Bullet Series Box Set Books 1-8

by Jade C. Jamison

  “I won’t, mom.”

  “Have fun. Oh, and there are some DVDs in the living room if you want to watch a movie.”

  Brad’s mother leaving was their cue to head out of the garage and let the party begin. They’d worked hard and now it was time to have fun. Brad hoped he’d be able to spend a little more time getting to know Valerie before Ethan whisked her back off to college and out of his sight.

  Chapter Nine

  AFTER EATING DINNER, the five of them went in the living room to watch a horror movie. It was partially just background noise, because they continued to talk while it was playing. Brad decided it was time to get the party started and asked Nick to help. Brad fetched the Coke and rum, while Nick brought in five glasses filled with ice. Brad poured rum in four glasses, but before pouring any in the fifth, he made eye contact with Val and asked, “Sure you don’t want just a little? Just enough to get a little buzz?”

  Ethan, sitting next to Val on the couch, pried his eyes off the TV and said to her, “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

  She smiled at Ethan as though to humor him, but Brad couldn’t help but notice that when her eyes returned to him, she seemed to be giving him a huge green light. “Sure…just a little, though. I’m the driver, remember?”

  Brad laughed and said, “Okay.” Then he poured a small amount in Val’s glass, just so she wouldn’t feel left out. It was barely a quarter of an inch, and if she even got a buzz off it, he’d be surprised. Then he topped them all off with Coke and slid the glasses so that each person had one in front of him…or her. “Bottoms up.”

  All the guys didn’t hesitate, downing most of their drinks in the first try. Ethan looked irritated. “You shouldn’t have put ice in ‘em, Bradley. It’s harder to drink.”

  His friend had no idea that oftentimes Brad did what he could to slow Ethan down, but he said, “I thought, since we were in the company of a lady, that we should show a little restraint.” He looked over at Val.

  “Yeah. Whatever. Top me off, pussy.”

  Brad handed the bottle to Ethan. “Do it yourself, cocksucker.”

  “Don’t mind if I do.”

  The tension started to dissipate as they all turned their eyes toward the movie. Brad finally took a place on the couch on the other side of Val. How could he help it that it wasn’t such a big couch, and his leg just so happened to touch hers?

  God, he had it bad, and he needed to chill the fuck out. If he couldn’t rein himself in, he’d scare her off for good.

  The guys kept passing the bottle, but Val had only had a sip or two of her drink. Brad was going to give her a while and then offer her a straight Coke. She might have simply wanted to take her time, fearing an insane buzz, especially since she planned to drive, so he didn’t want to push her.

  Ethan kept saying things quietly to Val, causing her to giggle. Brad couldn’t catch it all at first, but then he realized Ethan was making fun of the movie. Brad poured another shot and closed his eyes, letting it make its way to his belly. He could see that Val and Ethan already had a pretty solid friendship, but he could tell just by looking at his friend that he had no romantic tendencies toward the girl. Brad would never say it, but he knew his friend well, and Ethan tended to prefer girls who put off a slutty vibe. Val was the exact opposite. She felt pure and sweet, nothing like the girls Ethan liked to date.

  Maybe that was lucky for Brad.

  He heard Ethan say, “Academy Award winning performance right there.” Both Val and Nick, sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table, started laughing. That’s when Brad realized he hadn’t been paying any attention to the movie.

  After the laughter died down, Ethan leaned forward and grabbed a Coke out of the soda box on the coffee table. He popped it open and turned to Val. “How about you trade me your drink for a straight Coke?” She smiled and handed him her glass, taking the can of Coke from him. Ethan slammed her drink down and said something else to Val, something Brad couldn’t understand, and that’s when he felt the first pangs of jealousy. He knew he had no right to feel anything for this girl, but he did, and he felt like Ethan was just leading her on. Surely, his friend knew Val was sick in love with him. How could he not see it?

  Nick let out a long drunk giggle. “Oh, shit. This girl’s gonna get killed.”

  Zane joined in. “Yeah…we saw her tits five minutes ago. Of course, she’s gonna die.”

  Even though Brad hadn’t been paying attention to the movie, he knew the formula of which they spoke. Val sat up and Brad loved the look on her face. “Why is it that they always make these girls so dumb? Why does she have to trip and act stupid? Instead of going back the way she came or following the trail, she’s disappearing deeper into the woods where she’s going to die.”

  That simply made Nick laugh harder. “You have a problem with that?”

  Zane said, “I don’t, as long as I get to see her goodies.”

  Val was beginning to act genuinely upset. “Real girls aren’t like that.”

  It was just a movie, and Brad wanted Val to enjoy herself. She was hating the movie, and so he wanted to pull her attention away from it. Well, that and he had other motives. He got closer to her and put his arm around her shoulders. Yeah, so maybe the rum was helping his boldness. He didn’t care. It was now or never. “Know what, Val? You’re cool. Ethan has class when it comes to women.” So that wasn’t exactly true. In this case it was, but he wasn’t about to tell Val about his friend’s track record.

  Zane overheard, though, and had to add his two cents’ worth. “Correction. Remember Mary…the mouth?”

  “Oh, fuck, yeah!” Nick lost it, lying on the carpet and holding his stomach. He broke out into an unstoppable gale of laughter.

  Ethan’s eyes looked like those of a Rottweiler ready to bite. “Can we change the subject?”

  Zane, however, couldn’t help himself. “I kinda liked her mouth.”

  Brad was feeling too good to be pissed that they were fucking up his moves. He wasn’t about to give up, though, and maybe he could take some heat off Ethan too. “I just wanted to say Val was cool. I didn’t want to get you guys started talking about Ethan’s old girlfriends.”

  Ethan slammed the rum in his glass and poured more. Zane just couldn’t let it go. “I want a girlfriend like that.”

  “Shut the fuck up, man.”

  Zane returned his attention to his drink, and Brad decided to try another tactic. Everyone seemed ready to watch the movie again, so Brad dropped his voice so that no one else could jump on whatever it was he wanted to tell Val next. “I’m glad you and Ethan are friends.”

  Finally. She looked over at him. At first, she simply looked like her sweet self, but then he saw something in her face change. That’s when he knew the attraction was mutual. It wasn’t just him. If he’d thought he could get away with it, he would have lowered his lips to hers right there and started kissing her, but he knew that couldn’t happen. Besides, a girl like Val might not be able to handle a guy coming on that strongly, and he didn’t want to scare her off.

  Nick started laughing again and yelling something else at the TV, but Brad tried to tune him out. Now that he had Val’s attention, he wasn’t going to let her off the hook so easily. He made sure his voice was quiet enough so no one else would hear. “So…are you and Ethan dating or not? Are you boyfriend and girlfriend? He won’t say dick about it, and I can’t tell.” Granted, he hadn’t outright asked his friend, but he could tell by looking at Ethan how his friend felt about Val. He wanted to know if Ethan was stringing her along, though, and the only way to do that was to ask her.

  He felt even more encouraged when she spoke. “I…uh…don’t think he considers us that.” That’s when he knew he had a solid chance. What was killing him was that he knew Val was as attracted to him as he was to her, but she felt some kind of weird loyalty to his best friend. He’d thought maybe if…but no. She had eyes for Ethan. So when she stood up, he let her go. “I…um…need a glass of wa
ter. Can I get anyone anything?”

  No one answered, but Brad shook his head. God, that was disappointing. Maybe he had been coming on strong, but he’d always been so good at reading signals. She was interested—he was certain of that. So why was she running?

  He sat there for a few moments, feeling empty. He must have been losing his touch. And he felt like this was his only chance with this girl. His only chance. When she and Ethan would leave tonight, Brad might never see her again.

  So he took in a deep breath. He looked around the room. All the guys were enrapt in the stupid movie, and they were well on their way to getting wasted. He stood up, and no one noticed. He was going to talk to Val. He had no idea what he was going to say, but this was his one shot, and he wasn’t going to fuck it up by just letting it slip through his fingers. If she told him to fuck off or showed no signs of any interest whatsoever, he’d let it go, but there was something there—he was sure of it—and he’d be a fool to not at least try.

  He headed toward the kitchen, not sure what he was going to say, and when he got to the doorway, he paused. Val was standing in front of the refrigerator and had just turned around. Their eyes locked, and that was when he knew for certain. He could see it in her eyes. It wasn’t just his imagination running wild. There was something there between them, something inexplicable. Yet it was strong. They looked at each other for several long moments until Brad felt like he had his bearings again and forced himself to walk over to her.

  It was as if his instincts had taken over. He was slow, methodical, and he didn’t stop until he was almost touching her. Their eyes were locked, and her breathing was deeper than it should have been. There it was—he could feel it, whatever it was, and he wasn’t regretting his decision. He decided at that point to continue following his gut—unlike the rational part of his brain, his gut hadn’t let him down yet when it came to this girl.

  He wanted to pull her into his arms, recite the lyrics of his sweetest love song to her, taste her lips, but it felt too soon. He lowered his head, though, getting closer. She closed her eyes and tilted her head. At first, he thought maybe that was her way of spurning him, but that didn’t make sense. She was still there, still close, and so he realized maybe she wanted him to kiss her there.

  It was too soon, though, and he knew it. She might have had a strong attraction to Brad—he knew she did, because he felt it too—but her heart was still with Ethan, no matter how ridiculous that was. He’d be just a statistic if he tried moving in now when he’d barely known her for a day. He brought his face closer, though, and breathed in her scent, envisioned himself kissing her there. She seemed to tense up but she continued to stand there, and then…then she put her hands on his neck, pushing her fingers into his hair. It felt so possessive, so needy, and he forced himself to maintain his cool. He was not going to blow this.

  Instead of wrapping his arms around her and shoving his tongue down her throat, he held himself back and lowered his lips to her ear. He was going to say one thing and one thing only. “I know you’re into Ethan, and as long as you are, nothing’s gonna happen between us. But I want you to know I’ll wait.”

  After what seemed like forever—because he knew she was processing it, thinking it, feeling it—she loosened her fingers in his hair where they’d been clinging for dear life. And that was his cue. He backed away, their eyes still locked, and once he got to the doorway, he turned and left.

  As he took one slow step after another heading back to the living room, he let it sink in. That had been an out-of-this-world experience, unlike anything he’d ever lived through before. It was like they’d been talking without words. He knew what she’d been feeling—that she loved Ethan and couldn’t explain whatever was drawing her to Brad, but she couldn’t not acknowledge it, weird or not—and he could tell she knew what he’d been feeling too. He’d never felt that way with another living soul before, and it was going to be hard to let her go. He knew, though, that he must. She wasn’t his.

  He made his way back to the living room, feeling like he was in a daze—confused, unsure, wanting something he knew he could probably never have. Zane and Nick were where they’d been when he’d left, but Ethan was nowhere to be found. Brad shook his head and sat back down, pouring himself a swig of rum. He could use a shot. Not long after he poured it, though, Ethan came back in the living room. He must have gone to the bathroom, but that would have meant one thing—he’d walked past the kitchen. What had he seen?

  Brad wasn’t going to say a word. And maybe the fact that Ethan hadn’t said anything, either earlier when Brad was in the kitchen or now, meant that he was cool with Brad making a move.

  But so much for that.

  Ethan said, “Come on, Zane. We gotta hit the road.”

  “What?”

  “Time to go.”

  “We just started watching the movie, man.”

  Brad saw Ethan’s jaw clench. Fuck. So he’d have to talk to him sometime next week with the girl out of the picture. Ethan didn’t have the hots for this girl, so what was the problem? Had Brad stolen some of her admiration? Was that it? But now wasn’t the time to ask, not while Ethan was acting pissy.

  Valerie came back in the room holding a glass of cold water. She too looked disoriented.

  Nick told Ethan, “The movie’s not over yet. You guys need to stay.” Ethan shook his head but said nothing.

  Zane tried again. “There’s still plenty of booze.”

  Val said, “What’s going on?”

  “We’re leaving now.”

  “Really?” Ethan nodded again but said nothing.

  Zane wasn’t done, though. “Man, we could stay here all night. We could even crash on the floor. Brad’s mom won’t be home till morning, and she’ll be ready for bed when she gets here. Don’t bail now.”

  Ethan’s voice was cool. “We’re leaving in the morning, Zane, so unless you have another ride back to school…”

  Zane shrugged. “Fine. What time you comin’ by my house?”

  “Ten. And if you’re smart, you’ll make sure you’re not hung over.”

  Nick, in just a few short minutes, had passed out on the floor, probably having overconsumed. Zane said, “See you in the morning.”

  Brad said, “Take care, man. See you next weekend.”

  Ethan nodded, but he was not happy. “Yeah.” He looked at Valerie but wasn’t wasting any time moving toward the door. “Let’s go.” Val slipped on her coat and purse that were setting on the bench by the front door. Val said goodbye, but Ethan left without another word.

  That told Brad what he needed to know. Ethan had no designs on the girl, but it didn’t stop the guy from feeling possessive about her. They would definitely have to have a talk…and soon.

  Chapter Ten

  BRAD HAD IT bad. Over the next week, he’d even considered visiting Misti and begging for a little sympathy sex, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. It was going to take time to get over this girl.

  Meanwhile, he bided his time. He was going to talk to Ethan. If he could figure out exactly what his friend was thinking, he could maybe get a green light, and if he had that, then maybe he could pursue Valerie for real. Right now it was just some weird attraction, but he’d like to act on it and see how it played out.

  So he spent the next week working and trying not to think about her.

  But it was damn hard.

  He tried to write a new song too and just couldn’t. He and Nick got together one night and even Nick could tell something was bothering Brad, but he wasn’t going to say a word. He was perfectly content letting the drummer think he was under the weather.

  He knew Ethan was going to be home on Friday. They’d said a couple of things to each other on Facebook, but Ethan said he was busy with finals week. Brad did notice that Valerie posted on Ethan’s wall a “big thank you for the awesome Christmas present!” Brad used that as an excuse to send a friend request…and he was quite relieved when, the next day, Valerie accepted it.
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br />   God, he was pathetic, but he didn’t know how to resolve it. He knew it was so bad because she reminded him so much of Leah. If she had been Leah, he already would have asked her out, and it would have been over with, whether she’d accepted or rejected him. The problem was Valerie had done neither and really couldn’t at the moment, not with where her mind and heart were. She’d given him what she could, and that was…nothing, really, but Brad felt like there was so much unspoken between them.

  So it took everything he had to not beat down Ethan’s door Friday night. Instead, he gave his friend a little space and time, but by Saturday afternoon, he couldn’t stand it anymore. In fact, it was pissing him off that Ethan hadn’t even called. Knowing Ethan, the guy was still holding a grudge.

  He called him, though, and asked, “McDonald’s or Subway?”

  “You buyin’?”

  “Hell, yeah. I work, but you’re a poor college student, remember?”

  Ethan laughed. “Then I guess I can drive.”

  That offer oftentimes made Brad nervous, because he never knew when his friend would be indulging and, thus, impaired behind the wheel. He had to trust him, though. That’s what friends did. So he waited patiently for Ethan to show up, and he kept running through his head all the things he wanted to say…even though he figured it would all fall to shit once they engaged in real conversation. With Ethan, he never knew how things would turn out. His friend was a wildcard, and Brad was nervous that their talk wouldn’t end well. But there was no way he could hold it in, no way he couldn’t not say something.

  Ethan’s black truck pulled up in front of Brad’s house on time, a good sign. Ethan was never on time if he’d been drinking or doing something worse. Being punctual meant his friend was probably sober for the time being, and that meant the conversation would be fruitful. It wouldn’t even be worth the time if Ethan wasn’t fully in the present.

  So Brad walked out the door, careful not to slam it as his mom was sleeping late. She usually got home around seven thirty in the morning if she left her shift at the hospital on time. She’d gotten home even later than that on occasion, and she’d usually stay up for an hour or so reading until she’d wound down enough to sleep. She was often in bed by ten or eleven, and Brad knew he had to be quiet until four or five. During the week, it wasn’t a problem, because he was out of the house before his mom even got home. The weekends were harder, though, and he’d just learned to practice without any amps if his mom had worked the night before.