Furious

by R. L. Mathewson

  “Birthday tradition,” Tristan said, chuckling as he handed Chase a beer.

  Chase accepted the beer as he said, “That explains a lot,” while they watched Sloane climb out of the pool, looking adorably pissed.

  “We each get a turn,” Tristan said, watching Sloane grab a towel from Danny as she walked over to Chase, grumbling the entire way before she plopped down on his lap, instantly soaking him.

  “We are no longer on speaking terms,” she informed him as she stole his beer.

  “That should be easy with me being mute and all,” he said with a teasing smile that had her lips twitching.

  “You would think so,” she said with a pointed wiggle, trying to thoroughly soak him.

  “Looks like it’s my turn!” Tristan said with a heavy sigh as Chase plucked the beer out of her hand and moved out of the way so that her brother could snatch her off his lap before she could make a run for it.

  “Wait! No, it’s too soon!” Sloane gasped as she was thrown over her brother’s shoulder and carried over to the pool where the rest of her brothers waited, looking for a chance to grab her.

  “They look forward to this every year,” an older woman with Sloane’s eyes said as she placed a plate overflowing with food on the table in front of him. “I hope you’re hungry.”

  “This looks great. Thank you,” Chase said, smiling as he dug into the plate filled with all his favorites as they watched Tristan toss Sloane in the pool.

  “My daughter tells me that you enjoy tormenting her,” Sloane’s mother said, sounding amused.

  “I really do,” Chase said, only to groan when he took a bite of potato salad. “This is really good.”

  “Thank you. It’s Sloane’s favorite,” her mother said with a warm smile as the woman in question climbed out of the pool with a mocking glare for her brother that ended with her laughing when he moved to grab her only to growl when she ducked out of his reach and

  “What happened to your face?” came the question that drew Chase’s attention to a little boy who couldn’t be older than six, watching him with a curious look in his eye.

  “Adam!” Sloane’s mother said, sounding horrified as Chase finished his bite of potato salad.

  When he was done, he gestured toward Sloane. “She beat me.”

  Frowning, the little boy followed his gaze and said, “Aunt Sloane?”

  Nodding solemnly, Chase said, “I talked back,” making Sloane’s mother bite back a smile as she struggled not to laugh.

  “I see,” Adam murmured, watching Sloane as she walked over to the table covered with food and helped herself to a cookie as she spoke to her brother, who was just as drenched as she was.

  “You’re evil,” her mother said, sounding amused.

  “Your daughter brings out the best in me,” Chase said with a wink as they watched Adam march up to Sloane.

  With a glare, Adam stole the cookie out of her hand as he snapped, “You don’t deserve a cookie!” before he turned right back around and marched back to their table. “If she does it again, you just tell me and I’ll take care of it,” Adam said with a firm nod as he handed the cookie over to Chase.

  “I will,” Chase said, grinning as he popped the cookie in his mouth, deciding that maybe coming here wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

  A little while later, Sloane plopped down on his lap, tearing a grunt from him as she made a point to get comfortable while she soaked him all over again. “Is there a reason why my nephews are glaring at me?”

  “Because they can sense evil,” Chase said as he wrapped his arms around her.

  “That makes sense,” Sloane said, nodding as she helped herself to the slice of cake that her mother gave him.

  “How many brothers are left?” he asked, stealing a bite of cake.

  “Three,” she said, narrowing her eyes on her brothers, who were all watching her every move.

  “I see,” Chase said, nodding as he took the plate from her and placed it on the table before he pushed away from the table.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, frowning as he kept rolling back.

  “Wishing you a happy birthday,” he murmured as he gave the wheelchair one last shove before wrapping one arm around her and headed toward the pool.

  “What? Oh, my god! No, Chase!” Sloane said, laughing as he wrapped his other arm around her just as his wheelchair tipped over. “Happy birthday, Pookie.”

  *-*-*-*

  “I’m not drunk,” Sloane mumbled sleepily as Chase pulled her onto his lap before she fell on her adorable ass.

  “No, no, of course, you’re not,” Chase said, chuckling when she cracked one eye open to glare up at him as her brother reached past them and opened the front door for him.

  “Do you need help?” Tristan asked as Sloane curled up on Chase’s lap and laid her head against his chest with another mumbled, “I’m not drunk.”

  “No, I’ve got the little drunk,” Chase said since she’d probably be passed out in a matter of minutes.

  “Someone will drop your car off tomorrow morning. Until then, let me know if you have any problems. It was nice meeting you, Chase,” Tristan said, reaching over Sloane to shake his hand.

  “Same here,” Chase said, moving to roll Sloane toward her bedroom.

  “Happy birthday, Sloane!” Tristan said brightly, earning a grumble from the small woman who couldn’t hold her strawberry daiquiris as he placed the rest of her presents inside before closing the front door shut behind him.

  “I really hate him,” Sloane mumbled sleepily.

  “I bet you do,” Chase said, chuckling as he rolled her into her room.

  It took a few minutes, but he eventually managed to get her in bed. That was followed by pulling off her shoes that were probably ruined and her clothes that were still damp from the last birthday wish, Chase noted. After making sure that she wasn’t going to roll off the bed, he pulled the covers over her before rolling into his room to grab one of his shirts for her to sleep in.

  When he came back, Chase found her laying on her side, watching him. “I like your smile.”

  “Do you?” Chase asked absently, wondering how many drinks she’d had tonight.

  “Mmmhmm, it makes you look hotter,” Sloane murmured, nodding solemnly.

  “You think I’m hot?” he asked, chuckling because she was definitely drunk.

  “Very hot,” she said with a firm nod before adding, “I also think you’re an asshole.”

  Chuckling, he asked, “Do you really?”

  “A hot asshole that owes me a birthday present,” Sloane said, watching him as he sat there, trying to figure out how he was going to get the little drunk in his shirt without her falling off the bed.

  “I do, don’t I?” Chase murmured.

  “Yes.”

  “What would you like for your birthday?” he asked, deciding to give up on trying to get a shirt on her and tossed it aside, ready to call it a night when she took him by surprise.

  “I want another kiss.”

  “You want a kiss?” Chase asked, glancing back to find her watching him with an adorable pout.

  Sighing, Sloane said, “I really do.”

  “I think I can handle that,” Chase said, his lips twitching as he moved closer so that he could lean down and kiss her forehead. “Happy birthday, Pookie.”

  When she grumbled, he said, “I thought you wanted a birthday kiss.”

  Eyes narrowing, Sloane said, “That’s not a birthday kiss.”

  “Then what kind of kiss did you want?” Chase absently asked as he reached back and pulled off his shirt and tossed it on top of the wet clothes that he was going to have to grab before they wrecked the floor.

  “I want you to kiss me like you did the other night,” she said, reaching over to cup his face, drawing his attention to find her watching him.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Pookie,” he said even as he found himself moving closer.

  “It’s the only thing I want f
or my birthday,” Sloane said with an adorable pout.

  “Then I guess I don’t have a choice,” Chase murmured because he’d be lying if he said that he hadn’t been thinking about kissing her again.

  “I guess you don’t.”

  Gently caressing her jaw, he slowly brushed his lips against hers and couldn’t help but groan. God, she tasted so fucking sweet, Chase thought as he moved his lips against hers. As he kissed her, he couldn’t help but notice just how different two women could be.

  While Amy had made him work for every kiss from the first to the last, Sloane didn’t play any fucking games to wrap him around her little finger. With Sloane, he wouldn’t have to wonder where he stood with her because she would just fucking tell him what she wanted. It was definitely a quality that he could appreciate in a woman.

  She moved her lips against his, tearing a groan from him that had him wishing that she wasn’t drunk. With one last brush of his lips against hers, he pulled back with a murmured, “Goodnight, Pookie.”

  Chapter 22

  Hope you like your birthday present, brat. Mom made me buy it, came the text message that had Sloane’s lips twitching as she placed her phone on the coffee table and found herself thinking about that incredibly sweet kiss that Chase had given her last night.

  She’d never been kissed like that before and for some reason, that depressed her. She was twenty-nine years old and had nothing to show for it. She was a hermit, a sad, pathetic hermit, Sloane thought with a heartfelt sigh even as she had to admit that she actually loved her life. She loved traveling, loved meeting new people, living in new places, being able to keep things casual, but as she laid there, dealing with the aftereffects of drinking all those strawberry daiquiris that her brothers shoved at her all night long, she couldn’t help but wonder what she’d been missing.

  “What’s wrong, Pookie?” Chase asked as he wheeled himself over to the couch where she was currently curled up, staring at the television and feeling sorry for herself.

  “Nothing,” Sloane said with a heartfelt sigh since that’s all she could manage at the moment.

  “Is this because you woke up cranky this morning?” Chase asked, sounding thoughtful as he set the locks on his chair and moved the armrest out of the way.

  “Yes,” she said, pulling her legs out of the way so that Chase could transition himself to the couch and

  Manhandle her, Sloane thought with a sigh as she found herself pulled onto his lap where she decided that this was just as good a place as any to feel sorry for herself. With that in mind, she wrapped her arms around him as she laid her head against his shoulder and just because it felt like the right thing to do, she released another sigh, wishing the Gatorade and Advil that she had for breakfast would kick in sooner.

  “This is kind of pathetic, Pookie,” Chase said as he wrapped his arms around her.

  “I know,” Sloane mumbled sadly, making him chuckle.

  “Would it help if I offered to take you out to dinner for your birthday?” he asked, taking her by surprise since it was normally like pulling teeth to get him to leave the house.

  “I mean, it wouldn’t hurt,” Sloane mumbled, biting back a sigh of relief that he probably wouldn’t appreciate. When she felt his hands gently rub her back, she found herself closing her eyes and relaxing in his arms, that is, until he spoke again.

  “I just need you to admit that I’m your favorite patient first,” he drawled lazily as he continued rubbing her back, making her lips twitch.

  “Well, I don’t know if I could do that,” she teased, sitting back as she made a show of thinking it over.

  “Really? Because I think you can,” Chase said, running his hands down her back.

  “It just feels wrong to lie,” Sloane said with a pitying shake of her head and a heartfelt sigh that had him narrowing his eyes on her and

  “You bastard!” she gasped when he ran his fingertips down her side, tickling her in the process.

  “What was that, Pookie?” the cruel man asked as he continued his tickling assault while Sloane tried to push his hands away only to realize that the bastard wouldn’t stop.

  So, she did what she had to do.

  “What exactly are you doing, Pookie?” Chase asked, pausing in his tickling assault to throw her a questioning look as she tried her best to tickle him only to realize too late that the bastard wasn’t ticklish.

  “Rethinking my plan,” she said, nodding solemnly.

  “You’re not very good at this,” he said, his lips twitching with amusement.

  “I know,” Sloane admitted, biting back a smile as she reached back and grabbed his hands, bringing them forward as she entwined her fingers with his and pinned his hands against the couch, effectively ending his tickling assault.

  With a sigh and a sad shake of his head, Chase looked from his hands pressed against the couch cushion to her and said, “Really, Pookie? This is really the best that you can do?”

  “You’re kind of cocky for a guy who just lost,” Sloane pointed out with a smug smile as she shifted to get more comfortable on his lap.

  “You think you’ve won?” Chase asked, sounding curious.

  “I know I won,” Sloane said with a satisfied sigh.

  “Is that really what you think?”

  “It’s what I know,” she said, knowing that she’d effectively turned the tables on him.

  “Ah, Pookie,” Chase said, tightening his hold around her hands and making her frown, that is, until he used his hold to move her hands behind her back where he managed to grab hold of both of her wrists in one hand and–

  “You bastard!” Sloane gasped, trying to get away, but it was already too late.

  *-*-*-*

  She couldn’t keep doing this, Melissa thought as she sat there, trying to figure out what she was going to do now. She hated this, hated having to do this to him, hated everything about this and…and…

  God, she missed him.

  Chase was her little brother and her best friend. He was the one that she always went to when something was wrong, she needed someone to talk to, needed a smile, or just wanted to see him. She didn’t want to do this to him, didn’t want to give him another reason to hate her, but she just couldn’t turn her back on him no matter how much he wanted her to.

  She loved him so much, which is why she had to do this, Melissa reminded herself as she released a shaky breath and reluctantly climbed out of the car, preparing herself for the battle ahead. When she hesitated, she reminded herself that Chase had always been there for her.

  He’d held her when their parents died, walked her down the aisle when she got married, was by her side during every pregnancy, and held her hand from the first contraction to the last, and she knew that he would have done whatever it took to help her if their roles were reversed.

  Praying that this didn’t make him hate her more, Melissa forced herself to head to the front door even as she had to wonder how she was going to fix this. When she’d hired Sloane, she’d hoped the threat of putting him in a nursing home would be enough to get him to finally care whether he lived or died, but apparently, it had only bought her enough time before the next time that she was forced to lie to him.

  Melissa couldn’t put him in a home. She just couldn’t do that to her brother, but that didn’t mean that she was going to stop trying to help him. She had no idea how she was going to make him listen, but she was going to try. She needed to figure out what he did to run Sloane off and why she’d told the agency that he wasn’t going to need another aide and Melissa needed to…

  “I hate you!” came the gasped words followed by laughter that had Melissa frowning.

  “Ah, what’s the matter, Pookie?” Chase asked, sounding…happy?

  Curious, she stepped off the walkway and found herself wincing in sympathy when she spotted Chase tickling Sloane, who couldn’t seem to stop laughing long enough to counter-attack through the large living room window. Yeah, this wasn’t going to end well for Sloane,
Melissa thought, unable to help but smile when she saw the grin on her brother’s face as he tormented the woman who was supposed to be taking a leave of absence.

  “Say it, Pookie,” Chase said, laughing when Sloane tried to climb off his lap only to give up when he upped his tickling assault and wrapped her arms around him and held on tight in an attempt to make it harder for him to tickle her.

  Amateur move, Melissa thought with a pitying shake of her head.

  “No!”

  “Say it! Say that I’m your favorite patient,” Chase said, laughing as he ran his fingertips down Sloane’s sides and

  “Fine! You’re my favorite patient. Are you happy now?” Sloane asked, pulling back just far enough so that she could glare at Chase.

  Chase looked like he was thinking it over as he leaned in and kissed Sloane’s forehead before pulling back with a sad shake of his head and a mumbled, “I just don’t feel like you really mean it,” as his hands moved back down her sides and

  “You’re so mean!” came the laughing response that had Melissa walking away, unable to help but smile because it looked like the old Chase was finally starting to make his way back.

  *-*-*-*

  “What the hell are we doing here?”

  “I’m making all your dreams come true,” Sloane said as she dropped down on his lap with a satisfied sigh and gestured for him to roll them toward the large one-level house with the huge driveway and an “Open House” sign staked in the front yard. Knowing better than to argue with the little bully, Chase rolled them toward the house, thankful when the woman that he was assuming was the realtor opened the door for them.

  “Welcome,” the realtor said with a warm smile as she handed them a face-sheet for the house. “My name is Natalie and if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

  “Thank you,” Sloane said, settling back to get more comfortable as she gestured for him to continue.

  Sighing, he rolled them into the large foyer and

  “Oh, my god, this living room is huge,” Sloane said in a reverent whisper, making his lips twitch as he rolled them to the room in question so that the little bully that had decided that they were going house hunting could properly admire the large room with patio doors overlooking a large side yard lined with citrus trees.