The Vincent Brothers

by Abbi Glines

  “That game, in high school when I’d missed practice the day before. I was benched. Then, after coach got back from a very heated discussion with you, he put me in the game,” I stopped and studied his face and saw the answer in his expression. “You forced him to put me in, didn’t you?”

  Harris gave me a sad smile, “Wasn’t your fault you had to take your mother to see a doctor. It was an unfair decision on Coach Madison's part and I reminded him exactly how unwise of a decision it would be to leave his best wide-receiver on the bench.”

  This didn’t correct all the wrong. But it did tell me that at times, even if I didn’t realize it, he had looked out for me. I’d just not known. Other instances in my life when things looked bad and then all was suddenly okay with no explanation. Had it always been him?

  “Coach wasn’t a big fan of mine,” I replied.

  Harris raised one eyebrow, “Well, you weren’t exactly the most dependable guy on the team.”

  I let out a short laugh. “I played just as good hungover as I did sober.”

  The smile on his face wasn’t something I was accustomed to seeing directed my way.

  “You probably did,” he agreed.

  We stood there staring at each other as if we were afraid everything would go back to usual the moment he walked away.

  “Look, son,” he cleared his throat, “or Beau if that’s what you’d prefer I call you. If you want to go get something to eat sometime, or get a drink, or whatever... just call. I’ll be there.”

  He turned and started walking away when I didn’t respond. Before he got too far away I called out, “You can call me son, if that’s what you want.”

  Epilogue

  Four years later...

  Sawyer

  “Come here, beautiful,” I called out as I pulled off my helmet and held my arms open for Lana as she ran onto the field toward me. She was wearing her blue tank top that had the Florida Gator emblem on the front. I knew the back of it said Vincent #10. I’d had it made for her before my first game this season. She squealed and jumped up into my arms.

  “You did it! You did it!” She rained kisses all over my face and I enjoyed every minute of it while holding her up with my hands cupped on her tight little ass.

  “Well, I did have some help,” I teased.

  Laughing she ran her hands through my sweaty hair and kissed my forehead.

  “I’m all nasty, baby.”

  She leaned back and looked down at me and a smirk appeared on her perfect plump lips, “Yeah, you are.”

  What about that amused her, I had no idea but it did. She looked to be on the verge of laughing about something. Then she grabbed my face and pressed those lips against mine and I didn’t care anymore. I just wanted this.

  “Congrats, bro,” Beau’s voice called out and I opened my eyes as Lana let my mouth go. I slid her back down my body to stand beside me as I turned to see my brother walking toward me in crimson and white. Ashton was beside him in a jersey almost identical to Beau’s.

  “Thanks, man. You played good. That catch you made in the third was unreal. I had to keep myself from hooting on the sidelines.”

  Beau chuckled and shook his head, “I warned them that although we whipped you guys the last three years that the best quarterback the SEC had ever seen would be starting this year.”

  Ashton let go of Beau to come over and hug Lana. It was our fourth year at the University of Florida. Ash and Lana talked several times a week. Beau and I managed to work out together on breaks when we were both back home. Beau even came to Christmas dinner the last two years. When he called our father “Dad” before leaving to head back to school after that first winter break, I thought our dad was going to breakdown and weep.

  It hadn’t happened overnight but slowly Beau and Dad were finding ways to mend what was broken.

  Beau was planning to propose to Ashton during the SEC championship game this year. The Florida Gators and the Crimson Tide would face off one more time this season. Other than us, no one else had been able to touch Bama this year. The plan was to have our parents there, even Aunt Honey, when Bama faces the Gators in the SEC game. “Will you marry me, Ashton Sutley Gray?” would be flashed on the big screen in the last quarter when only one minute was left in the game.

  I’ve had to listen to hours of Beau’s planning and scheming. He wants it just right.

  I reached over and picked up Lana’s left hand to kiss the marquis cut diamond that now rested on her ring finger. Our engagement, last month, hadn’t been quite as big of a production, although it had made the ten o’clock news. After winning my first game as the starting quarterback for the Florida Gators, I’d bypassed all the media vying for my attention and gone straight to Lana as she made her way to me. The offensive line assistant coach had kept the ring tucked safely in his pocket during the game but he’d placed it in my hand once the game was over. She ran into my arms like she always did after a game but this time, instead of picking her up, I dropped to one knee. I’ll never forget the look on her face or the way she sounded when she’d said “Yes.”

  No longer was it me, Beau and Ash against the world.

  I had Lana and she was the number one player on my team.

  Playlist for The Vincent Brothers

  You can listen to the playlist here: http://www.abbiglines.com/p/vincent-brothers.html

  1. Here By Me by Three Doors Down (When Lana leaves Grove and Sawyer can’t find her)

  2. Break Your Little Heart by All Time Low (When Sawyer wants to make Ash jealous w/Lana)

  3. Tell Him by Colbie Caillat (Lana’s ringtone & her feelings about Sawyer from the beginning)

  4. Everybody’s Fool by Evanescence (When Lana has had it with Sawyer dropping her to go to Ash whenever she needs him)

  5. That’s What You Get by Paramore (Lana after leaving Grove)

  6. Made For You by OneRepublic (Sawyer when he finds out where Lana is hiding and goes to get her back)

  7. It Stops Today by Colbie Caillat (Lana when Sawyer tells her he loves her)

  8. The One I Love by David Gray (Epilogue)

  Also by Abbi Glines

  Because of Low

  Chapter One

  Marcus

  Moving back home sucked. Everything about this town reminded me of why the hell I’d wanted to get away. I had a life in Tuscaloosa and I needed that life to escape. Here, I was Marcus Hardy. No matter where I went people knew me. They knew my family. And now... they were talking about my family. Which is why I had come home.

  Leaving my sister and mother here alone to face this was impossible. The scandal hovering over our heads took away all my choices and my freedom. Right now, few people knew but it was only a matter of time. Soon the entire coastal town of Sea Breeze, Alabama would know what my dad was doing or should I say, who my dad was doing. King of the Mercedes car dealerships along the Gulf Coast had been a high enough title for some little gold digging whore only a few years older than me to jump in bed with my dear ‘ol dad. The one time I’d seen the home wrecker working behind the desk right outside Dad’s office I’d known something wasn’t right. She was young and smoking hot and apparently money hungry.

  Dad couldn’t keep it in his pants and now my mom and sister would have to deal with the stigma it would cause. People would feel sorry for Mom. This was already devastating to her and she didn’t even know yet that the other woman was barely a woman. My younger sister Amanda had caught them going at it one evening late when Mom had sent her over to the office to take Dad some dinner. She’d called me that night crying hysterically. I’d withdrawn from school, packed my things and headed home. There was no other option. My family needed me.

  A knock on the door snapped me out of my internal tirade and I went to see what chick was here looking for Cage this time. God knew the guy had an endless line of females parading through his life. My new roommate was a player. A major player. He put my best friend, Preston, to shame. I twisted the knob and swung the door open without
peeking through the hole.

  The surprise was on me. I’d been prepared to tell whatever tall willowy large but obviously fake chested female dressed in almost nothing waiting outside the door that Cage was busy with another one very similar to her. Except a very natural almost curvy red head stood before me. Red rimmed eyes and a tear streaked face gazed up at me. There was no mascara lines running down her face. Her hair wasn’t styled but pulled back in a pony tail. She wore jeans and what appeared to be an authentic Back in Black AC/DC concert t-shirt. No belly button flashing a flat tanned stomach and her clothes weren’t skin tight. Well maybe the jeans were a little snug but they hugged her hips nicely. My appreciation of her legs in the slim fit jeans stopped however when I noticed the small beat up suitcase clutched tightly in her hand.

  “Is Cage here?” Her voice sounded broken and musical at the same time. I was having a hard time digesting that this girl was here for Cage. She wasn’t anything like he veered toward. Nothing was enhanced. Everything from her thick dark copper hair to the Chuck Taylors on her feet screamed, “not Cage’s type.” And the fact she was carrying a suitcase, well that couldn’t be good.

  “Uh, um, no.”

  Her shoulders slumped and another sob escaped her mouth. One small dainty hand flew up in an attempt to mute the sound of her obvious distress. Her nails were even classy. Not too long with a smooth rounded tip and soft pink nail polish.

  “I left my cell phone,” she let out a sigh then continued, “at my sister’s. I need to call him. Can I come in?”

  Cage was out with a swimsuit model that apparently had a thing for college baseball players. I knew from the way he talked he didn’t intend to come up for air much tonight. He’d never answer her call and I hated to see her get more upset than she already was. A horrible thought crossed my mind, surely he hadn’t gotten this girl pregnant. Couldn’t he see how freaking innocent she was.

  “Uh, yeah but I don’t know if he’ll answer. He’s busy... tonight.”

  She shot me a sour smile and nodded stepping around me.

  “I know the kind of busy he is but he’ll talk to me.”

  She sounded rather confident. I wasn’t feeling her confidence myself.

  “Do you have a cell I can use?”

  I reached into the pocket of my jeans and handed it to her unable to argue with her further. She had stopped crying and I wanted to keep it that way.

  “Thanks, I’ll try calling first.”

  I watched as she walked over to the sofa and dropped her suitcase to the floor with a thunk before sinking dejectedly down onto the worn cushions as if she’d been here a hundred times. Being as I’d only been moved in for two days, I wouldn’t know if she had been here before or not. Cage was a friend of a friend who had been looking for a roommate. I needed somewhere to live fast and his place was nice. Preston was on the same baseball team as Cage at the local community college. Once Preston heard I needed a place to live he called Cage and hooked me up.

  “It’s me. I left my phone when I ran. You’re not here but your new roommate let me in. Call me,” she sniffed then hung up. I watched fascinated as she proceeded to text him. She really believed the male whore I lived with was going to call her right up as soon as he got her message. I was intrigued and growing more concerned by the minute.

  She finished and handed the phone back to me. A smile touched her red splotchy face and two dimples appeared in her cheeks. Damn that was cute.

  “Thanks, do you mind if I wait a little bit until he calls back?”

  I shook my head, “No, not at all. You want a drink?” She nodded and stood up.

  “Yes, but I’ll get it. My drinks are in the bottom drawer of the fridge behind the Bud Lights.”

  I frowned and followed her into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and bent down to get her hidden drink. With her bent over digging for her so called drink the snug fit of the faded jeans over her ass was hard to miss. It was a perfect heart shape and although she wasn’t very tall her legs seemed to go on for miles.

  “Ah, here it is. Cage needs to run to the store and restock. He must be letting his one nighters drink my Jarritos.”

  I couldn’t keep guessing. I needed to know who she was exactly. Surely she wasn’t one of his girlfriends. Could she be the sister Preston had mentioned dating? I sure as hell hoped not. I was interested and I hadn’t been interested in anyone in awhile. Not since the last girl broke my heart. I opened my mouth to ask her how she knew Cage when the phone in my pocket started ringing. She walked over to me and held out her hand. The girl really believed it was Cage. I glanced down and sure enough, my roommate had called back.

  She took the phone from my hand.

  “Hey”

  “She’s such a selfish jerk.”

  “I can’t stay there Cage.”

  “I didn’t mean to leave my phone. I was just upset.”

  “Yes, your new roommate’s a nice guy. He’s been very helpful.”

  “No, don’t end your date. Get her out of your system. I’ll wait.”

  “I promise not to go back.”

  “She is who she is Cage.”

  “I just hate her,” I could hear the tears in her voice again.

  “No, no, really I’m fine. I just needed to see you.”

  “Don’t. I’ll leave.”

  “Cage --”

  “No”

  “Cage”

  “Okay fine.”

  She held the phone out to me, “He wants to talk to you.”

  This conversation was like nothing I’d expected. The girl had to be his sister.

  “Hey.”

  “Listen, I need you to make sure Low stays there until I can get home. She’s upset and I don’t want her leaving. Get her one of her damn Mexican soda thingys out of the fridge. They’re behind the Bud Lights in the bottom drawer. I have to hide them from other chicks I have over. All females tend to like those nasty drinks. Turn on the television, distract her, whatever. I’m only ten minutes away but I’m putting my jeans on as we speak and headed home. Just help get her mind off things but DON’T touch her.”

  “Ah, okay sure. Is she your sister?”

  Cage chuckled into the phone. “Hell no she ain’t my sister. I’d never buy my damn sister drinks and call her back when I’m in the middle of a fucking threesome. Low’s the girl I’m gonna marry.”

  I had no response for that. My eyes found her standing over by the window with her back to me. The long thick copper locks curled on the ends and brushed against the middle of her back. She was absolutely nothing like the girls Cage regularly hooked up with. What did he mean she was the girl he was going to marry? That made no sense.

  “Keep her there man. I’m on my way.”

  Then he hung up the phone.

  I dropped the phone on the table and stood there staring at her back. She turned around slowly and studied me a moment then a smiled broke across her face.

  “He told you he was going to marry me didn’t he,” she said laughing softly before taking a drink of the orange soda with what appeared to have spanish writing on it.

  “Crazy boy. I shouldn’t have bothered him but he’s all I’ve got.”

  She walked over and sank back down onto the old faded green sofa pulling her legs up underneath her.

  “Don’t worry. I’m not leaving. He’d rip apart my sister’s house searching for me and scare the bejesus out of her if I left. I’ve got enough issues where she’s concerned. I don’t intend to unleash Cage on her.”

  I slowly made my way over to the only chair in the room and sat down.

  “So, you’re engaged?” I asked staring down at her bare ring finger.

  With a sad smile she shook her head.

  “Not in a million years. Cage has crazy ideas. Just because he says them doesn’t make them true.”

  She raised her eyebrows and took another drink of her soda.

  “So, you aren’t going to marry Cage,” I really would love for her to clarify this bec
ause I was incredibly confused and more than a little interested in her. She bit down on her bottom lip and I noticed for the first time how full it was.

  ”Cage was my ‘boy next door’ growing up. He’s my best friend. I love him dearly and he really is all I have. The only person I can count on. We’ve never actually been in a relationship before because he knows I won’t have sex with him and he needs sex. He’s also real wrapped up in the whole idea that a relationship between the two of us before we get married will end badly and he’ll lose me. He has this irrational fear of losing me.”

  Did she know the guy had bagged over three different girls this week and apparently was having a threesome when she’d called? She was so much better than Cage.

  “Wipe that look off your face. I don’t need your pity. I know what Cage is like. I know you have probably seen the kind of girls he’s attracted to and I look absolutely nothing like them. I don’t live in a fantasy world. I’m very aware,” she tilted her head and smiled at me sweetly, “I don’t even know your name.”

  “Marcus Hardy”

  “Well Marcus Hardy, I’m Willow Montgomery but everyone calls me Low. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Likewise”

  “So, you’re a friend of Preston’s.”

  I nodded, “Yes but don’t hold it against me.”

  She laughed for the first time and the sudden pleasure from such a simple sound startled me. I liked hearing her laugh.

  “I won’t. Preston isn’t all that bad. He likes to use those pretty boy looks of his to get his way but I’m safe from his attention. Cage would kill him if he decided to bat his baby blues at me.”

  Was it because of Preston’s womanizing or the fact he was a guy that made Cage protective of Willow. Did he really expect her to wait around until he was ready to settle down and marry her?