuff. Leo’s inherited more money than I can comprehend after his grandfather passed away when he was eighteen. He says he’s living his best life, I say he’s a bored guy with barely any work experience to each their own.

  We manage to calm him down long enough to make him realize we can’t leave right this second. There were calls to be made, things to reschedule and in Penny’s case, a plethora of clients to be dealt with. She’s a counselor and luckily, can take calls on the road, reschedule or ask another therapist in her firm to take them while she’s out. She only has one week for this trip, and we decide to make the most of it while we can.

  I won’t say it to her, but she needs this trip as much as Leo does. She works so much and needs to cut loose. I know she’s silently dying inside because she likes order and schedule. She hasn’t dated in months, and I know for a fact that she hasn’t slept with anyone in close to a year, almost the same amount of time since I’ve been with someone. We’re damn pathetic, but when you’re in the public eye, it’s hard to know who to trust. When her life is in disarray, she panics. That leaves me, the self-proclaimed free spirit with a tendency to be a little wild—but uncharacteristically shy when it comes to the opposite sex—to calm down my two best friends and get this journey moving forward smoothly.

  Basically, we have until the end of next week to get our shit together before we hit the open road. Leo will be staying at my place since he was living with douchebag Dillon and doesn’t want to be around all of the memories in their apartment. That’s the nickname we so lovingly came up with after we found out he’d been cheating on Leo since the beginning of their year-long relationship with his fucking husband. I can’t believe he had a love nest with Leo in the city when he had a home in the suburbs with his husband. I completely understand Leo’s devastation at being the other man. I have half a mind to get on my new bike, drive my ass over to his posh pad in the north end, and chop his dick off with a fork.

  “You sure Quinn won’t mind me staying here for a while?” Leo questions.

  “She loves you. Of course not.” I look at the apartment door when I hear the jingling of keys. “Speaking of the devil.”

  “That’s my cue to leave. I have a t
on to do before we leave next week.” Penny makes an exaggerated sigh. “Woohoo.” Her lack of enthusiasm makes me smile.

  “Better take your bike. Get all the experience under your belt that you can.” She flips me off then walks through the door my sister just entered.

  “Hi Penny, bye Penny.” Quinn laughs. “You guys having a party or something?” She looks at Leo, and the smile falls from her face. “Or having boy troubles? Come here, Leo.” She opens her arms, and he dashes into them.

  Quinn’s my older sister and a complete mother hen. She gets it from our mom. There’s a natural maternal nature that can fix almost anything.

  After we ply Leo with all the liquor Penny bought and the goodies I brought home, we’re laying on the couch together watching an episode of Riverdale. It’s our new obsession, and we’ve vowed to binge all the episodes before we leave for our trip.

  “Fuck, Jughead’s giving me a boner, it feels so wrong yet so right.”

  “Keep that thing away from me.” Quinn laughs.

  “Girlfriend, if I brought him near you, he’d shrivel up. No worries there.”

  “Tell me again why I can’t go on this trip,” Quinn asks for the hundredth time.

  “Because you don’t know how to feel the rumble between your legs,” Leo states, his eyes never leaving the TV.

  “I feel the rumble plenty.” She laughs then takes a swig of her wine.

  “You don’t ride a motorcycle is what he’s trying to say.” I poke Leo, and he falls over in his extremely inebriated state. “Plus, you need to nurse all your sick patients back to good health. Those kids need you.”

  “Dad is going to have a shitfit when he finds out you’re going across the country on a bike. When are you going to tell him?”

  “When we’re a thousand miles away.” I snort. “I’m only telling mom I’m leaving because of the bar, and I doubt we’ll make it across the country in a week.”

  “He’s going to go crazy. Fifty bucks says he has someone tailing you before you leave the Massachusetts border.” Quinn gives me a knowing look. I’m the baby in the family, and that makes my dad crazy protective when it comes to me.

  I won’t make that bet because I know there’s a strong possibility that I’ll lose.

  “What about Joss? You mentioned he’s been with you more because dad’s uneasy from all the attention you’re getting. Are you going to invite him?” Quinn questions batting her eyelashes at me.

  “I vote yes!” Drunk Leo stands and reaches his hand up in the air like his vote counts more if it’s the tallest.

  “No. Absolutely not. This trip is actually a good time to get away from him. Maybe a week from him will finally let me get over my stupid crush.”

  “Ha,” Leo yells before getting up and face-planting on the couch. I guess it’s time for him to go to bed.

  After I throw a blanket over him, I walk to my bedroom but hesitate at the door and instead walk into Quinn’s bedroom. I know I’m being silly about this whole Joss thing. He’s my brother’s best friend, my bodyguard, and sort of friend. I plan on keeping it that way. Platonic.

  “What’s the matter?” my sister questions.

  “What do you think?” I lay back on her bed. “Why can’t I get past it? I can’t seem to get over my stupid feelings for Joss. I wish I could forget that night like he did.”

  “It’s not like you can turn your feelings off like a faucet. Remember, you’ve been pining after him for six years, he doesn’t remember one night that he was too drunk for. There’s a huge difference.”

  “I guess. Maybe I need to open myself up to someone new on this trip. Have some no strings fun to finally, once and for all leave my feelings in the dust.”

  “If you think that will help, but you and I both know how your heart works. Feelings are always involved with sex.”

  I cup my hands over my face. “I know. Why can’t I have a black heart? Things would be so much easier. If Danny knew anything, he would kill me and probably castrate Joss.”

  “That’s why nothing can happen. At least you have a legit reason. He’s off limits.”

  I nod and head for my room.

  Little does Quinn know that marking him off limits makes me want him even more.

  Chapter 3

  Emerson

  “Give him a burger,” my mom says nervously.

  “I did five minutes ago. Along with a beer, shot of whiskey and Aunt Ash’s famous onion rings.”

  “Damn.” Mom looks at my grandfather and approaches with caution. “Hey, Dad. Listen…”

  “No, you listen Savannah. I blame you. Emmy is the only shot I have at another fighter in the family, and nobody told me. I warned you not to raise them soft, but did you listen?”

  “You think she’s soft? She’s going to be in a ring prepared to take a beating.”

  “Hey now. I’m not taking a beating. I’ll be dishing it out,” I argue meaning every word. I’m not becoming a professional punching bag.

  “Damn straight, with my help.” Grampy Jack booms from his bar stool.

  I knew I should have gone to him from the beginning. He really could have helped me, but I was chicken thinking he’d react the way I envision my father acting. Since my mom and dad got together, Grampy has helped my dad with his career through the years. He’s always been an MMA super fan and turned into a staple at the gym my dad owns.

  “Grampy.” I give him my most dazzling smile. “Would you please help me prepare for my fight?”

  “Three months?” he questions.

  “Yes, but I’ll be gone for the next week on a road trip.”

  “The fuck you say? You need to concentrate, focus on the task at hand. Not run around the United States with those hooligans you call friends. This is pivotal training time Emerson.”

  “I know. I’ll continue my training on the road. I’m sure Leo will make sure of that. He takes this as seriously as I do.”

  “Good. Always liked that kid,” he mumbles before taking a long pull from his beer. “Do not for one second think I’ll be taking it easy on you Emmy. It’s not in my nature to coddle anyone, even my youngest granddaughter.”

  “Don’t we know it,” my mom whispers causing me to laugh.

  I go back to stocking the bar, feeling more relieved now that my Grampy’s not giving me the cold shoulder anymore. My nerves, on the other hand, are in full bloom. We leave for our trip later this afternoon, and I still have so much to do.

  When I look over at my mom, guilt consumes me. “Are you sure you’re okay with me leaving for a bit?”

  “Stop worrying sweetie. In case you didn’t know, I’ve been working here for a pretty long time.” She gives me a playful smile. “Your dad’s been busy with his new venture, and this will free up some of my time. I love being here, and it’s not a hardship. I just haven’t had to lately because you’ve been running everything. The break was nice, but I’m ready to make some changes and dive back in.”

  My mom’s owned Monkey Bars since her aunt passed away and left it to her. When I turned eighteen, I wasn’t sure what career path I wanted, and mom taught me the ropes. I practically grew up there, helping bus tables when I was a teen. Mom believed in making us work for the things we wanted, and I didn’t mind. Now I manage the bar which is a success in its own right, and my mom gets to take some much-needed time off. I’ll admit it draws in quite a crowd because of who my father is, but that’s a story for another time.

  “Changes?” I ask narrowing my eyes.

  “Yes, changes. This place needs some upgrades. I’m even talking with your father about expanding and making a dining area.”

  “Okay, don’t do anything drastic until I get back.”

  “Whatever you say. It’s not like I own the place or anything.” She winks then heads for her office.

  God, I love my mom. I probably would have backed out of this trip if she didn’t give me her blessing and convince me I needed to go. It’s not that I don’t want to be there for Leo, but with so m
uch going on, I feel like I’m dropping everything and placing it on everyone else’s shoulders.

  “Rebel, get your ass over here.”

  I walk over to my Grampy and give him a look. “Since when do you call me Rebel?”

  “Since it became your ring name. None of this Emmy shit in the gym, that’s too personal when I need to push you past your limits. Rebel in the ring, always.”

  “Gotcha.”

  “Keep yourself out of trouble while you’re gone. The second they announce your fight the photographers are going to go crazy. I don’t want to see you flashing your undergarments in the tabloids. There’s only so much my old heart can take.”

  “That was one time.” I roll my eyes as my cheeks flame.

  “Listen, I understand. You’re young, and you have oats to sow. Please do it on the down low and don’t give them any more to use against you. It’s not fair, but you won’t get as warm of a welcome as Gabe got. They’ll be skeptical of your abilities.” I nod my head and swallow knowing he’s speaking the truth. “Make them eat their fucking words and rue the day they doubted my granddaughter.”

  God, I love him. The tabloids have caught on to the fact that something is coming up for me. They see me going to the gym all the time, even had someone on the inside taking pictures of me sparring in the ring. I had to convince my dad it was just a good exercise regimen, even though I doubt he bought the lie. He’s not an idiot. I honestly think he’s waiting for me to come clean. The second the fight’s announced I know things will get crazy. Everyone wants a piece of the former MMA king’s daughter, and they’re going to be coming from all angles expecting me to fail.

  That’s the downside to the female side of MMA. Sure, we’re taken seriously, but we’re nowhere near as popular as the male side of the business. They’re treated like gods, paid salaries that take most people a lifetime to earn. The assumption that pisses me off the most is that I’m riding my dad’s coat-tails. That I got this fight because my dad asked for a favor or because the Cage name packs a punch. No matter what I say, there’s a bunch of people who will always believe that, no matter how hard I work for this.