“I think maybe I should just go. This is for your brother and his friends.”
“She is just scared to see her dream man,” Summer blurted out, a smirk on her face.
“First of all, you’re not going anywhere, Jurnee. You're my best friend and you're staying to celebrate my brother being back stateside. Second, we are going to have a great night out, all three of us,” Alley stated. The look on her face was her don’t-even-try-to-mess-with-me look, so I knew at that moment, I was not getting out of this.
Can I do this? But Alley was right, we should be here with her because she is ecstatic that her brother is finally back for good. He could have gone anywhere and had so many offers for different jobs, yet he picked coming back to Portland. Neither he nor Alley spoke to their parents any longer, so they were the only family each other had; they meant the world to one another. I was filled with complete joy for them both, knowing that brother and sister would be spending quality time together again made my heart sing.
“You’re right Alley,” I said. “Don’t get smug with me for admitting that either.” Her look was exactly that, smug as hell. Whatever, let’s do this. “Okay girls, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Whoop!” Summer shouted. “Let’s get this party started!”
“Damn right!” Alley yelled.
Now all attention seemed to be on us after their insane hollering. Though it was that one pair of insanely deep green eyes that were trained on me right then, the ones which seemed to be looking straight into the depths of my soul, that had me all gooey inside. I’d never felt like that in my life and it confused the heck out of me. I didn’t have time to analyze it any longer because both my friends grabbed a hand and started dragging me straight toward that piercing gaze that was locked right on mine.
My only thought: Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.
Braxton
I was vaguely aware of the people chattering amongst us, the music thumping loudly through the speakers around the bar, and glasses clinking, as I hung out with my buddies. All of it was a bit faded and distant to me as though the beautiful goddess I was looking at, had me in a trance of some sort.
I knew in my head that this was one of Alley’s best friends, but my brain was not firing on all cylinders as I gazed into her deep, chocolate brown eyes. And lord have mercy, that body of hers. She sure had filled out. Curvy in all the right places, hair a rich brown that looked like it had been spun from silk, and soft curls cascaded down her back that I wanted to run my fingers through. Wait what, these are not the types of thoughts I should be having about my sister’s best friend. But she wasn’t the same girl I remembered from years before and I couldn’t stop the direction of my thoughts even if I tried.
Being stationed overseas during my military days, I hadn’t got home much. When I had, my time was limited. Later when Alley got older, she took trips to come see me instead. So I hadn’t seen Jurnee in years, so in my mind, she was still that young teenage girl she had been when I left.
Holy shit, Jurnee is straight up, all woman now!
With the three of them headed in my direction, all I seemed to manage to do is stand in place, and stare as they approached. My tongue hanging out of my mouth, looking stupid as hell. What is wrong with me? With all the ladies in the bar tonight, not once did I take interest in anyone of the female persuasion. Jurnee was a knockout and was throwing me for a loop between her mix of girl next door, and the sexiest woman alive looks. On top of that, she had always been sweet, so caring, and watched after Alley when I left. And she kept it up all the years I was gone too.
Now though...
After they reached our group, my sister immediately began the introductions. “Braxton, you remember Summer and Jurnee, right?”
“Yeah, hey ladies, how have you both been?” I said, my voice all gravely as I tried to pull my head out of its Jurnee induced fog. My mouth was dry as the Sahara Desert, taking her all in. With her fitted jeans, peach-colored top, cool brown leather jacket, and brown boots, she looked mouthwatering. I could use a sip of this girl right now. I was parched. She may not have been as dressed up as some of the women in the bar, but she looked so much better. If I ever wondered what my type of girl was, I had just figured it out.
Jurnee was it.
Both the girls’ answered and yet my eyes seemed to be glued to Jurnee the whole time. I couldn’t help but notice her cheeks were tinted a soft pink. Huh, that’s weird, it’s like she was embarrassed or something. But why, I had no idea. I mean, she had always been a little shy, but now there is something else going on behind those remarkable eyes of hers.
“Congratulations on the new business, that’s really cool,” Summer said.
“Thank you, I’m really excited and also happy to be home with my little sis.” I grabbed Alley as I said this, pulling her out of the girls hands and toward me. Wrapping my arm around her neck gently, I bent her a little and gave her a noogie for old times’ sake.
Alley squealed and jabbed me in the gut with her elbow. “Ow, you brut, let me go.”
Everyone seemed to laugh along with us and I realized my friends were just standing there, watching the show. I also noticed that Jurnee hadn’t said anything else since when she first walked up and said hi. It was time to introduce the guys and maybe have a chance to talk with her one on one, even though I shouldn’t want that so bad. Having the sinful thoughts racing through my mind at warp speed right then was probably not what should have been happening either, but I don’t think there was any way to put a halt to them. They seemed to have a mind of their own.
“Hey ladies, I want to introduce you to a couple of my friends.” As I introduced everyone, I noticed a few things. Jurnee was extremely quiet, but also very polite. She was intriguing me more and more. I also couldn’t help but notice she kept watching me. Another thing is, when I introduced Summer to my friend Gyth from my old unit, their eyes held a little longer. It was awesome to see that Summer didn’t even seem to blink about him being in a wheelchair. Then, last but not least, and this was not something I was expecting at all, was my sister’s reaction to Summer’s brother, Landon, being here with us. She had known him for ages, and yet something sat behind her eyes I couldn’t read as she watched him. Usually, my little sis is an open book to me, but the story that seemed to be unfolding right in front of me was one I didn’t know and it seemed like the beginning had been written long ago.
I was a little puzzled at what I noticed, but there was only one thing that was going to get my attention. That was getting a certain brown-eyed girl to talk to me, and maybe if I was lucky, even dance with me before the night was over. As the song “Brown Eyed Girl” swirled around in my head, my eyes met hers. Here goes nothing. “Hey Jurnee, how have you been?”
“I’ll be back, I have to pee.”
Did she just say she had to pee? “Umm… what just happened?” I asked my sister as a confused expression drifted over my features
“Duh, big brother, can you be any denser? It’s kinda like a thick fog on a dark night that you can’t see through at all, has taken over your brain at the moment.”
“What?” I asked completely clueless to the weirdness going on.
“Jurnee is shy, and she’s had a crush on you since she was twelve years old. I’m sure she would not like me telling you this, but you need to understand because I don’t want to ever see her hurt and I saw the heat in your eyes when you were looking at her.”
“Wait, she what?” I was completely baffled by my sister’s words. “Since she was twelve?” As flabbergasted as I was at the news, I have to say after the way I felt when Jurnee walked in, this bit of information made me happy. What I was going to do with it, was the big question of the day though wasn’t it?
“Boys can be so clueless,” she said. Then she and Summer exchanged a look, along with a little giggle, obviously enjoying the fact that they had insider information that I didn’t. Just when she was about to say something else...
All hell
broke loose.
Chapter Two
Jurnee
Standing at the sink in the ladies’ room, wanting to bang my head against the mirror, I glared at myself. What in the ever-lovin’ heck had I been thinking? I’ll be back, I have to pee—did I really just blurt that out in front of Braxton? Who did I think I was... the Terminator? Ha, then I had to go and add ‘I have to pee’ and that Terminator badassness went right out the window. I knew I peed a lot, especially when I was extremely nervous, but couldn't I have just said anything else in front of the sexiest man I had ever feasted my eyes on? He might have always been my fantasy, but he was very real, and I was about to spend the evening with him. I would never be able to show myself after today if I spent the whole night hiding in the bathroom, or get to talk to him when it’s what I wanted so badly to do.
It’d been twelve years since I first met Braxton and if I thought he was a dream back then, that didn’t compare to the mouthwatering man he had turned into. That body of his had desire sweeping through me and my pulse skyrocketing. With his broad shoulders, tanned skin, dark hair, and sexy scruff on his face, along with his kissable lips and those piercing green bedroom eyes that seemed to see right through me, I didn’t stand a chance of hiding my emotions.
It’s no wonder I was hiding in the bathroom, the man’s perfection scared the bejesus out of me. Taking off my jacket because it was hot as heck—or maybe that is just Braxton’s effect on me—I laid my coat on the counter and took another long look in the mirror as my thoughts returned to what that man did to me.
He appealed to me on every level inside and out. Not only because of his looks but because I knew what a great guy he was. The fact that he was also sex on a stick was just icing on the cake. As I said before, he was so out of my league. Yet, with every fiber of my being, I wanted to get to know the man he’d become.
A guy like Braxton probably had some beautiful model girlfriend and would think I was crazy if I even really tried. I mean, of course, he would’ve been nice, that’s just who Braxton was. But did I honestly think in a million years he would ever look at me like something other than his sister’s, shy, geeky, little friend?
Umm, that was a big fat no!
Honestly, I didn’t really get close to men or too many people in general. Scared to death that my cancer would come back, I didn’t want to take the chance of someone leaving me again because I was sick, or too much trouble. Just like my birth mother did. I’m not sure I could take being discarded as though I meant nothing, a second time around, from someone I thought was supposed to love me. The fear of that kept me always holding back.
Yet I yearned to have a family of my own. The husband, children, dog, and the whole white picket fence dream, was always recurring. I just wasn’t sure it was something I could allow. Even if I met someone who wanted all that and stood by me if cancer reared its ugly head again, would it be fair to them? What would happen when I couldn’t care for them or left them too soon? Then on top of that, there was the fact that after the cancer treatments, there was a good chance I wouldn’t be able to have children of my own. Who’d want to be with me knowing that? It hadn’t mattered that much, because there’d been nobody that I’d met who’d made me question all these things I feared.
A little voice in the back of my head whispered, “Until tonight.”
Suddenly, I was pulled from my thoughts by loud popping noises and screaming coming from the bar, as a new sensation flooded my veins. Fear. And still, without thinking, I yanked open the bathroom door, with only the thought of finding my closest friends, and ran in their direction.
Hauling ass down the hallway from the ladies’ room, I slowed my steps and peeked around the corner. My body completely froze. What I saw may haunt me forever. People were ducking under tables and laying on the floor. Some were screaming or crying, and others were just silent from pure terror. That’s when I noticed Summer and Alley were right there in the middle of it all. My eyes focused on the man standing by the bar, gun in hand, eyes crazed and spittle flying from his mouth as he let loose a string of sentences that were only half intelligible. It was clear even from a distance that he was on something, what I didn’t know, but there was nothing rational about his behavior.
The man was just a few feet from where my best friends were huddled, and the thought of losing them had my heart in my throat.
My eyes zeroed in on Braxton who was down next to the girls shielding them; it looked as though he was saying something to the guy with the gun. I’m not sure the man heard him at all, because all his attention seemed to be focused on another guy and a lady sitting just beside him on the dark wooden floor. The woman on the ground was holding something against the man’s side that was next to her, and that’s when I noticed the blood soaking through the cloth.
Oh no, no, no...
Remembering my phone was in my pocket, I moved away from the corner and backed down the hall a little way so I couldn’t be overheard. Dialing 911, I started reciting everything I knew in a stage whisper and prayed that help would get here in time and everyone would be okay. The 911 operator told me to stay on the phone. She said that someone from outside called it in already and the police were on the way, but since I was on the inside maybe I could help. I wasn’t sure how much help I could be when I was scared out of my freaking mind and the man was armed. There’d been so many shootings around the world lately where innocent people had lost their lives. I prayed that wasn’t the case tonight.
All I could think about was that Braxton and his buddy were probably good guys to have around right now, and hopefully could help defuse the situation before it got any worse, or anyone else got hurt.
I heard the 911 lady through the phone. “Jurnee, are you still there?” I didn’t even remember giving her my name, but somehow she knew it. I must have really been losing it.
“Yes, I am still here.”
“What’s going on now, are you able to translate anything that’s being said?”
“Hold on.” I crept back toward the corner that rounded into the bar. I peeked around the wall again to see the man pointing the gun at the guy that had been shot, and the girl next to him was holding onto him as she pleaded with the guy, who was obviously upset with this specific couple. I relayed what I could and then I saw movement and my body went stone cold.
Please please please, are the only words that played over and over through my head. Just as I was trying to explain to the lady on the phone what was going on, I saw Braxton stand to his full height, which was damn impressive. He held his hands up in a peaceful gesture and I could tell he was talking, but I couldn’t fully hear what was being said.
As he was doing this, I saw Landon scooch over a little to cover the girls and Gyth moved his wheelchair so he was shielding all three of them, placing himself in front of where they were laying. This had the guy spinning in their direction and waving the gun around as he shouted. His voice got louder and this time I could hear exactly what was being said. Terror took hold of every cell in my body.
Talking a bit louder than I should’ve, I frantically told the 911 operator that the man had his gun pointed toward my friends, waving it around, and had threatened to shoot one of them if Braxton didn’t get back down on the floor. He was trying to de-escalate a situation that seemed to be spiraling out of control fast; by placing himself right in the line of fire. The gun then steadied and was pointed right at Braxton’s chest.
“Noooooo!”
Everything that happened next felt like it was going in slow motion but really took place in just a matter of seconds. The man holding the gun whirled around, the phone fell from my hand with a thump to the floor and my feet were moving before my mind was really thinking straight. I ran out from around the wall, toward Braxton and my friends.
I saw Braxton fly through the air to tackle the guy and my eyes went wide just as the gun went off.
I hit the ground and everything went black.
Chapter Three
Braxton
All hell breaking loose was an understatement.
One minute I was laughing and teasing my little sister like we were kids again, next a gunshot rang out over all the noise in the bar and everyone went into panic mode. People were running over one another, women were screeching, men were yelling and I looked over from my spot on the floor where I dropped, to see someone had been shot. With a hundred or more people stampeding out the front door like a herd of animals running with a predator on their asses, I would think at least one of them would have called the police.
Instinct kicked in when I heard the gun go off. I hit the floor and grabbed my sister and Summer on the way down, shielding them with my body. Landon was right next to us, but Gyth assumed his position in his chair. The guy was one big badass motherfucker and I doubted he would throw himself out of his wheels for anyone, let alone some weasel high as a kite. It was obvious the guy with the gun had some serious drugs pumping through his veins.
Even with everything going on I was thinking about Jurnee and praying she would stay in the bathroom where she might be safe. I didn’t want anything to happen to her, my sister, or Summer, and right then I was trying to protect the two girls I was basically laying on top of. Squishing them may have been an issue, but it was a hell of a lot better than the alternative.
It was obvious the shooter was getting more and more agitated and he had already shot another man. The guy was trying to hold his side but was bleeding rather profusely as the woman with him cried uncontrollably. Slurred yelling continued to come from the gunman, making it hard to understand, but I was still aware of the threat he posed. Someone needed to take the attention off the couple, so others could take him down.
Entwined Souls (Soul Sister Book 1) Page 2
