I have tears rolling down my face. For so long, Dustin was the one we focused on and babied. He is a bit spoiled but super sensitive with a heart of gold. With this new treatment he is undergoing it has allowed him more freedom than he has ever had. I don’t think he has figured out where the boundary lines are.
I turn to Cambree, and she is quiet. “C, are you okay?”
She starts crying as she goes over to Dustin and hugs him. “Dustin, you are my brother. The one I protect. I am getting different friends, but so are you. It is what we are supposed to do. I get that it sucks, but sometimes life is just that. Sucky. I am telling you there will never be a girl good enough for you. I am going to break it down for you, little brother. The only way you will ever have a girlfriend is if it is true love, because that is the only way she will be able to put up with me. I will make her life hell.”
While I try not to grin at that, because those are my thoughts exactly. I tap Cambree, “That isn’t 100% fair. You need to think about how he is going to be when you start dating. Let’s start with some give and take. Starting tomorrow we all get up and go to the gym, and while I work with Cambree on stunting, Dustin, you can be there for support. After, we will take the quads out, and, Cambree, you can watch us.”
They both nod and agree with me. Thank you, Jesus! I made some progress here. Please applaud my stellar performance of totally bullshitting my way through this crap. I have no clue what I am doing.
These are the moments I miss my grandparents the most. I could use my granddad’s no-nonsense one-liners, or my grandmother’s comforting words of wisdom. I say a silent prayer that they are watching over us and helping us along the way. I really thought Addy and I would be okay at this. We had the best examples of love and parenting in them. I just don’t know. I don’t want to screw up their lives, but there is no way I can send them to my parents. They see them two or three times a year, and that is more than enough. I don’t go on these family reunions, and it scares me that I can’t protect them when I am not there. I know I can’t protect them if I am in prison, and that is where I would end up if I were in the room with my parents.
I look down at my siblings, and they are laughing and eating chips off the floor. Gross. The ten-second rule doesn’t apply because it has been like thirty minutes. I see so much of Addy and me in Cambree. She has my “take no prisoner” attitude, but I don’t show my emotions like Addy does. Cambree definitely has a flair for dramatics. As much as she hates it, she wears her heart on her sleeve. I think that frustrates her more than anything. It isn’t that I don’t have emotions; it is just that I have learned not to show them. They don’t help anything. If people know they can hurt you they will continue doing it. Dustin is confusing me right now. I know he is growing up. I know nothing of boy hormones. I don’t want him to get lost in the shuffle. I know the guys at the gym love him and would step in if I asked, but I want to be everything for him. Maybe I can talk to Tyler and figure out how to handle it, because no matter what, I want them to always feel they are enough.
Chapter 11
Colby
As much as I was looking forward to seeing Brielle shake that sexy ass of hers, I am relieved that my cock got a reprieve. I have been hard since I walked in the door a few hours ago, and I don’t see any relief in my near future. It isn’t just her looks. It is in the way she carries herself and the passion she has in her eyes for her family and friends. Why doesn’t she see what everyone else around her does? She is beautiful, and there is something so pure about her regardless of her mouth and attitude. Truth be told, that turns me on so much more because she is real. I have to get my thoughts away from her for the night. Tyler and I are putting out the fire and getting things cleaned up. I have a feeling that whatever is going on in that house will keep her busy for a little while, and I don’t want her to worry about the cleanup. Addy has talked me in to working at some gym, and I have an early morning tomorrow. Maybe seeing some hot girls in little clothing will get my mind off Brielle. Even though I don’t want to think of anyone else, and I want her to feel this connection, too. Just when I think she does she puts on her mask and throws a smart comment. I know that is her way of trying to hide what she wants and feels. I swear, my dad never told me women were this damn confusing. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours, and I am in knots, both my mind and body over this girl. All he said to me about girls was, “Son, women make the world go ‘round, but the world doesn’t revolve around them. It revolves because of them. When you find the right one, she will bring you happiness, peace, laughter, sorrow, anger, but most of all she will bring you to your knees every damn day with a simple glance or touch. Until you find the right one, make sure you wrap it tight. Don’t ever lie to a woman because they don’t forget.” Where is the part addressing the confusing, tying me up in knots, and utter bemusement? I am going to have to ask him about that. It seems he left out quite a few chapters in the lessons of dating and love.
Tyler and I worked quickly and quietly to get the cleanup done. I notice him quieter than normal as we head to our cars. “Tyler, what’s going on in that head of yours?”
He just shakes his head “I just feel like the other shoe is going to drop. First, finding out Trey put his hands on Brielle, and nobody knew. We were all friends with that dick. Next, the way Cambree and Dustin are going at it. Brielle is back and trying to lighten the load for Addy. I am thankful for that, but Addy and I just don’t seem to connect like we used to. I am wondering how to help her.”
I was shocked at his confession. Addy and Tyler were solid. I didn’t see the disconnection. I am not in their relationship, so maybe there is some truth to it. I just grab his shoulder. “Ty, do you love Addy?”
He replies, not hesitating at all. “With all that I am.”
“Then tell her and show her every day, and everything will be fine. I really think you guys are solid.”
He just looks at me and smiles, but I notice it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Thanks. I am going to take off. Addy is taking the night off, and she said tomorrow afternoon they are all going riding on the quads. You up for that?”
“I think that will be fine. I start therapy at the gym tomorrow, but Addy said since it was Saturday and it wasn’t competition season I should be out by eleven. I will just grab lunch and then head over when I am done.”
“Sounds good, Colby.” Tyler hops up in his truck and leaves.
I turn to walk towards my truck and catch sight of Brielle through the window. She is sitting on the couch with her head in her hands, and I can see her shoulders shaking, like she is crying. Every instinct I have tells me to go to her and hold her; I just want to be there for her. It almost like she feels me staring at her she looks up at me through the window. She wipes her face to erase the tears running down her cheeks and waves at me before she gets up and turns out the light.
What is this girl being ripped apart over? Do I really want to get mixed up in the drama that comes with her? Sure, I love Addy like a sister and Dustin has grown on me; I don’t really know Cambree that well, but Brielle speaks to me on a whole other level than I have ever experienced. Even when she is trying to shut me out. Shaking my head, trying to clear it for the millionth time today, I finish the walk to my truck and head home.
Chapter 12
Brielle
When I looked up and saw him through the window I could feel the force pulling me to him. It literally felt like it was pulling us towards each other. I couldn’t let him see me crying again. I am not that weak girl. I saw him take a step towards me, and I made a split-second decision to wave good night and turn out the lights. All I wanted was for him to come to me and hold me, prove to me that I was enough. I would not do that to Colby. He is beautiful, inside and out. I can feel it radiating through him. I don’t need to drag him into this life of mine. I love it with all its craziness and messiness, but the knowledge that someday I would let him down keeps me from letting him come to me.
I take the stairs one at a
time, and each step away from him hurts more and more. I have to stop these feelings. After only one kiss I am ready to abandon my carefully constructed walls and let him hold me, comfort me, and possibly love me. I don’t know how. As I get ready for bed and think about what tomorrow will bring, I smile to myself. Tomorrow I will work with Cambree at the gym, and then beat Dustin on the quads. I am going to start blending myself back in to my family, and maybe, just maybe help me mend myself.
Almost by coincidence my phone rings and it plays Cooper’s ring tone, “Me and My Gang” by Rascal Flatts. How did he know I needed him? We are like that; I swear he is my brother from another mother . . . or however the saying goes.
I answer my phone. “Hiya, Hot Stuff.”
He responds with our usual, “What’s cooking good looking?”
We both crack up. Cooper Reed is my savior. I love him something fierce. He saved me and is my best friend. Our parents use to swear we were going to get married one day. They would ooh and ahh over us; they pretty much had our future planned. My granddad always said we wouldn’t get married, that we were best friends and kindred souls, but no romance. He was right. He always said when I found the man I was going to love I would know it. My grandmother told us that there was one perfect person out there for us. It was like finding a missing piece of a puzzle. She swore when you found it, your heart would be whole. I always believed my grandmother had some magic powers or crystal ball, and knew whatever she told me would come true. That tidbit of wisdom I doubt because if you can’t be whole on your own how can you expect someone to make you whole. Damn fairytales again. No wonder girls have an odd sense of marriage and family nowadays. You put them in front of all these fantasies and tell them their “Prince Charming” will sweep them off their feet, when in reality they better learn to pick up the pieces of their life themselves. Addy and Cooper call me cynical . . . I call them delusional.
Cooper breaks into my thoughts. “I was just wondering what was going through that pea-sized brain of yours and decided to call.” I laugh at his comment.
“If any of us have a pea-sized appendage, we both know who that is. I swear Melanie will never get any satisfaction without a BOB,” I throw back at him.
Melanie is his fiancé and cheered with me at UT. I introduced her and Cooper almost a year ago. Cooper and I decided to go to college together, and he went for the two years before me. I joined him last year. He graduated with me last night, and so did Melanie. She is staying and getting her post-graduate degree in psychology. She will need a damn PhD to deal with Cooper and his sick and twisted ways, but they complete each other.
“Who is BOB? You know Melanie tells me at least three times a day how satisfied she is,” Cooper snarks to me.
“BOB would be a battery-operated boyfriend. Aren’t we are a bit full of ourselves, Mr. Reed? Just because you put a ring on it doesn’t mean she will walk down the aisle. She could pawn the ring for tuition, that shit ain’t cheap,” I quip back at him.
He just laughs at me. He and Melanie are perfect together, and I have no doubts they will last. She is understanding of our connection not many of his hoochies before could deal with our friendship.
“I was calling to let you know I finish up OCS in November, and I think I will be stationed at Fort Bragg.” Cooper signed up for the Army before graduation. I am so proud of him, but I never want anything to happen to him either. This has always been his dream. He left school after graduation last night to drive down to Pensacola to start Officer Candidate School. Melanie is thrilled for him, and I am happy to see his dreams come true. He is such a bossy-ass, so he will be perfect for the Army.
“Cooper, that is great. I want to come to your graduation.”
“I know, B. You have always been there for me. Have you given any thought to opening up to Addy about what happened with your parents? She sent me a text earlier.” Of course she did, Nosy Nellie can’t drop anything.
“Drop it. I won’t ruin her relationship with our parents. End of discussion. It is over, and things can’t be changed. She and Tyler are happy. Cambree and Dustin are being a handful right now, and there isn’t room for my issues in the Parker household,” I tell him hoping he will drop it, but Cooper never drops it.
“Brielle Marie Parker, you listen to me. Hear me please, baby girl. I love you, your family loves you, someday when you are ready a man will come into your life and love you with all he has, too. You deserve it. I am tired of hearing you are not enough. You are more than enough for any one person to handle or for any one person to deserve. You are giving, beautiful, smart, and passionate about everything you do. Please stop feeling like you are not enough, I hurt every time you say it, and Melanie might start using her psychobabble crap on you if you don’t stop.”
I just sigh. “Coop, I want to be better. I really do. I just don’t know how. Maybe I can figure me out while I am home and happy again.”
“B, you have always been yourself. There is no figuring you out. You just have to drop the past. Nothing can change it, and I am so sorry I failed you that night. I need for you to be better and let it go.”
“Cooper Andrew Reed, you did not fail me. You saved me. When my own parents didn’t help me, you called the one person you knew would help me. When we moved away you still came every summer, and have been my best friend. You have never let me down. You never could. Stop blaming yourself for someone else’s twisted actions, and don’t beat yourself up over my issues.”
Cooper beating himself up for Brent’s actions devastates me. Oh God, when he finds out about what happened tonight with the Trey fight, he will be on him like white on rice. I have no doubt Coop will find out. Shit! Shit! Shit! I will just postpone telling him and figure out how to bring it up later. Coop needs to move on from my crap and enjoy his training.
“K Brielle, take your own advice, and quit letting some sick person’s actions change how you feel about yourself. I gotta go, baby girl. Tell all the kids I will talk to them Sunday.” He blows me a kiss as he hangs up.
I sigh and stretch out in bed. I have to get some sleep. I am not much of a sleeper, but tomorrow is going to be crazy busy, and my body needs the rest. I haven’t stunted at the gym in a year, and wonder how shaky I will be. Since breaking my ankle I haven’t been able to work out much without pain, but that is all part of the sport. You know what they say ‘no pain no gain.’ Blah, blah, blah. I plug my ear buds in to my iPod and hit shuffle, try to get comfortable and drift off to sleep. My last thought is of Colby and how his kiss gave me butterflies. I wonder if I will see him again. That makes me feel like elephants are trampling on my stomach.
Chapter 13
Brielle
After stopping at the restaurant for breakfast and catching up with the townspeople that were there, we finally pull into the gym. All the Parker siblings are together for the day, finally. As I walk in I see Randy, my old stunt partner, training some other guys. I run up and jump in his arms.
He chuckles at me. “See I told you one day I would sweep you off your feet.”
I just laugh. “You wish Super Stud”
He places me on my feet. “What brings you in today?”
“I am home for good. Cambree and I are going to work on some of her stunts this morning. Who you got for me to work with?”
“Damn, I wish I could, but we have a new PT starting today. I need to be available for him.”
“No problem.”
Some guy he was working with stands up. “I am Roger. I am trying out for the level six squad. I have heard about the awesome Brielle and would be honored to throw some stunts with you.”
I look at Randy with questions in my eyes; he knows I am particular about who I stunt with.
Randy says, “I don’t know, man. Brielle is hard core, and you still have a long way to go.”
About that time Cambree stomps up. “Anytime B, this isn’t a freaking gossip work out. I want you to show me some new stunts to work on.” I just go with it.
I
tell Roger, “Let’s go. You work with me first before I let you anywhere near my sister.” He just nods at me and follows me to the floor like a damn puppy. I start warming up with Cambree and ask her, “What are you wanting to do?”
She shrugs “I have my basic stunts, but I want to see some level five and six stuff you do, so I can see if I am ready to try it.”
“Okay, let me do a few basics with him and then see what he has.”
I make my way to Roger. “Ready hot shot?” We throw a few basic stunts and then I ask him if he is ready for more difficulty, and he assures me he is . . . Big mistake not listening to Randy.
After many failed attempts on the round-off rewind stretch stunt, we finally hit it. Basically I am doing a round-off to a back flip, and he is supposed to catch my foot. Then I do a heel stretch. Once we finally do a few, I ask Cambree, “You want to try?”
“Not right now. Do something else.” For some reason, I don’t know why, she likes to watch me stunt. My ankle is getting sore, I want to stop but I want to make Cambree happy more.
I ask Roger, “You know what a liberty switch heel stretch is?”
He answers, “Yeah. Want to do it?” Before we start he never asks me which leg for heel stretch. I am nervous.
I ask “Rog, don’t you think you need to know what side I stretch, too?”
“Well, I have always done liberty’s with the left leg.”
So here we go. On the count of three we start the stunt “You want me to count the switch up or will you?”
“Whatever.”
“On two you dip and on three you toss and release.”
Parker Sibling Series Box Set Page 5
