Unsocial

by Dykes, Nicole

  I step inside Jax’s guest bathroom and clean myself up. I shoot a text letting him know I’m taking a taxi back home. I don’t want to see him or have him ask twenty questions about tonight’s chick. I take one last look in the mirror and notice some bruising around my neck. It looks like the bitch sucked hard enough to draw blood. What I see curls my lip in disgust, and I turn away from my image.

  I need to wipe what just happened out of my head. I need to go home and back to what is now my life. I have responsibilities now, and I can’t ignore those. I want to go back to my new family, Tuesday evenings spent cooking with Brooke and nights checking homework and making sure everyone is in bed. I want texts from Brooke telling me what to put on my shopping list or to relax about shit I seem to get myself worked up over. “FUCK! What have I done?” I look in the mirror and try to recognize the man that’s staring back at me after fucking some woman I don’t know the name of, and I’ll never see again while my mind is completely wrapped around another. I can’t reconcile the two, but one thing is for sure, tonight they both fucked up.

  And because I don’t seem to be able to stop torturing myself enough, I open a text message that I missed earlier from Brooke.

  Brooke: Dylan, I just wanted to let you know I talked some more with Cassie about her date. She promises that Brent is nice, and she isn’t going to do anything stupid. She’s not ready for that kind of relationship yet. So see, we just need to have a little faith in her. And about Tuesday, you’re right. As soon as I left I wanted to go back in and spend the evening with you guys. This attraction between us is all so much, and I’m confused. But if the invite is still open, I would love to stay for dinner on Tuesday.

  And if I haven’t twisted the knife deep enough, I read the next sent just an hour ago.

  Brooke: I think you may be mad because you’re not texting me back, and you always text me back.

  I can’t leave her wondering, so I guiltily answer.

  Dylan: I’m not mad. I’m hanging with Jax and missed your text. We’ll talk later. Goodnight.

  This foreign emotion is messing with my head, and as I read the short message I returned, I instantly regret even answering. There’s no way she’s not going to think something’s not right.

  Regrettably Friday is here, Cassie’s first date. I had a conversation earlier with Luke, who couldn’t answer any questions about this Brent. He doesn’t know a hell of a lot about him because he’s new, and he plays basketball and not football. Obviously, both being sports doesn’t mean shit; the athletes just don’t mix. I just hope like hell he’s on the up and up because I don’t want to have to kill a kid. I’m in a pissy fucking mood, and he had better make a damn good impression or a new dress or not, my sister isn’t getting in a car with him.

  “Dude, what the fuck is the matter with you? You would think after banging the hot blond last night you would be in a better fucking mood.” If he doesn’t shut the fuck up about last night, I’m going to deck my best friend.

  I don’t want to think about last night and the decision I drunkenly made to fuck some random bar bitch from a bar. I can’t stop thinking about Brooke’s text or the cloud of disappointment that’s floating above me. I want to undo about four hours of last night, the four hours I spent drinking myself to stupid and falling in some random pussy. I just know I never want Brooke to find out about it. I couldn’t take the disgust that would surely park itself in her eyes whenever she looks at me.

  Luke and Cassie have just come home from the game, and she flies downstairs to get ready for the dance. I begged Luke to go to keep an eye on her. I even offered him money, then finally broke down and offered to let him drive my car. The little shit refused. He offered me a ‘fuck no, I’m not hanging with those losers’ instead of getting to drive my car. But he was sure happy to use it when he informed me he would be hitting the after parties, he got a ‘fuck no’ in return. God, he reminds me of me at that age. The only dance I went to was prom, and I left that early.

  Jax and I are sitting on the couch in the living room, beers in hand and watching TV, when I hear the doorbell. “Did you order food or something?”

  He shakes his head, “No. Think it’s the kid?”

  “No way, he’s not due for an hour.” I stand up and answer the door. Brooke is standing there with a girl I’ve never seen before. She looks about Brooke’s age and has her hair dyed dark red with a nose ring and piercings up and down each ear. Not a chick I would expect to be with her. “Brooke? What are you doing here?” I answer the door and take in her huge smile, then just as quickly it disappears. What in the hell?

  “Cassie called in a panic. She’s having some trouble getting ready.” She points to her friend. “This is Alexandra, my roommate. Alex, this is Dylan Monroe.”

  Her friend grins a wicked smile at Brooke, “Well damn, Brooke, now I get why you’ve been spending Tuesdays ‘cooking’ here.”

  Brooke nudges her friend looking embarrassed as hell, which I find oddly adorable. “Well come on in.”

  They walk in, and Jax comes in the room. Oh, shit don’t say anything stupid, asshole. “Dylan, I didn’t know we were having company. Especially fucking hot-as-hell company. I should never have worried about you losing your touch.”

  “Shut up, Jax. This is Brooke, the social worker, and her friend, Alexandra.”

  He holds out his hand to Alex first turning on the charm, “Hey, darlin’ it’s real nice to meet you.” Just for the record, despite how Jackson sounds speaking to Brooke’s friend, he is not a southern gentleman.

  She grins at him, “Nice to meet you too.”

  And then he turns to Brooke, “This is Brooke?”

  I nod, “Uh, yeah.”

  Brooke smiles at him, “I finally meet the famous Jackson. I’ve heard so much about you from Cassie and the other kids. It’s so nice to finally meet you.”

  He looks Brooke up and down. “Ditto. I’ve heard a lot about you from Dylan here, of course, he left a few things out.”

  “Oh?”

  I quickly change the subject before Jax says anything else. “Hey, Cassie is in her room. I’m sorry she called you on your weekend.”

  Brooke answers, but doesn’t look at me. “It’s no problem; I told her to call if she needed me. She’s having trouble fixing her hair, and Alex is a hair stylist, so she’s kind of good at that.”

  Alex grins, “Kinda good? Please, I’m the best. So where’s Cinderella’s room? We have to get this girl ready before Prince Charming gets here.”

  I move aside so Brooke and her friend can come in, “Brooke can show you.” They head down to Cassie’s room and Jax just stands there staring at me. “What?”

  “That’s Brooke? Are you fucking joking? That’s the uptight bitch that you described as an over-fifty-something hag?”

  “I never said anything to you about her age, and she is….was uptight. She’s relaxed a lot over time.”

  “You painted a totally different picture, Dylan.”

  I go back to the couch hoping he will drop it. I don’t want to tell him how gorgeous I think Brooke is. I don’t want him thinking there’s anything going on between us, not even this insane attraction, and I sure as hell don’t want him hitting on her.

  An hour later the doorbell rings again, and I get up to get it, knowing that this time it’s Brent.

  I open the door, and a kid stands in my doorway, but this isn’t a kid. So I’m just standing here glaring at him, which obviously makes him a little uneasy. “Uh, hi sir. I’m Brent, Cassie’s date.”

  I grunt and move out of the way so he can walk in, “Cassie will be out soon.” Now to fuck with him, “Are you a freshman like Cassie, Brent?”

  Of course, I know the answer to that, “Uh, no I’m a junior.”

  Jax walks in to join us, and this kid’s eyes bug right out of his head. Good, he’s scared shitless. He should be. Jax looks him up and down. “A junior? What the fuck do you want with a freshman?”

  Brent stutters hard now, �
��Uh, well I like her. I mean she’s nice and pretty and sweet.” Yadda, yadda, yadda. I’m not impressed by his stuttering and rambling.

  Jax is clearly amused, “Yeah. She’s all of those things. She also happens to be a good, innocent girl, and I stress innocent, and she better stay that way.”

  The kid pales to paper white and wipes his forehead. He should probably check his underarms as well. Jackson almost scared me with that threat. When Cassie comes up the stairs wearing her brand new burgundy dress, with her hair and makeup finished, her date’s jaw hits the floor. I swear his eyes are going to fall out of his head. He looks comical, and I would laugh, but I’m still playing the “don’t fuck with my sister role” I don’t want him even think about trying anything with her. I have to admit, though; she looks beautiful, and I feel sick watching Brent examine her. “Hi, Brent. I’m sorry I’m late.”

  He grins like a goofy fucking idiot, “No problem. Oh, and you look beautiful.”

  She smiles and spins around, “Thank you. Are you ready to go?”

  He nods, “Yeah.”

  Brooke stands behind Cassie and clears her throat getting her attention. “Cass, don’t you want to make introductions.” They communicate silently for a minute. Then she turns Brent to face the rest of us again.

  “Sorry. Brent, this is my brother, Dylan and his friend Jackson. Guys, this is Brent. And this is Brooke and her friend Alex. Everyone this is Brent Conner.”

  I look him dead in the eye, “Have her back here at eleven, not one second later. You hear me?”

  He nods, “Yes, sir.”

  Cassie hugs me, and leaves with him, Brent, my new enemy.

  Brooke and Alex stand in the foyer with Jax and me as we watch them pull out of the driveway. Alex looks at me, “Your sister is gorgeous. She’ll be beating them off with a stick.”

  Jax and I growl, and Brooke laughs, “You two settle down. All you can do now is trust her to make the right decisions, and I’m sure she will.”

  I nod trying to remind myself that Cassie is good, smart, and hopefully between mine and Brooke’s lectures terrified enough not to let her date touch her.

  Jax moves next to Alex, “So what do you girls have planned for tonight?”

  Alex’s tone turns flirty, “Absolutely nothing. Another night at home with movie and wine.”

  Then Brooke speaks up, “Actually, we have a lot to do remember?”

  Alex rolls her eyes at Brooke, “Nope, I don’t remember. The only thing we discussed was another Friday night with movies and wine. Nothing’s changed that I know of.”

  I look at Brooke, “You guys can hang out with us for a bit. We don’t have wine, but we have plenty of beer and Netflix.” I’m positive Brooke will say yes tonight. After last night’s text, she has to be up for hanging around, plus we have chaperones.

  Brooke shakes her head, “I’m sorry. I have a ton of work to do. We have to get going, but thank you.”

  She pulls her friend out the door; Jax tells them bye while I stand there completely stunned. What the actual fuck? Last night she said she wanted to spend time hanging. We had friends here so nothing could have happened other than actually drinking and watching a movie. Why the complete turnaround from her texts? As they pull out of the drive, Jax looks over at me, “Damn, she is uptight. But as gorgeous as she is, I bet it would be the hottest thing ever to watch her loosen up.”

  “I don’t fucking get it. I’ve been trying to get her to hang out with me more, and last night she texted and said she wanted to. She even invited herself to dinner after we cook Tuesday, and now she just walks out the door.” I look at Jackson, and he’s got a face I’ve never seen before for the simple reason it keeps changing from, uh, oh to oh, shit. “What, goddammit?”

  “So you’re into Brooke?”

  Shit, shit, shit. “Maybe….yes….I mean, maybe. Hell, you saw her, she’s beautiful. I want her, but she’s so fucking worried about crossing some stupid professional line. It’s driving me batshit crazy.” I turn to the still open door. “Tuesday I all but begged her to stay, man. She shot me down with her career bullshit. I couldn’t even fucking look at her when she left. Then last night she texted me and said she wished she would have stayed. I thought this would be a great time to hang with you and her friend being here, but then she just walked out. No fuck that, she all but ran, and she wouldn’t even look at me. What the fuck?”

  “What the hell, man, I’ve never seen you act like this. Is this just a girl you want to bang or are you talking about an actual relationship? I mean, like the fucking no one else, call me when you get there, happily ever after kind of relationship. Because seriously, that’s the kind of girl Brooke is, and that’s not your type. And I have no doubt that last night she probably did want to spend some time with you, but, dude, you seriously cannot ask a girl to hang with you when you’ve got hickeys all over neck from some other chick. That is not fucking cool.” He gives me his ‘let’s be serious look’ which he rarely shares, “Look, Dylan, I know I told you to play nice, but think about it. This could fuck everything up with you getting guardianship. Relationships aren’t your thing anymore than they are mine, and if you hurt Brooke, well, you should know how twisted chicks can get when their heart gets broken.”

  I think about what he’s saying. Honestly, I haven’t thought that far ahead. I know I want her in my bed. I know I love being around her. But what if we hook up. I have no idea how I will feel afterward because all I know are ‘thank you’ and ‘goodbye.’ After the fucking, I’m running out the door. But with Brooke, I couldn’t do that. Fuck, now I’m more confused than I’ve ever been in my life, and Jax is pissing me off with this logical bullshit.

  I turn to look back out the still-open door, hoping she would change her mind and turn around, “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I yell into the night. Knowing Jackson has absolutely no idea how relationships work, I still ask, “What do I do?”

  “I don’t know, man, I just don’t know. But if you think about it, maybe you want her because she turned you down. No one ever says no to you, and now it’s become all about the chase.”

  He seriously needs to shut the fuck up because I can’t twist my head around all this. How can I want her so much just for it to be a one-time thing or something I have to prove because she won’t give into me? I don’t want to think about what Jax is saying. I don’t want to think he’s right. I don’t want to think about the look I saw on Brooke’s face before she left, especially now that I know why the look was there. What it was that wiped the smile off her face after I answered the door. She knows about last night, and it’s ripping me open. But I nod at Jax to shut him up. I don’t need to hear any more about what a fuck up I would be in a relationship with Brooke. But one question keeps playing on repeat.

  Goddammit, how am I going to fix this?

  Chapter 10

  Brooke

  I can’t get to my car fast enough. I feel the sting behind my eyes letting me know, that me curling up and balling like a damn baby isn’t too far off. Somehow I manage not to slam my car door because I won’t give him the satisfaction. Alex slides in the passenger seat, “What the hell, Brooke. What’s your fucking hurry, and do I need to mention that was rude?”

  We just need to go, Alex, okay.” I’m hoping she’ll just let this drop. I can’t even think straight. I can’t figure out all the shit going through my mind right now, and I can’t make sense of why I care at all that Dylan has a fucking hickey. Do I need to remind you, two days ago he was moving in on me, asking me to have dinner with his family, kissing my neck, holding me close to him, I don’t get it. What? Did he just get mad that I turned him down? Did it not mean anything, because I swear that he seemed hurt that I left? Why the hell do I care? I’m his social worker, nothing more. It can never be anything more.

  I should have never let myself get close to this family. I should never have offered to run to their aid every time they called or texted. And the cooking lessons, really, Brooke, since when do social wo
rkers give damn cooking lessons to their clients. When do they help them shop for dresses? How did I let this happen? No more. I’m a professional, and I can’t, no, I’m not going to risk my career because my client can’t keep his dick in his pants. Again, why do I care?

  I realize Alex is still whining about having another Friday night staying at home, but it’s not like I’ve forced her to. “Seriously Brooke, I don’t understand why we couldn’t just stay for a little bit. Have a couple of beers and kick back.

  “Because it’s totally unethical to drink with Dylan.”

  “Are you being serious right now? For weeks, you’ve been jumping and running every time he calls. Do I need to remind you about cooking lessons, dress shopping, and what about tonight? As soon as you got the call from Cassie, you couldn’t get there fast enough. So exactly what do you consider ethical? And why haven’t you mentioned how hot he is? Oh, and his friend. Oh, my God, I could kill you right now for making me leave.”

  Yeah, Jax is good looking. He’s a massive guy with tattoos on every visible part of his body that I could see. He’s got that short, sexy military haircut, and he’s just the kind of guy that would attract Alex. I know why she’s pissed. But right now I just wish she would stop. “Sorry Al, but my clients’ friends aren’t going to be your match-making service, so just drop it.”

  “Ouch, my friend. Why are you so harsh all of a sudden? It was just a drink and movie. There were kids there, so I doubt anything too inappropriate would be happening.”

  “All the more reason not to stay. How would it look to the kids if their social worker hung out and drank beer with their brother and his friend? Not good, I promise. I made the right choice by leaving.”