by T L Swan
I pull the car up at her mother’s soon after. Meredith gets out of the car and runs inside, as if she’s being chased.
I hate that she has to go through this. Her mother comes out. “What’s going on?” she asks, confused.
“I don’t know, I just found her like this.” I shrug. “I didn’t know what to do.”
“Has she missed her medication?” her mother asks.
“I’m not sure. She had a lot of food additives that may have made her nervous.”
“Okay, thanks for taking care of her, dear.” Her mother gives me a sad smile and goes back inside, leaving me to sit in my car for a moment.
I really hate that she has to go through this. Why was she so frightened?
It’s one thing to have a friend like Meredith, but to see her in like this is heart breaking.
I slowly start my car and blow out a deflated breath. I turn the corner to head back to my house. Brock will be there at any moment to pick me up, and tonight, I get to meet his family.
I’m so nervous.
My phone alerts me to a text and the screen lights up.
SIMON: I’m at your house. Where are you?
My eyes widen. What the fuck?
Chapter 17
Oh my God, oh my God. They’re both going to be turning up at my apartment at the same time. I put my foot down on the accelerator and begin to speed up. I can’t have them meet like this, and what the heck is Simon doing back from London, anyway? He’s supposed to be gone for another three weeks at least. I mean, I knew that he would come back to see me when he returned, and I always anticipated that he and Brock would one day meet, but I didn’t expect it to happen now.
I turn into my street and see Brock’s car parked with him sitting in it waiting for me. Simon is standing next to the front door.
Oh my frigging God!
Shit.
With Brock being Brock, this is not going to go down well. What the hell do I do?
I can’t even avoid Simon. I’m not dressed to meet Brock’s family yet.
What a fucking nightmare.
I park out on the street just down and opposite from Brock, and I call him. He answers on the first ring.
“Hey, Pock. Where are you?”
“Hi, babe.” I sigh as I watch him in his car. He doesn’t know I’m here. “Erm, so, here’s the thing,” I whisper.
“Here’s what thing?”
“I just pulled up and I’m parked across the street.”
He glances up, sees me and gives me a sexy smile. I wave feebly.
“Simon’s here.”
He frowns. “What?”
“See the guy near the door? The one on his phone?”
Brock looks over to the front doors of my building, and I see his jaw clench.
“Brock, please.,” I whisper. “If you care for me at all, you will let me handle this.”
“Tully.”
“Please, babe. I’m begging you. Despite what you think of him, he’s done nothing wrong and is a dear friend.”
He glares at me through his windshield, exhaling heavily.
“Don’t say anything to him.”
“Fuck off,” Brock snaps.
“Brock, please,” I beg. “I love you, I’m with you. Let me handle this.”
He glares at me.
“Stay in the car and I’ll be ten minutes.”
“What does he want?” He barks.
I swallow the nervous lump in my throat. “He’ll just want to talk to me, that’s all.”
“He’ll want you to go back to him,” he says as his angry eyes hold mine across the road.
“That’s not happening. because I’m with you. But I need to have this conversation with him, and I swear to God, if you say one thing to him I will never speak to you again.”
He narrows his eyes. I can see his fury at my threat from here.
“Give me ten minutes and stay in the car,” I whisper before hanging up.
I get out of my car and Simon sees me straight away. He flashes me a crooked smile, and then Brock gets out of his car.
Damn it, Brock!
My heart begins to hammer in my chest as I walk up to Simon.
“Hi.” He smiles.
“Hello.” I smile, twisting my fingers in front of me nervously. “What are you doing here?”
“I flew home from London. Your mother said...”
“Hi,” Brock announces, moving to stand. beside me. He puts his hands into the pockets of his jeans. His legs are wide, his chin tilted to the sky.
Arrogance. Pure arrogance.
I gulp and scratch my head awkwardly. “Simon, this is Brock. Brock, this is Simon.”
Brock glares at Simon as they shake hands.
“Hey,” Simon mutters. He frowns and looks between Brock and me. “Who’s this?” he asks.
“Erm.” I frown. Oh God, please let the earth swallow me up. “Brock is my…” I pause, “Boyfriend.”
Simon’s face falls, his eyes searching mine.
Instantly, my eyes fill with tears, I’ve hurt him. “Si,” I whisper.
“It’s true then?
Brocks jaw clenches but he stays silent.
I nod slowly.
“But you said…” Simon starts.
I nod again. “I know I did,” I whisper. “I never meant for this to happen, and I care for you so much.”
Brock’s brow furrows as he watches me struggling.
“You know I love you, Simon, but I love Brock in a different way.”
Simon presses his lips together and his eyes fill with tears. Brock drops his head. Simon’s pain is palpable… even to Brock.
“I’ll wait upstairs,” Brock says quietly.
I smile through my tears and hand Brock my keys. “Thank you,” I mouth.
He nods and turns to Simon, pausing for a moment, not knowing what to say. “Sorry, mate.”
Simon’s eyes stay glued to the ground.
Brock disappears inside, and I grab Simon’s hands. “We’re friends, Simon. We’ll always be friends. But something was missing from our relationship.”
“Not for me.”
“Yes, for you. You were happy with that girl, I saw that you were.”
“That was different to what we have, Tully.”
“I know, but that doesn’t mean it was a bad thing. What we have will never be replaced, Si.” I squeeze his hands in mine. “We did all our firsts together.”
His eyes search mine. “I’ll come back now. I-I won’t even go back to London,” he stammers.
I shake my head. “It’s too late.”
“It’s not,” he blurts out.
“I never started anything with Brock until I saw you with that girl.”
His face falls.
“You looked so happy… happier than you ever did with me.”
“Tully,” he whispers.
“I’ve made my decision. I’m with Brock now. You and I won’t be getting back together.”
“How can you say that?” he whispers, clearly panicked. “You don’t even know him.”
I shake my head. “I know, not like I know you. This decision isn’t based on Brock. It’s based on us, Simon, and what was missing between us.”
Something snaps inside of Simon and he begins to get angry. “So, you’re getting it from him! What’s he got? A big fucking dick or something?”
My heart drops and I know I have to end this conversation now before it turns nasty.
“I don’t want it to be like this between us. I want us to be friends.”
“You want me to be friends with you and him, to play happy families together?” he snaps. “That won’t fucking happen, Tully. You get in the car and come home with me now or it’s over forever.”
I stare at him through my tears. “I’m sorry.” I take a step backwards.
“Tully, no,” he whispers as he grabs me in an embrace. “Don’t do this, I love you.”
He screws up his face and we stand in each other’s arms for an extended
time. It occurs to me that this may be our last embrace, and the emotion of it all overwhelms me. I sob out loud.
“I hate hurting you.” I wrap my arms around him.
“Well, you have.”
My chest begins ache. “Please forgive me.” I kiss him softly. “Goodbye, Simon.” I pull out of his grip, turn and walk into the building.
“Tully,” he whispers.
Regret creases my face. God, I hate this.
“Tully, come back.”
I close my eyes and walk through the foyer.
“Tully!” he cries, and I begin to run. I can’t look back. I don’t want to see him like this. The elevator doors open, and I dive in.
“Tulllllllyyyy!” he calls out.
I tip my head back to the skies. Oh my God.
I run up the hall and open the door. Brock wraps me in his arms and holds me as I cry. “Hey,” he whispers, my chest bouncing with distress.
“He was crying,” I whisper. “I promised him I wouldn’t meet anyone,” I sob. “And I did.”
“Shh,” he calms me.
“But I don’t love him. I love you, and now he’s hurting because of me.”
“Shh, baby.” He leads me into the bathroom. “Have a shower and calm down.”
Everything aches. “But we have to go to your mother’s.” I sniff.
“We can be late.” He sighs. “I’ll call her.” He bends and kisses my lips softly. “Do you still want to go? We don’t have to.”
I look up at him being all sensible and caring, and I smile despite my tears. At a time when I thought he would go crazy, he actually acts like the man I need him to be.
“I love you,” I whisper.
He kisses me tenderly, his lips lingering over mine. He holds my jaw in his hands, and then he pushes the hair behind my shoulders, looking like he wants to say something.
“I’m going to look after you, Tully. I know I’m not too good at this whole relationship thing, but I’m going to give it my best shot.” His eyes search mine.
“Promise?” I whisper.
“I promise.” He kisses me softly again, and I can almost hear my heart diving, free falling in my chest. This is the first time he has ever verbalised any emotion towards me.
And I needed it. I really needed it now.
“We go away tomorrow,” he breathes against my lips. “And I’ll take you dancing.”
I smirk at his distraction tactics.
“And I’ll buy you cocktails.”
I smile.
“And you’ve got to pay off your trip by giving me lots of amazing head.”
I giggle. “You’re ruining it now.”
He leans into the shower, turns it on, and then he carefully undresses me before I step in under the hot water.
“I’ll make you some tea,” he says, making to walk out of the room.
“Brock?” I call. He turns back to me. “Thank you. Thank you for being nice to Simon. It means a lot.”
His eyes hold mine and he smiles softly. “I can’t think of anything worse than losing you. I feel sorry for the poor bastard.”
I smile sadly, and he walks back, leaning in to kiss me softly. “You ready to meet my crazy family?”
“If they’re half as crazy as you, I already like them.”
An hour later and we are on our way. “Okay, so let me get this straight,” I say to Brock while he drives. “Natasha is your older sister and Bridget is your younger sister?”
He nods. “Uh-huh.”
“And your mother is Victoria.”
“Yes.” He flashes his gorgeous smile at me.
“What?” I smirk.
“You have been listening.”
“And Natasha is married to Jonathan?” I frown.
“Joshua. His name is Joshua Stanton.”
“Right.”
“And Bridget is married to your best friend Ben?”
“Yes. Well, he’s one of my best friends.”
I nod and blow out a nervous breath. “What are Natasha’s kids’ names again?”
“Jordana, Ellie, and Blake.”
I nod and twist my hands in my lap. “Do you think they’ll like me?”
“Maybe,” he answers casually.
I frown as I watch him. “Maybe?” I gasp.
He chuckles. “Will you fucking relax? It doesn’t even matter to me if they don’t like you. I like you.”
I stare at him, unable to stop the grin breaking free on my face.
He rolls his eyes. “Is that all you’re going to talk about now?”
I smile goofily. “Uh-huh.”
“Don’t wear it out, Cock Pocket. That’s a ‘special occasions’ kind of thing for me to say.”
“Yeah, like every day.” I lean over and kiss him as he drives. “We really do need to talk about the names you call me.”
He reaches over and grabs my sex in his hand aggressively and I squirm in my seat to get away from him. “I’ll talk about this hot fuck box all I want.” He grabs my thigh, and I jump and squeal.
“Brock.” I gasp as I try to get away from him. “You’re such an animal.”
His eyes dance with mischief and he grabs me again.
“You’re going to crash the car, you know?” I laugh.
He turns into a street, pulls up outside a house and turns his engine off.
There’s a black Audi SV and another Range Rover in the drive, as well as another black Audi Sedan out the front with four men sitting inside it.
“Who are they?” I ask.
“That’s Stanton’s security team.”
“Why do they have security again?” I frown.
“Joshua is a mega rich app developer. He’s well known. The security is more for Natasha and their kids. It’s how I met Ben, remember? He was Joshua’s private security guard for years before he married Didge.”
I’m lost. “Who’s Didge?”
“Didge is Bridget. That’s her nickname.”
“Oh.” I shake my head. “God, I’m going to mess up these names tonight, I just know it.”
Brock rolls his lips, pausing briefly before he gets out of the car. If I’m not mistaken, he seems nervous, too.
“When was the last time you brought a girl home?” I ask.
He inhales sharply. “That would be never.”
My face falls. “Never?”
“Nope.”
I frown. “Oh. Perfect. No pressure for them to like me then.”
He smirks and gets out of the car. He takes my hand in his, and we walk up the driveway.
“They’re here,” I hear a little girl’s voice call out from inside. She’s obviously been waiting for us at the window. “And she’s pretty, too!” she yells. “She has red hair.”
“Jordana!” I hear a man snap. “Come away from the window.”
Brock smirks and squeezes my hand in his. I squeeze it right back. “I may vomit,” I whisper as we walk up the front steps.
“I’m not cleaning it up. You’re on your own.” He whispers.
“Great.”
The front door opens, and two dark-haired women come into view. They’re smiling broadly, not hiding their excitement.
Brock rolls his eyes. “Will you two stop with that look.” He sighs. “This is Natasha and Bridget,” he says as he kisses them both on the cheek. “And this is…” He pauses and smiles at me with affection. “This is Tully.”
Natasha bounces on the spot, her excitement bubbling over. Bridget grabs me and kisses my cheek. “Oh, it’s so nice to meet you. Come in, come in.”
Natasha kisses me, too, and grabs my hand before she leads me into the house like a prized pig. We walk into the living room, and I find myself gulping.
Fuck!
Double fuck!
The living room has four men in it.
Not four normal men—four stupidly hot men who are happen to be looking at me with baited breath.
I feel the blood drain from my face.
“Tully, this is Adrian.
He’s a dear friend of the family, and he’s also the CEO of Joshua’s company.”
Adrian jumps up from his seat and wraps his arms around me. “We met before, at the bar, remember?”
I nod shyly, and I nervously look over at Brock just as he throws me a sexy wink.
“This is Joshua.”
Joshua stands, smiles and shakes my hand. Oh jeez. “Joshua is my brother-in-law.” Brock says calmly. “And this is Cameron. Joshua and he are brothers.”
Cameron stands to greet me. He has dark hair with a slight curl to it, and his mischievous demeanour is clear to see.
“I’m the good-looking member of the family.” Cameron smiles and shakes my hand. “I’ll probably be your favourite.”
“Oh, God,” Adrian mutters, while Joshua rolls his eyes.
“Watch it.” Brock smirks.
I giggle.
“And you know Ben and these are little Jordy, Ellie, and Blake,” Brock announces proudly.
The children look about six, five, and four, or something like that.
“Hello.” The eldest girl smiles as she takes my hand in hers. “I love your hair.”
“Thank you.” I smile nervously
She turns to Joshua. “Dad, can I dye my hair that colour?”
“Absolutely not,” he replies flatly.
“Why not?”
“Because you’re six.”
Natasha and Bridget chuckle.
“Come over here and let me do your hair,” Adrian says. She immediately runs over and sits on his lap.
Brock looks around. “Where’s Mum?”
“In the kitchen.” Natasha smiles. “She’s a bit emotional today.”
Brock nods and my heart drops. It’s because of his dad not being here. Brock takes my hand and leads me out into the kitchen where his mother is stirring something on the stove. The range hood is cooking up a storm, and I think she may not have heard us arrive.
“Mum?” Brock says softly.
She glances over her shoulder, and her face immediately lights up. “Brock!” She rushes over and kisses him on the cheek. “Hello, my darling.”
“This is Tully, Mum,” he tells her with reverence in his voice as he presents me to her.
She smiles and takes me in her arms. “Oh, hello, dear.” She squeezes me tight. “I’ve been waiting all day for you to arrive.”
And suddenly, I feel emotional, too. It’s obvious how much she loves Brock as she hugs him. She gets teary, and Brock shakes his head. “Will you stop?” He smirks. She whips him with her tea towel, as if they are sharing an old but private joke.
