by A. Marie
I narrow my eyes on Angie but it’s Marc that answers, saying, “I invited them.”
“You did?”
Everyone turns to Paige who’s looking at Marc in complete awe. Um, excuse me, but I brought this chick to orgasm at least twice today. Twice. And right now she’s looking at Marc like the dude holds the goddamn moon or something.
Without warning, she throws herself into his arms and hugs him tight with the gloomy as fuck foursome waiting just behind her.
The muscular one jerks his chin at Marc over Paige’s head and they tap knuckles.
And what in the unholy fuck is happening right now?
The one holding the gift glares at me and nods at the shortest one in the bunch making him turn his unfriendly stare on me, too.
I return both of their scowls with one of my own though. Fuck him. Fuck them all.
I take my eyes off her for two minutes and the vultures descend.
The fourth seems somewhat aloof and keeps checking his phone every few seconds between his gauging glances at Paige.
I stand a little taller which isn’t hard since none of these assholes come close to my stature.
Paige finally releases Marc with a thank you then disappears into her newfound guy squad. Seriously?
My face is hot and I want to punch something. Or someone.
Make that multiple someones.
“Dude, chill.”
“Fuck you,” I spit back at Marc before checking around the group. Coty’s watching the man-sandwich happening in his front lawn while Angie’s eyes are leaking something that looks a hell of a lot like tears. The fuck?
“Am I missing something? Why would you invite them?” I jerk my thumb at the boyband littering the yard, taking turns fawning over Paige and her sliced up forehead, which is healing up nicely thanks to me—fuck you very much. NBD.
My back teeth grind together until I’m positive I’ll be spitting dust when I leave.
“He doesn’t know?” Angie asks Marc as if I’m not standing right here.
I almost yell. “What? What else don’t I know?” You know, aside from the fact my life is being planned out without my fucking knowledge.
“Does anything look familiar about them?”
Familiar? Meaning we know these fuckers?
Facing Paige and her fans, I see that the tallest one with a beard and a little too long on top hair—the one I saw at Creekwood with her—has similar coloring in his eyes, almost like Paige’s but lighter. The difference between the dark hair and the light eyes is so significant he should be a model, but he’s got the same sadness about him Paige does.
Muscles has the group in stitches already and while his head is thrown back in a deep laugh of his own I notice it sounds vaguely familiar as well. Kind of like the laugh I had the pleasure of listening to for the last two days, yet different somehow, more masculine. He watches their little crew with wary eyes, waiting for his next joke to land but in an almost nervous way, like they mean more than even he realizes. Like his comic relief alone can make or break the entire group. He’s lean but built and has a dirty air to him, not like a slob, but like his work is long and harsh. Some of our technicians at Pop The Hood have the same way about them.
Didn’t Paige say she spent time in the garage with her brother? And isn’t this guy who I saw her with at the pool once?
The one glued to his phone is dressed like he just came from work. His clean-cut look is different from the rest as he’s cloaked in black dress pants with a long sleeve dress shirt even though it’s almost a hundred degrees out here. Oh and also, he has a nose almost identical to Paige’s. He seems like his mind wants to be here but it just isn’t. He smiles every now and then when Paige focuses on him, otherwise he’s back on his phone, typing away.
Paige frowns each time she catches him looking at the device and my fingers itch to rip the fucking thing out of his hands.
The shortest one has lips I’d recognize anywhere. It’s almost disconcerting looking at the lips I’ve been dreaming about for weeks attached to a dude but there they are—Paige’s mouth but in male form. He’s lighting a cigarette with a tilt of those lips in Paige’s direction. She says something to him making him bark out a laugh that dies out as she snatches the nicotine stick straight from his mouth. He shoves her shoulder a little too hard to be friendly and my fists clench before she pushes him right back, making him stumble a few steps much to the others’ enjoyment. He’s a cocky little shit and Paige putting him in his place doesn’t sit well with him but it sure as fuck does with me.
Now that I’m really searching, all of them have the same thick ass chocolate colored hair. The only real distinction being Paige’s with her merlot streaks mixed in which make her stand out amongst the pack of lookalikes.
“Are they related?” But that doesn’t make sense. I thought she was with at least one of them before…or something.
“Those are her brothers, jackass. They surprised her today thanks to Marc.”
“Brothers? Fuck.” I adjust my hat, facing it forward. “Whenever she mentioned her brother, I thought she was talking about one. I had no idea she had four!” I crush my empty beer can and toss it in the pop-up bin a few feet away.
This whole time I assumed the worst about Paige and never gave her the chance to set the record straight. Not asking Paige about her life but expecting her to share details like her siblings was shitty. One more shitty thing I’ve done in a long list of shitty things Paige has experienced due to my stubbornness. I bullied my way past her defenses without stopping to see why they were there to begin with.
Goddamn it. I fucked up. I’ve fucked up a lot in my life but this time feels monumental. Like I need to fix it. Now.
Without another word, I trail after Paige’s family to introduce myself with mine at my sides. I didn’t know if they’d follow me but I’m glad they did. Even in my mistakes they’re willing to stand by me.
I look each of her brothers in the eye as I shake their hands. I may have pleasured the ever-loving shit out of their sister today but I’m still not a bitch.
They return the favor of holding their ground which I respect now that I know they’re not trying to get in Paige’s pants and all goes relatively well until the youngest one, Nick, steps up with his unbuttoned shirt and fuck all attitude trying to intimidate me. It does about the same as a Chihuahua barking up an evergreen tree. Dude could never be on my level so I ignore his bullshit to focus on Paige. She’s been smiling politely during introductions but is now refusing to meet my eye which pisses me off to no end.
Is she upset the cat’s out of the bag? Well, too damn bad. Beside the fact that I may or may not be crushing on the girl, she’s still our roommate and I think we need to know who she is.
A little voice in the back of my mind whispers that she deserves the same respect but I silence that shit real quick. Nobody needs that kind of negativity.
We all make our way over to a long table Coty brought from the garage and I follow Paige as she grabs a plate for food. She’s got a bounce in her step that wasn’t there when we arrived and my chest constricts knowing Marc had a hand in the reason for her sudden happiness.
I open my mouth a few times to speak to her without knowing what to say before just closing it altogether. Now isn’t the time to rain on her parade even if I wish I was the Grand Marshal of the fucking thing.
After loading up a plate with the first actual food I’ve eaten all day—I don’t care, Paige still tastes better than anything Angie ordered—I join the table Paige’s family and mine are both occupying. Oddly, the mishmash works and conversation flows effortlessly with Paige’s middle sibling, Tysen, leading the group with some amusing story he’s retelling.
While everyone’s eyes are on the newest entertainer, mine rest solely on Paige. She listens to her brother with both admiration and what looks like concern. The worry etched on her face only increases as her gaze touches on each of her other brothers.
Nick, sensing her, l
ooks up, meeting her eyes and they have a silent conversation right here in the middle of a boisterous barbecue without even uttering a single word. A better man would give them some privacy. I, however, watch on with a desperate fascination. What’s plaguing them? If they’re even half as strong as Paige appears to be, then they’re better off banding together as a unit rather than bearing the burden alone like single children like myself are often forced to do.
My answer comes at the end of Tysen’s long winded story—I’m not gonna lie, I have no idea what the dude was talking about and I should probably give him some pointers after all this—when Nick breaks the staring contest to ask Paige about their mom. My ears, along with everyone else’s at the table, perk up. She’s never spoken about her parents before and I’m wondering why the fuck he’d be asking Paige. Wouldn’t he know as much as her about their mother?
Paige’s eyes drop to her lap as her hand reaches up tentatively touching her dry scratches.
Damn it. I need to treat those again soon.
Putting that on the back burner for now, my eyes eat up every detail as Paige fidgets in her seat. She’s still breathtakingly beautiful in all her badassery which somehow makes this even harder to watch.
I glance up to Marc with a furrowed brow. He just shrugs a shoulder, looking around the table as I follow suit.
“You’d know if you bothered showing up,” Paige says before meeting her brother’s stare dead-on, all the good feelings from a moment ago now gone. “If you checked in on her, on me, you’d know, wouldn’t you?”
Her eyes meet mine briefly before shifting to Tysen.
“And what the hell is your excuse? You were the one that visited her the most out of all of us, and now? Nothing?”
Dude looks ashamed but just shakes his head in silence.
“Caleb,” she starts, then pauses, sighing, “you’re too easy. You know exactly what choice you’re making and you’re going to regret it when she finally leaves us.”
When he doesn’t respond, she turns her attention to the oldest brother seated at the head of the table but he won’t even meet her eyes, choosing to keep his head angled toward his plate instead. “She needs you, you know that? I need you.” Paige’s voice cracks at the end, making every bone in my body ache.
The plastic chair I’m sitting on creaks from the pressure of my hands tightening on the legs. My body is draped across the seat taking in the scene as if I’m an oblivious bystander but this shit’s eating me up. The girl is breaking right here in front of all of us and there’s nothing I can do about it. I have half a mind to shield her with everything I got but Jesse, her oldest brother, finally speaks up, startling the table.
“She doesn’t even know me anymore.” Face still aimed at his untouched food, his voice comes out as a pained murmur but with both families in utter silence we all hear him loud and clear. Jesse lifts his head, finding his sister’s glare aimed directly at him—no holds barred whatsoever. “She doesn’t know any of us and she never fucking will again. How we choose to deal with that is our business. We can’t all walk around pretending to be a sympathetic nurse in our mother’s life, now can we?”
My eyebrows shoot to my flat bill. One: I don’t appreciate dude’s scathing tone nor does Paige judging by her narrowed-to-slits eyes. Two: what, and I cannot stress this enough, the fuck?
Risking a quick glance around the table, I see a mix of reactions. Jesse is staring daggers back at Paige, which upon further consideration I might have to talk to him about because that shit just won’t fly with me. Worker bee Caleb has a perma-scowl that I’m guessing is directed more at himself than anyone. Nick still looks like a little shit with a mug that I wouldn’t mind slapping a time or two, while Tysen actually looks like he might be physically ill from the family conflict. He’s got guilt for days and it’s obvious he’s not handling it well. None of them are, including Paige who stands so suddenly her drink goes flying across the table and into Angela’s lap.
Without so much as flinching, Angie rights it in the next instant like it never even happened. It’ll take a lot more than water to rattle her, girl works with it for a living after all, and I know this scene is nothing new to her either. Family drama runs deep with that one. She still looks a half second away from slapping a few faces herself though. Angela’s all about women empowerment and anyone talking harshly to a female in her presence will face quite the wrath. I’ve been on the receiving end more than once and it sucks. Big time.
“Fuck you, Jesse. I did what I had to. I did what nobody else sitting here would even think of. I worked, no fuck that, I work my ass off to pay for all of Mom’s bills. I gave up my own apartment that I loved more than you could ever know to live with two complete strangers which, if I’m being honest, is only a step above living with you domineering assholes.”
Marc’s scowl across the table meets mine as we listen on, both of us biting our tongues. What did I do?
“All so I could save more money to afford a better facility for Mom. I bought a piece of shit, as you called it,” she sneers at Jesse, “used bike instead of a new one like I’d been saving for. I don’t even buy new clothes because every dollar I spend on myself is a dollar that could make Mom’s life a little bit more comfortable in her new warped reality.”
She takes a deep breath like this next part might hurt.
“I eat fucking salads now. Since when have I ever liked going without meat? Huh? Since it was too fucking expensive, that’s when.”
The youngest brother, Nick, pushes to his feet and points across the table at her, shouting, “I knew it!” His gaze falls on their leader. “I told you something was wrong when she tried to feed you that salad. If there’s one thing the Christensens don’t do, it’s eat that disgusting shit.” Dude even shakes like a shiver is eating his spine one vertebrae at a time.
Look, I get it, going meatless is beyond comprehension, but read the fucking room. It’s obvious Paige is unhappy about the sacrifice.
“Shut up, Nicky,” she sighs like she’s exhausted.
“You decide, on your own, to move Mom out of a place that we chose and then you want to complain to us about it? Because you can’t afford the occasional steak anymore? Really? The way I hear it, you’ve been drinking plenty of calories to get you by.” All eyes bounce between him and Paige like we’re at a tennis match. “Yeah, Dixon called to let me know about everything you’ve been up to at Xen’s.”
Xen’s is that bar I dropped her off at. With that fuckface that she hugged like a lifeline. With the way I’d treated her plus all of this family drama, maybe in that moment he was. Shit.
“Funny how you’ll answer his calls but not your own sister’s.”
You can tell that betrayal cuts deeper than Jesse’s accusation. Which, what exactly is he accusing? That she spends too much on alcohol or that she’s plain drinking too much? I don’t think any of that is really his business, especially if he’s not actively involved in her life, but I haven’t noticed an issue on either front. The girl strolled home drunk a few times, yeah, but I was there to make sure she didn’t do anything stupid and I’m the best voice of reason there is. I can vouch for what not to do like a champ.
“If you were truly worried, where have you been? You’ve seen where I live. You have my number. What’s stopping you from doing anything about it? You want me to know you’re pissed? You want to show me you’re disappointed? Message received. I got it. Okay?”
Her near hysterical voice has other partygoers tuning into the show and I stand to reach for her elbow in what…I’m not sure. Support? Strength? Hell, I’ll give her anything to help her in this moment.
The second my skin touches hers though all four of her brothers rise in unison, followed by both of mine immediately after. They drill glares into the side of my face as Marc and Coty stiffen, waiting for someone, anyone, to jump.
Before that can happen, Paige rips her arm from my grasp to continue. “The least, and I mean the least you could do is show up to
see the woman that raised you. It’s true, Mom can’t remember you, but I sure the fuck do, and I’ll never forget the way you abandoned your family when things went to shit.”
She’s straight seething as she meets each of her brother’s conflicted gazes then says, “When she dies, you’re better off digging two fucking holes because I’m halfway there already myself.”
Shaking, she turns to leave while I stand here with my mouth hanging open.
Going off everyone else’s blank expressions, I’m not the only one. That was…a lot. Once again, I had no idea what Paige was going through. I still don’t really.
Facing Tysen, since he seems to be the only semi-rational one, I ask, “Is your mom a patient of Paige’s?”
He swallows thickly, nodding. “Now she is. Paige works at a different Alzheimer’s facility than the one we,” he gestures to the others, “originally placed her in. We thought it was a good one but Paige thought otherwise so she moved her to the home she works in.”
Alzheimer’s.
“I did the research before we paid for the year in full and it was rated one of the best in the area,” Caleb adds.
“All that time on your phone and you still got it wrong?” Nick, the punk, chimes in rather unhelpfully as he lights up another cigarette underneath the long, dark hair flopped over his forehead.
I’d give anything to see that shit catch on fire right now.
“At least I have an excuse for not checking on Mom. What about you? Couldn’t handle Mommy not babying the golden child anymore?” Caleb retorts.
Nick flips Caleb the bird while plopping back in his seat like a disrespectful child.
“If I didn’t have the pressure from work constantly hanging over my head, I’d have visited Mom, too. Some of us have paying jobs though. Obligations. Not that you’d know what those are.” Caleb directs the last part at Tysen.
“Oh, fuck off already, Caleb,” Tysen snaps as Nick reclines as far as the fold out chair allows, watching the two volley insults back and forth like it’s his entertainment for the night. Dude’s begging for one to the face, I swear.
