by R. J. Sable
I called Alex and had a long, giggly natter whilst I soaked in the bath. I missed him like mad but loved hearing all his stories. He’d found a job doing data entry for a genealogy website, which sounded thoroughly boring but he insisted it would look good on his CV. I was just happy he’d found something to do, otherwise I think he might have gone insane with nothing to do until the start of the next academic year.
“Enjoy your bath?” Jason asked me as I finished towel drying my hair and joined him on the sofa.
“Yep, was lovely, thanks,” I beamed at him.
“I love seeing you in my clothes,” he smiled, his hands snaking up my t-shirt as he pulled me into his side.
I’d put on Jason’s t-shirt and a pair of boxers after my shower. There was no point putting clothes on, we’d just be taking them off again.
“Not exactly the sexiest clothes in the world,” I laughed.
“You could be in a bin bag and still be the sexiest woman on the planet,” Jason grinned.
“Cheesy!” I teased him, putting my hand in its favourite place against Jason’s happy trail.
“Agreed!” Josh announced, sticking his head into the room to call us in for dinner.
“Thanks,” I smiled appreciatively as he handed me my plate.
“You have fun in Newcastle?” Josh asked, turning to me.
“Yeah, it was nice,” I nodded. “I found out I’m going to be an Aunty.”
“Cool,” he grinned. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” I smiled. “What did you and Ben do in the end?” I asked Jason.
“We just hung out,” Jason smiled. “I don’t get to see him as much as I’d like so it was nice just to catch up.”
“How’s he doing?” Josh asked.
“Busy as hell. He’ll graduate in a few months,” Jason said proudly.
“Little Benji, all grown up,” Josh laughed.
“Tell me about it,” Jason nodded, the pride evident on his face.
“Hey, what was it you and Ben talked about?” I asked, remembering what he’d said when I’d called him.
“Oh, that,” Jason said, glancing over at Josh. It occurred to me that maybe I should have waited until it was just the two of us to ask him about it. “We just talked about all the shit that went down when we were younger,” he shrugged as though it meant nothing, but I knew better.
Josh didn’t even blink so I figured he must have at least had some idea of the Reed family history.
“We actually talked about MMA,” Jason said, his eyes flicking away from his food and up to me.
“Oh?” I prompted, wondering where this was leading.
“Yeah, well,” he shrugged. “Craig kinda got in my head whilst we were at yours.” He looked up at me again and I could see caution on his face. “So I talked to Ben about it, you know, see how he felt.”
“What did he say?”
“He said he didn’t mind,” Jason smiled uncertainly. “Said he never asked me to stop fighting. Just didn’t like the stuff that came with it.”
“Cool,” I nodded uncertainly. “It’s nice that you two talk so honestly with each other.”
“How do you feel about it?” He asked, his eyes scanning my face.
I thought it was so unbelievably sweet and considerate that he wanted to check with me about it. I wondered why he hadn’t breached the topic earlier and it occurred to me that he might have been worried about my reaction.
I smiled at his cuteness. “I think it’s great!”
“Really?” He smiled, obviously relieved.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “I know how much you love it. I mean, obviously I’d rather you didn’t get hurt. I know how badly you could get injured, but I’m not going to stand between you and something you care about. Just try not to get hurt, please, for me?”
“I’ll do my best,” he grinned. “Thank you, baby. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
I smiled happily back at him. I had two brothers in the military. Two who fought with fire for a living. One who got his kicks from fighting. I could deal with worrying about Jason as well. I could deal with anything as long as I had him by my side.
Chapter 21
Friday, 8th February 2013
Jason seemed a little anxious but I wasn’t sure why. He kept looking at me as though he wanted to ask me something but then changing his mind. There was a look in his eye that I couldn’t figure out, I hadn’t seen it before.
“What’s wrong?” I asked with concern, pushing away my empty cake plate.
“Nothing,” he frowned, twisting the plaited leather bracelet he had on his right arm. “I’ve done something and now I’m worried you might not like it,” he sighed deeply and looked at me.
“What have you done?” I frowned.
“I’m not telling you until you promise me you won’t get mad,” Jason answered.
How can he expect me to promise that? My mind was going crazy thinking up possibilities. The unpleasant image of him and Shana together popped into my head but I pushed it away, Jason wouldn’t do that. He was only worried I might not like something. He’d know for sure I wouldn’t like it if he cheated on me. He wouldn’t cheat on me so I didn’t need to think about it.
“Jamie,” Jason prompted, squeezing my hand with his.
“I promise,” I nodded, because I trusted him wholeheartedly.
He studied my face a little longer then held out his hand and gestured for me to follow. I packed up my things and followed him out of the café, my hand in his.
“Where are we going?” I asked curiously, still a little anxious because Jason still had that glimmer in his eye.
“To show you what I’ve done,” he nodded curtly.
“Can’t you just tell me?” I asked, quickening my pace to match his.
“Nope,” he shook his head. “I have to show you.”
“Oh God, did you get my name tattooed on your ass or something?” I blurted in horror.
“No!” He laughed. “Not a bad idea though. We can get matching tattoos.” He came to a stop by Parkinson steps at the front of the university.
“You want me to get your name tattooed on my ass?” I frowned.
“You are not getting your fucking name tattooed on my little sister’s arse!” A familiar voice exclaimed from behind me.
“Craig!” I span round to see him and felt my face light up at the lopsided grin on his face.
“Hey, Jellybean,” he hugged me tightly.
“What are you doing here?” I beamed up at him.
“I have a long weekend off so I thought I’d come see my favourite sister and kick her boyfriend’s arse,” he shot Jason a playful look of warning.
“Firstly, I’m your only sister,” I pointed out. “And secondly, you are not kicking his ass.”
“We’ll see,” Craig winked. “Aren’t you happy to see me?”
“Of course I am,” I grinned. “How come you didn’t tell me?”
“Surprise,” he shrugged. “I called Reed.”
“That’s what you were worried about?” I accused Jason.
He smirked a little and I wondered if he’d ever been worried at all. “Some of us do have poker faces,” he teased.
At least I knew now that the unfamiliar glimmer was there because he’d been hiding something from me.
Jason took my hand and led the two of us back through campus to his apartment. I was done with lectures for the day, so that was fine by me. Craig was going to be staying until Sunday evening and I was thoroughly delighted to have him for the whole weekend.
“What are we doing tonight then?” Craig grinned as he slouched into Jason’s sofa as if he owned the place.
“We have athletics practice,” I said, glancing at Jason in case he was planning on skipping it.
“Yeah, I know. I meant after that,” Craig smiled, pulling me down onto the sofa to sit next to him. Jason had apparently already filled him in.
“I usually take Jamie to the gym for self-defence le
ssons afterwards,” Jason shrugged. “Unless you want to skip it tonight?” He looked at me.
“Nah, I wanna see,” Craig intervened. “I need to see what she’s capable of so she doesn’t get chance to kick me in the balls again,” he frowned, the corner of his lips pulling upwards.
Jason doubled over with laughter on the leather chair. Josh must have heard the commotion because he joined us in the lounge, nodding his head in greeting.
“Something funny, Reed?” Craig asked wryly.
“My tiny little girlfriend kicked Craig Carter in the balls. I don’t think ever been so proud,” Jason laughed again and Josh looked moderately impressed as well.
I frowned a little because I resented being called tiny but I forgave Jason immediately because he was looking at me with that damned adorable mischievous sparkle in his eyes.
Craig scowled and gave my shoulder a little squeeze. “It was a one off!” He protested, which just made Jason laugh harder. “She doesn’t usually do stuff like that,” he looked down at me suspiciously as though he was expecting me to explain why I’d done it.
“How come you kicked him?” Josh asked, sitting on the arm of Jason’s chair and drinking a glass of juice.
“He wouldn’t let me go and he kept poking me in the ribs,” I frowned, looking a little nervously at Craig because I wasn’t sure how he’d react to my explanation.
“You called me an asshole,” he grinned at me, catching me off guard by being so happy and playful.
“You were being an asshole!” I pouted, which had Jason and Josh laughing again.
Craig and I stared each other down. I guess I was feeling a little brave with Jason and Josh nearby. I would usually have lowered my gaze by now.
“Maybe a little,” he conceded eventually, shrugging and pulling me into his side for a one-armed hug.
That was unexpected. I’d been waiting for some sort of threat of retribution.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you about that, actually,” he said. “Why did you do it? You must have known Ian would be pissed off.”
“If it had been you, and I’d have just left you there like that, how would you have felt?” I countered.
“More than a little pissed off,” he admitted after a few seconds thought.
“I couldn’t just leave him there,” I shrugged.
Craig shook his head in amusement and grinned at me. “I never thought I’d see the day when you stood up to Ian when none of us did.”
“Maybe I’m just less of a girl?” I teased.
“Don’t push your luck,” he cautioned, still smiling a little.
“You lay a finger on her and you won’t have any balls left for her to kick,” Jason warned, smiling but I suspected he was very serious.
I saw Josh looking at him like he was insane, probably questioning his death-wish tendencies just like I was.
“Don’t write cheques you can’t cash, Reed,” Craig grinned light-heartedly.
“Mate, any man can win a fight if his reason to win exceeds that of his opponent,” Jason said seriously.
“You really think that’s true?” Craig asked with amusement.
Jason nodded earnestly.
Craig thought about it for a second, his forehead wrinkled in concentration.
“I call bullshit,” he said eventually. “If that was true I never would have gotten stuffed in a locker at school.” He laughed but I could still see a trace of resentment in his eyes.
“Karl and Matt?” I asked sadly, shuffling closer to him.
“Mm,” he mumbled, still frowning.
“Not getting stuffed in a locker is not a good enough reason to fight,” Jason shook his head. “Your sister is, and you’ll do well to remember that,” Jason grinned.
“She’s alright I guess,” Craig shrugged, squeezing me again to let me know he was joking.
“You coming to the fight tomorrow, Carter?” Josh asked.
“That’s the plan,” Craig nodded. “Already talked to Simon about it.”
“Are you going to fight?” I asked, made curious by the tone of voice he was using.
“I might,” he said conspiratorially.
“Who?” I asked.
“Don’t be nosey,” he chided, squeezing my arm gently.
I pouted and crossed my arms over my chest childishly. I couldn’t help it, my brothers always brought out the child in me. I saw Jason laughing at my reaction and stuck my tongue out at him playfully. I figured Craig was probably just going to have a friendly match with Simon even though they weren’t in the same weight class. I knew they’d done it a few times before.
“We should get ready,” Jason said, pushing himself up from standing. He moved over to stand in front of me and lifted me up from the sofa, picking me up so that I was hanging over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
Craig laughed at me and I giggled like a child in between demanding that Jason put me down. He, of course, ignored me and carried me into his bedroom so I could get dressed.
***
They were all staring. Why are they all staring? We’d literally just arrived at the track and Jason had disappeared round to the back of the building by the track to go to the toilet.
“Sorry,” I mumbled to Craig, shifting awkwardly under the stares of the people around us.
“What for?” He frowned, apparently completely oblivious.
I guess he’s used to it, I thought to myself, assuming the attention was because of his MMA successes. I glanced around at the crowd and noticed that the majority of people staring were girls and, judging by the way most of them were undressing him with their eyes, it had nothing to do with martial arts.
“Your boyfriend has a tiny bladder,” Craig grinned, nudging me with his elbow playfully.
I shot him a pretend scowl that I knew he’d see straight through and he laughed at me. I enjoyed seeing him happy and light-hearted, it made me equally happy. His playfulness was a little contagious and I squirted him a bit with my water bottle as punishment for mocking Jason. I squeezed harder than I intended and his blue running shirt received a big wet patch on the chest.
“Sorry,” I giggled, looking up at his face to see how he was going to react.
His eyebrows knit together and his mouth set in a hard line but his eyes remained happy. He was messing with me, or at least I hoped he was. “Three,” he said slowly, staring at me with the same firm expression.
“What?” I frowned in confusion.
“Two,” he continued.
Oh crap, he’s counting down. I squealed and bolted across the track to the grassy section in the middle. I heard Craig shout “one” from behind me but I was too busy sprinting away from him to look back.
Clearly, I wasn’t sprinting fast enough because Craig tackled me from behind and pinned me down onto the grass, holding my arms above my head with one hand and grinning down at me. He pulled open the nozzle on his own water bottle and his victorious grin only broadened as the bottle hovered above my head.
“No!” I squealed. “Don’t do it!”
I squirmed a little pathetically but I knew I wouldn’t get away so I didn’t put too much effort into it.
I switched back and forth between giggling and squealing as he emptied the entire bottle of cold liquid over my hair and face.
“You jerk!” I laughed as he let me go and pulled me up from the grass, my hair and face dripping with water.
“You deserved it,” he grinned.
I scowled at him but I didn’t really mind, it was nice seeing him like this. I was a little cold but I knew I’d warm up once we started the session.
“I’m cold now!” I protested, pouting at him.
He grinned but wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into him as we walked back to the rest of the group.
The smile on my face diminished somewhat when I saw Shana walking towards us with Lottie. I wish she’d stayed in Canada. I felt my shoulders tensing and Craig must have felt it because he shot me a quizzical look.
“Where’s Jason?” Shana asked me, but she wasn’t looking at me, her eyes were all over my brother.
I watched Craig look down at his wet t-shirt in annoyance. Clearly he didn’t want to wear his t-shirt because he pulled it off and put it over his left shoulder. Lottie and Shana’s jaws dropped in tandem and I found myself rolling my eyes at their exaggerated reaction to Craig’s ink-filled torso.
For once, Craig didn’t pinch me for my eye rolling. I guess he didn’t mind so much as long as it wasn’t targeted at him or the others. He looked like he was rather amused by the girls’ reactions. God, I hope he doesn’t sleep with Shana, even he must have standards. I almost rolled my eyes again at the thought. Shana really was very beautiful and I knew Craig didn’t care about a girl’s personality for what he used them for.
“Not here,” I shrugged, being deliberately vague.
Shana’s eyes flicked back and forth between Craig and I, the cogs whirring just like they had when she saw me with Adam.
“And who’s this?” She asked, her eyes back on Craig. Not on his face, but scanning every inch of him.
I bit back the urge to vomit at the pathetic display and tried to decide whether I wanted her to know who Craig was to me or not.
“I’m the guy she was lucky enough to share a hotel room with a couple of weeks ago,” Craig grinned.
What the hell? I glared up at him. What does he hope to achieve by that? I saw Shana’s eyes light up happily as though she’d just gotten her hands on the biggest piece of gossip she’d ever seen. She probably thought she had. I found myself less irritated at Craig now that I realised he was messing with her. He was playing a game and I found myself joining in because his playfulness really was contagious.
“Yeah,” I scoffed. “And then you left me on my own in an empty bed before I woke up. Do you do that to all the girls?” I pointed my finger at him accusingly.
“Only the ones that annoy the shit out of me,” he retorted, giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze to let me know he was kidding.
“You came back though,” I smirked.
