My Forbidden Date: A Brother’s Best Friend Romance

by Tara Brent

  I smile. “I didn’t think it was.”

  “Maya, Jackson cares about you. Just give him some time to sort it out.”

  “Do you mean the baby or your side hustle?” I ask.

  “Both.” Vince’s stern expression returns as he shoots me a warning glance.

  Chapter 16

  Jackson

  I acted like an asshole when I dropped off Maya tonight, and I know it. There were moments that I honestly thought the kid was mine. My gray eyes aren’t a common color, and the way Lucas would frown when he had gas. It was déjà vu, but I believed that Maya wouldn’t keep that big secret from me. We’ve practically known each other all our lives. Her brother is my best friend, and I spent time in their house. We grew up together. A baby is a big secret to keep. I continue to rant in my head as I drive to JFK to return the trailer to the rental drop off. It’s two AM, but I need something to do.

  I keep thinking it over, and her actions make me grind my teeth, but then a little voice in my head keeps interrupting and saying—you’re no better, Jackson. Her old bedroom was stacked with the boxes that I shipped from LA. Before I left, I quickly checked inside. The package wasn’t among them.

  Vince texts me in the morning. No matter what’s happening. We have to keep it professional. We agree to meet outside of my building and go together to deliver the package. I still don’t know what’s in it. At this point, I don’t care. I just want to get rid of it. This will be the last damn delivery, and then I’ll go talk to Maya in person.

  “You look like shit,” Vince informs me as I jump into his car.

  I scoff. “You look shittier.”

  He pulls away from the curb. “My nephew likes to let the whole house know he’s awake in the middle of the night.”

  I shake my head. “I was shocked to find out about the baby. But when I saw the kid, I had my suspicions.”

  “He has your eyes,” replies Vince. “And that diaper, he can make a mess of things just like his dad.”

  I don’t want to laugh, but I have to. “If we didn’t have to do what we have to do, I’d have been okay with it. Vince, I’m not a jerk.”

  He makes a left-hand turn, and I’m surprised that we’re heading in the direction of my dad’s nursing home. “Maya might not tell you,” he says, “but I’m telling you that she was torn to pieces when you left last night. I know why you did it. We’ll fix this mess first, and then we’ll deal with the other.”

  “Are you referring to Maya and me as a mess?” I ask, but he doesn’t answer.

  Vince parks his car in the lot by the nursing home. The lot’s almost full, but he manages to get a space near the door next to a white Cadillac Escalade.

  “I never wanted you and Maya to date,” he eventually replies, “but she’s been in love with you since she knew that’s what boys were for. I asked her why she picked you, and she told me that you were the first boy to stop picking on her. I thought it was because you were dangerous and off-limits. But it has nothing to do with the surface; it’s a stronger connection than that.”

  I appreciate Vince telling me the truth.

  “Let’s fix this mess first,” he repeats himself softly, “and then I’ll deal with you.”

  We walk down the hallway to my father’s room while Vince updates me quickly. Cyrus and Brandi are here to meet us. It’s an innocuous place to transfer a package. My heat rises to my forehead as my jaw tightens. I feel like I’ve been used.

  “Suck it up for a little longer, Jackson,” Vince whispers. “We’ve got two birds in the bush, and I don’t want to scare them away.”

  We walk in, and Cyrus and my old man are laughing like they’re good old friends. Cyrus sits in a chair near my father’s bed, and he nods his head, remembering some incident that Cyrus still has tucked in his brain. Sadly, they are because they’re almost all that’s left of the old-timers in the neighborhood. They have a lot of shared history, and memories don’t seem so painful when they’re hazed over with the past. Meanwhile, Brandi is seated in an office chair she probably demanded from the nurse’s station. She’s dressed in logos from her head to her toes with her arms crossed and staring at the television.

  The look on Brandi’s face when she notices us makes me want to yell. She smirks as if she owns us, and I want to shove this package down her throat.

  “Hello, gentlemen,” Brandi welcomes us into my own father’s room. “Ready to discuss business?”

  I stand on the other side of my dad’s bed and squeeze his hand. The look Ted gives me is a mix of gratitude and relief. “There’s no business between us,” I tell Brandi, then I look across the bed. “Good morning, Cyrus.”

  He looks up as if he’s only just seen us. Cyrus doesn’t look all that good. I mean, the guy’s got to be somewhere in his eighties. He doesn’t look too worn for his age, but he doesn’t look like a man who should be running the streets with a thirtysomething girlfriend.

  “Hello, Jackson.” He lifts his hand. “Vince, I see you brought the package.”

  “And you can have it,” replies Vince. “But we don’t work for you, Cyrus. Not anymore.”

  Cyrus exchanges a meaningful look with Brandi. His eyebrows join together as his eyes narrow onto hers. He looks like a hungry dog checking out a juicy steak. It’s a look of cunning that’s startling, and maybe he’s not the conned old man I think he is. Brandi slowly uncrosses her lycra-covered legs and crosses them again. I try not to judge, but I am.

  Brandi takes the package out of Vince’s hands and places it on her lap. “We won’t have another job for you until after our wedding,” she announces.

  I scoff. I don’t hit women, but I’ll shake her old man until his teeth rattle in his leering head if Brandi doesn’t pipe the fuck down. “This is it. No more.” I look at Cyrus. “My dad’s not placing bets with you either. I catch your men in here, and they’ll need a room for themselves. Do we have an understanding?”

  Cyrus sits back, placing his hands on his knees, and opens his legs as if he’s proud to show off his junk. “Fine. Your dad doesn’t place another bet as long as you keep working for me.”

  “You don’t get it,” I bellow, “I’m not doing it anymore. So you can take yourself and your missus out of my life.”

  Vince grips my upper arm. “Cyrus, Jackson hasn’t seen his dad in weeks. Why don’t you give us some time alone?”

  “That’s fine with me,” Brandi bounces off her chair. “I hate the smell of these places.” Cyrus gets up slowly from his chair and takes a second to straighten his knees. Brandi takes a step toward him. I think she’s going to help him or hand him the package to carry. But it’s worse. Brandi leans in and presses her lips to his mouth. Cyrus grabs her arm in his bony grip, and they start mashing their tongues together, putting on an obscene show.

  Brandi pulls back, tilts her nose to the sky, and struts out the door, leaving Cyrus to catch up, hobbling on his bad knee.

  “That was gross,” sighs Dad, “I’m glad they’re gone.”

  Vince laughs. “And they won’t be back.”

  “How do you know?” I ask.

  Vince doesn’t say anything. He grips my arm and motions for me to follow him out into the hallway quickly. As we pass the nurses’ station, the sounds of a commotion start from outside. Vince leads me into the guest waiting room, where there’s a huge picture window looking out onto the parking lot. The beep of a police cruiser sounds again as people start shouting outside. A nurse’s aide rushes in and looks out the window beside us.

  Several men in dark suits have Cyrus and Brandi surrounded by their Cadillac. She’s shouting into some guy’s face as Cyrus is actually trying to hit a man a foot taller than him. Another man has the package in his hand as he talks into an earpiece. I look at Vince and he has his phone out.

  He winks. “Taking a photo for the album.”

  “You called the cops,” I ask.

  He nods toward the aide who’s straining her neck to get a better look as Brandi is pushed against th
e Cady and handcuffed. The aide hurries out of the room into the hallway shouting the details. She’s giving her co-workers the blow-by-blow of Brandi’s downfall. We have a second before they all rush in.

  “See the cop on the far left? I sold his condo,” whispers Vince, “I had his card so I gave him a call. I knew we couldn’t persuade Cyrus on our own, and I have no issue with snitching on a small-time crook.”

  “What about Derrick?”

  Vince laughs. “Do you really think he wanted Brandi as his stepmom? Derrick has disappeared, but they don’t know yet.”

  “He helped you set them up?”

  Vince smirks. He hangs out in the waiting room, watching the drama outside while I return to my dad. I have to tell Ted that he has a grandson, and he’ll ask when he can see him. I don’t know. I mistreated Maya when she told me the truth. But I have a feeling she’ll forgive me, but that doesn’t mean she wants to be with me. Maya ran off once, and who can say she won’t run off again. I take a breath and tell my anxieties to ease up.

  “Do you love her?” asks Dad. He’s sitting up in his bed eating a fruit salad on his tray. Ted perked up the second I told him what had happened to Cyrus. And he beamed when I told him about his grandson.

  “I love her enough to change my life and not miss what I have to give up.”

  Ted nods. “It’s better when it’s your choice. I chose to settle down with your mother. She’d give me this look like I was the best man alive. That was unconditional love.” He points to Brandi’s empty chair and shakes his head. “I was still a jerk, but I tried every day not to be one.”

  I smile and help him with his spoon. Ted takes my hand, and his grip is surprisingly strong. “Don’t be a jerk, Jackson. It’s a lazy way out.”

  “I won’t be a jerk, Dad.”

  He digs his spoon back into his bowl. “You couldn’t be if you tried.”

  Chapter 17

  Maya

  I spent the next few days scrubbing the house from top to bottom in my elbow-high rubber gloves. It’s incredible how Vince will live. He’s a control freak in public and a hoarder in private. I place my hands on my hips when I step into the basement storage room. He’s saved boxes of treasures, which I call crap—our names are written in marker on the white banker boxes. First, I moved out, and Max followed and then by our middle brother Dane. My gaze circles the basement, checking the labels on the boxes for a few of mine.

  I take the top box off a precarious tower of boxes and look inside. It’s my old books, and I get a thrill thinking I could read them to Lucas. I scowl when I see each paperback is from the Riverside High School Prep series. This is going out on trash day.

  The doorbell rings, and I’m on my feet heading for the door. My heart squeezes when I open it and see Jackson. He had sent a text asking about Lucas, and I had answered it. For the last week, we kept our distance from each other, only discussing parenting by text.

  “May I come in?” he asks.

  I nod and step aside. It’s time for us to discuss our future plans and if they’re going to be together or apart. Feelings have been hurt, and it has made a lasting break in our relationship. We’ll always be old friends, but maybe more than that is too much to hope for.

  “Come on into the kitchen,” I tell him. We sit at the round table that we all squeezed around when the house was full of kids. I sit up straight as a draft raises the hair on my arms. I tap my foot and look around for a place to focus my gaze.

  “Busy cleaning?” he asks.

  I nod. Not much of an opening. I have to be patient, I guess. Or maybe, I don’t.

  “I heard about what happened,” I reply, “I guess it is your last job.”

  Jackson sighs. “Leaving a nursing home with a box of illegal pharma is going to land a person in prison for a while. Cyrus has a good lawyer, but Brandi may not be able to afford one.”

  Of course, the woman gets screwed. I nod. “It could’ve gotten me in trouble. You shipped that box with my stuff.”

  Our gazes meet, and he winces slightly. “I shipped it at the same time. But your name wasn’t on it. Vince knew what to do.”

  I shake my head. “Do you get why I was so hesitant to tell you about the baby? It wasn’t me being fickle or dealing with hormones. I had a legitimate suspicion that turned out to be right.”

  “Maya, I was shocked and hurt that you didn’t confide in me, no matter what you thought I had done.”

  “Thought you had?” I question him.

  His gaze turns into a glare. “You’re making it hard to apologize.”

  I stare at the floor. My eyes trace the lines between the tiles. “So far, I’ve heard a lot of reasons but no apology.”

  Jackson stands up and kneels in front of me on that dingy kitchen floor. He takes my hands in his. “Maya, I am sorry. If I had known we would end up together, I’d have gone straight a long time ago. I wanted to go straight, but maybe I should have been less stubborn and asked for help.” He pauses. “I want a chance to have a life with you and my son.”

  I bite my lip, and then it’s my turn to apologize. The words flow out of me smoothly because I don’t hold back what I want to say. “I’m sorry too. I should’ve told you the day I found out I was pregnant. I’ve known you for so long, but instead of listening to myself, I listened to Vince.” I raise my palms facing out. “And it’s not his fault for being a caring big brother. But I should have said something instead of running away. I’ve been in love with Lucas from the start and I should’ve given you the chance to fall in love with him too.”

  Jackson lays his head down on my lap, and I stroke his hair. We sit there waiting, and I don’t want to get up. If I could freeze myself in time, I would choose this moment. I love Jackson too much not to forgive him, and he loves me too much not to forgive me. I lean down and kiss the back of his head.

  Jackson lifts his head and meets my gaze. “Have you thought about the future?”

  I have, but I’m not making assumptions though I have a feeling I could. “Well, Tiffany suggested I move south, and we can start another business. She wants to launch a catering app. But Vince has offered to help me raise Lucas right here in Bridgetown. I know the town is changing, but I’m not sure about that.” I shrug my shoulders. “Or maybe, I’ll stay in New York and get my Master’s online.” I pause. “What about you?”

  He tugs the glove off my hand one finger at a time. I watch him wondering what he’s doing. Maybe he’s noticed how gross the gloves are. Jackson presses his lips to my hand. I wish I had washed them first. He may too. But he smiles instead.

  “I want us to marry. And then I can be with you and my son all the time, Maya. That road trip was the best moment in my life because we were together as a family, and I want it back again.”

  I inhale sharply. I look at Jackson hard as if I should think about it a little longer. But I’ve thought about it long enough, every minute of the day and night while he was gone.

  I nod my head before I say the word. “Yes, I want to marry you.” I smile. “But who’s telling Vince.”

  Jackson slips a ring out of his pocket and places it on my finger. “Just show him this.”

  I cover my face with my hands, and he pulls them away to kiss me. Jackson holds my hand, and lifts it to his lips again. Standing, he pulls me out of the chair and we go upstairs to my old bedroom. The boxes are gone and the room is set up as a nursery for Lucas. Jackson stands in the doorway holding me in his arms, and we watch our son in his bassinet, sleeping.

  “Did you ever imagine this?” he asks me.

  I nod. “I wished for it.”

  Jackson kisses the nape of my neck, putting his fingers through my hair. I moan a little as a stray tear trails down my cheek. His hand pulls open the button on my shorts. His fingers stroke my skin gently as if he’s admiring me with his fingertips. He kisses me again as he guides me toward the bed. I lay down as he lies beside me. Softly, I moan as his fingers play between my legs. Dipping in then out, rubbing me gently. I
shut my eyes and tilt my chin. Jackson holds my arching body as I climax then he moves on top of me.

  Love is in my eyes as I watch him. Jackson pushes into me, and I let out a low, soft moan. He thrusts increasingly deeper while looking into my eyes. I close my eyes shut and concentrate on the sensation of him moving into me. I need to feel him inside me and to know he will be with me, no matter what happens. The weight of his body against mine comforts me.

  Love has taken an easier pace. His movements aren’t rushed or frantic—soothing in their tenderness. Jackson is learning my body. He understands how to show me comfort with a touch that heals our past disappointments. Not being concerned with performance or acrobatics but sharing his need to be one with me.

  I lift my knees and wrap my legs around his hips. Curving my back, I hold onto him as his pace increases. I squeeze him and then match his movement. I hold onto him, kissing his chest. Rubbing the tip of my nose through his soft hair. I flick my tongue across his mouth. Jackson lets out a gasp and collapses on top of me as he comes inside my warmth. He stays still then gathers the strength to move off me. He lifts his body away.

  “Don’t.” I grab his back with my hands. “Stay.”

  “I don’t want to crush you.”

  “You aren’t.” I cling to him. “Please stay with me.”

  He holds onto my body and, without letting go, rolls us gently onto our sides. I place my head against his shoulder and listen to him, breathing in my arms.

  Chapter 18

  Jackson

  Maya doesn’t want a white gown ceremony and a lot of flash and dazzle in a rented catering hall. The simpler, the better, and that is a direct quote. Vince has made the difficult decision to stop running everyone’s lives. Until we announced our engagement. He can’t resist planning a wedding with all the trimmings and calls Tiff before Maya had a chance to tell her. Tiffany sends texts of wedding cakes and ideas from Insta until Maya has no storage left in her account. Max arrives a week after Maya tells him—he flew home. He really misses Lucas and somedays Maya. He admits he’s tired of cleaning, and Maya reminds him that he’s an adult and adults have to bend and pick up. The Stewart house is filled with craziness again.