by JA Low
“Not much you can do about it now, they’re married, and your brother looks happy,” I add.
“I know. I just heard her yelling at the staff because they didn’t bring her the right champagne. She’s horrible,” Audrey grumbles as her shoulders fold in on herself.
“Your brother seems happy though.”
“I know that’s the killer, he truly is, but I know that in the not-too-distant future she’s going to mess up and break his heart.” Audrey sighs heavily.
“He’s a big boy, Aud. He has to work it out for himself,” I tell her, hoping to help her unease.
“I know. Better get back to the wedding table. Have fun. Chat soon.” Audrey gives me a kiss and disappears into the crowd.
Moments later, I feel someone behind me.
“Looks like we’re seat buddies,” Remi whispers into my ear.
Turning my head at the sound of his voice, our lips almost touch as he is invading my space. “You have to be shitting me.”
I haven’t seen Remi since Ibiza, and I’ve kind of liked the distance between us. Seeing him tonight, I realize the distance has been good because my heart doesn’t skip a beat at seeing him again. It feels kind of liberating to not have to worry about succumbing to his advances, which I know will be coming.
“I’ve missed you too, Nell.” Remi grins, taking his seat beside me. I’m going to kill Rhys for this table assignment, especially as his brother Miles is sitting right across from me next to Rainn, who looks like she’s flirting with him. I hate the unease simmering underneath the surface, overseeing the two of them together. She knows how much of a crush I have on Miles. I can feel Remi’s eyes on me, but I dare not look at him. “Seems like Rainn and Miles are getting along rather well, don’t you think?” Remi asks teasingly. I turn my head and give him a glare, which makes him smirk and raise his glass at me. “Guess you’re stuck with the wrong brother, then?”
Ignoring him, I pull out my phone and text Rainn, asking her to swap seats because I will not sit here all night listening to Remi’s play-by-play of them. I watch as her phone lights up and she looks down at my message subtly, then she looks over at me, then to Remi. Her eyes widen as she takes in the stone statue I’ve become and finishes up her conversation with Miles. Then she stands and walks over to where I’m seated.
“I think there must have been a mistake with the names because I thought this was my seat, Nell?” Rainn says seriously as she looks down at me, giving me a reassuring smile.
“I’ll think you and I will have more fun anyway, Rainn,” Remi adds with a chuckle.
Is he serious? He’s flirting with my best friend. My eyes glare at him as my spine bristles at his statement.
“Don’t think you could handle me, Rem. I’m so far out of your league,” Rainn warns him. This just has Remi laughing even harder as he sips on his drink.
Right, well I’ve had enough of his childish games. Standing up from my seat, I grab my name tag and purse before giving Rainn a thankful kiss on the cheek and heading on over to the other side of the table where I take my rightful seat beside Miles. All the while, I can feel Remi’s eyes on me, but I dare not look over at him because I don’t care. I mean, I shouldn’t care. Dammit, five minutes around him and my defenses are crumbling.
“Hey, Nell. Long time no see.” Miles greets me warmly with a kiss on the cheek, which lights up my entire body. It has been a while. Last time he saw me, I was in bed with a bad ankle. Miles looks delicious tonight, dressed in a navy-blue suit, and a white shirt with a silver tie. He’s freshly shaven as he always is, his chocolate-colored hair styled simply, but it works for him. He doesn’t need that designer just rolled out of bed hair that Remi sports. “Guessing my brother was annoying you?” Miles asks with a playful grin.
“Everything about him is annoying,” I explain to Miles, who cracks up about my barb.
“You two have always annoyed each other, even as kids. He would pull your pigtails. Then you would punch him in the balls. It was great.” Miles chuckles, reminiscing about my childhood.
“Guess I’ve grown up,” I explain to Miles. I reach out and grab the champagne glass to take a nervous sip because being this close to Miles Hartford has my body on fire.
“Yes, you have,” Miles states flirtatiously.
Wait, did I hear that right? I turn my head slowly and stare at him. Those familiar green eyes dip ever so slightly to my lips before looking back up into my eyes.
“I better behave because I’m fairly sure my brother is sending daggers into my back,” Miles whispers as he grabs his drink and takes a generous gulp.
I do the same and take an uneasy sip of my drink and look over at where Remi is sitting and see a deep scowl on his face as he stares at Miles and me.
“I think my brother might still have a thing for you?” Miles grins as he places his arm on the back of my chair, moving himself closer to me.
“He doesn’t,” I assure Miles.
“I highly doubt that.”
Miles has never been this overtly flirtatious with me before. I’m surprised. I thought that maybe this was all one-sided.
“I think his white knuckles around his glass say differently.”
“You see, I’m upset with my little brother at the moment,” Miles confesses to me.
“Why?” I ask curiously, turning my head in Miles’s direction, which brings us almost nose to nose. My breath hitches and my chest tightens at how close we are. I can smell his expensive aftershave as the exotic scent tickles my nose.
“If I tell you, it might make you think less of him.”
“Believe me, I already have a low assessment of him.” Miles raises a brow at me, then smirks. “What did he do?” I ask, curious. What could Remi have done to Miles to have upset him so much? Remi idolizes his two older brothers. So, I’m confused over what he could have possibly done to hurt Miles so much. Hurt him enough to flirt with me, that is.
“He slept with my girlfriend,” Miles explains angrily.
He did what? No. I know Remi is a player, but I can’t imagine him doing something so…despicable. “Are you sure?”
“Of course. I caught them in bed together. They thought I was at work. Guess that’s what I get for letting him crash at my place for a couple of days,” Miles says frowning before throwing the rest of his drink back and pouring himself another.
“Why would he do that to you?”
“He’s Remington Hartford, a famous polo player,” Miles answers tightly. “Women love that shit.”
I frown at Miles’s comment. Look, I know Remi is a dick, and that dick seems to find it hard to stay in his pants most of the time, but I could never imagine him sleeping with his brother’s girlfriend.
“Please, you’re a doctor. Women love that,” I tell him, placing a reassuring hand on his arm. His very hard, thick arm. How does he have time to work out on his schedule? Miles looks down at my hand on him, then tilts his head and gives me a blinding smile.
“Excuse me, miss, here is your starter.” The server interrupts the intense conversation by placing the salad down in front of me, giving me a moment to collect myself because this champagne is going to my head.
Thankfully, the table distracts us from our one-on-one conversation, as the group chit chats about this and that. Occasionally, I catch myself looking up at Remi and imagining his thought process while sleeping with Miles’s girlfriend. Every single time I look in his direction, those same green eyes stare back at me, daring me to flinch my attention away from him. And as much as I want to, my body won’t let me look away from him, as if caught in his web, which I probably am, as he seems to weave it around me easily enough. Stupidly, I keep falling for it. Maybe a lobotomy is my next course of action or hypnotherapy.
Once we made it through the main course, then the speeches, cutting of the cake, then bride and groom’s first dance, the party was in full swing. What I wasn’t expecting was for Miles to grab my hand and whisk me onto the dance floor. Strong arms pulled m
e close to his chest as we slow danced to some romantic ballads. This is what I have dreamed about, isn’t it? Being in Miles’s arms, feeling his prickly cheek against my own, firm hands running all over my body as he sang the words to the song into my ear, his soft lips touching my skin every so often, raising goosebumps.
“Thank you for tonight, Nell,” Miles whispers into my ear. “You’ve been a great friend to me,” he tells me before swinging me around the dancefloor. “Listening to me complain about my brother.” He did that a lot. Not that I don’t mind a good Remi rant session, but in that moment, I kind of felt disloyal to him. Don’t know why, I’m still unsure why Remi would be that much of a douche to do what Miles said he did. Remi is no saint, but he loves his brothers. He looks up to them because he is so much younger than them. Maybe his newfound fame has changed the guy since the last time I saw him. What’s saying his personality hasn’t done a full 180 in that time. Next thing I feel is Miles’s lips against my neck, and I freeze, unsure of what to do next.
“I’ve had enough of this,” I hear behind me, just before I’m ripped from Miles’s arms by a furious Remi who’s staring down at his brother as if he is moments away from punching him in the face. We are in the middle of the dancefloor with all these couples around us at his brother’s best friend’s wedding. I will not allow these two to throw fists at each other and ruin the happy couple’s day. Grabbing both of their arms, I pull them from the dancefloor and into a quiet corner where we can talk this out like fucking adults.
“What the hell is going on between the two of you?” I hiss as I narrow my eyes on them both. They stand there in silence, each with folded arms and narrow eyes. Right, so not only are they idiots, but they are stubborn, too. “Come on, you two, you’re family. Let’s squash this right here, right now.”
“Yeah, Remi. Why don’t you tell Nell how you fucked my girlfriend in my living room while I was asleep in my bedroom,” Miles grunts angrily.
My attention swings to Remi, curious about what he’s going to say to his brother’s accusation.
“I told you, I did not know you and she were a thing when I brought her home.” My stomach sinks at hearing Remi’s words. So it is true he slept with Miles’s girlfriend. “She didn’t act like she had a boyfriend when we were at the club. She came on to me,” he explains. “She was the one asking me to take her home. I mean, she didn’t even know it was your fucking apartment until you walked out and saw us.”
“Yeah, when I saw my brother’s dick fucking my girl,” Miles sneers at him. Remi sighs and runs his hand through his disheveled hair, looking exhausted by the conversation. “Fuck this, I’m done listening to my brother’s pathetic excuses!” Miles says angrily before exiting the wedding venue.
21
Remi
My brother is upset and drunk. I have to remember that. I’m not proud that by some blimp in the fucking matrix, I brought home the woman that he’s been sleeping with. Like what the hell, Universe? From what she said after Miles found us on the couch together, she and Miles were fuck buddies, nothing more. Hence the reason she had never been to his apartment. They work together, and because their schedules are so full, when they need a fuck, they call each other. Miles is acting like I’m the biggest asshole on the planet. How the fuck would I know any of this? She was some random woman I met at the club who I got on well with. Brought her home, yes, to his apartment. We had fun, and then Miles walked in on us. How could any of this have been premeditated?
But what has pissed me off the most is that he’s used my fuck up to turn Nell against me. I had to sit here all night watching him flirt up a storm with her, rubbing the crush she has on him in my face. He has no interest in her. He was trying to hurt me, and he knows she’s my kryptonite. The way his hands slid over her body on the dance floor. Getting lower and lower the drunker he became had my blood boiling until I couldn’t take it any longer and had to break them up.
What I wasn’t expecting was the pure rage and hatred thrown my way. Miles doesn’t like to share, he never has, and I’m guessing that means he doesn’t enjoy sharing his women, either. That man has a revolving door of nurses. Why is he upset about this one? Unless he started developing feelings for her and was too chickenshit to say anything about it? I mean, stranger things have happened, I guess.
“He’s drunk, we can’t let him leave like that. Let me go grab my bag and I’ll come with you,” she tells me.
“It’s between him and me. I’ll sort it out,” I assure her. As I look down at her beautiful face, an ache that has been present since she left me in Ibiza slowly subsides now that I’m in her company again. But I’m sure Miles’s words will have added some damage to the already fractured relationship we have. Probably severed it for good. “I didn’t know he was seeing her.”
“I know, Rem,” Nell whispers softly. “You’re a lot of things but screwing over family is not something you’d do. I tried to tell Miles that, but he won’t listen.”
Did she really confess to having my back with my brother? Reaching out, I cup her face, and as soon as my hand touches her skin, electricity runs through my veins, and I feel alive. My heart beats uncontrollably in my chest as if she’s revived it from its slumber, then it sinks when she removes my hand from her face.
“Now’s not the time, Remi. Go find your brother.”
I’m torn. Now I have her attention. I don’t want to leave because I know I won’t get this moment back, but I need to sort things out with Miles. I hate the fact that I hurt him.
“Don’t leave without me tonight, okay?” I ask her desperately.
“Okay,” she answers reluctantly, but it’s something.
I turn on my heel and rush outside of the venue and into the dark courtyard garden of the hotel. I see my brother slumped against the wall, with his head in his hands, looking worse for wear. “Miles!” I shout out into the darkness as I jog over to where he is standing. My brother’s head lifts, and he gives me a defeated look as his shoulders sag against the brick wall. “Hey, what the hell happened in there?”
Miles just scrubs his face and shakes his head at me. “I’m sorry about all that. I’m not normally that dramatic.” He groans awkwardly.
“I’d expect it from Stirling, but not you.” This makes Miles chuckle. Can always count on ribbing on your other brother to bring a smile to your sibling’s face. “Look, I’m really sorry about Tracey. I did not know you and she were a thing.”
“Nah, man. I’m sorry. I overreacted. I know you didn’t mess around with her on purpose, just was a shock at seeing the two of you together. You caught me at a bad time, and I took my shit out on you,” Miles explains exhaustedly to me. I was not expecting that, not after what just happened earlier.
“Sounds like there is more to the story then?” I ask my brother.
“You have no idea,” he states, turning and looking at me and for the first time in my life. I see my big brother looking lost.
“I know we may not be as close as you and Stirling are, but I’m here for you,” I tell him sincerely.
“It’s fucking embarrassing that’s all,” Miles explains.
“Do you have any idea of the amount of embarrassing shit I’ve done in my life?”
This makes him laugh. “Tracey and I were fuck buddies; that part was true, but what she forgot to mention was that we were both going for the same promotion at work.” He lets out a heavy sigh. “A couple of the nurses I’m friends with warned me about Tracey, that she liked to use her assets to her advantage. I thought they were just being catty, because well, you know…”
“You might have fucked them?” I answer for him.
“Yeah. That,” he agrees, rolling his eyes at me. “That they might have been jealous of my budding relationship with her. I mean, Tracey and I were spending so much time together outside of work that I stopped sleeping with other people and she told me she had too. Neither one of us was looking for a relationship.”
I nod in understanding, I think I’m
putting the dots together.
“The day before I found the two of you in my apartment is when I found out that Tracey had gotten the promotion and was now my new boss. Which is fine, I thought she deserved it, and she’s a good doctor. Until the nurses pulled me aside again and told me that Tracey had been sleeping with the head of the department for months even though he had a wife, and they believed she did that to secure the promotion.”
I remember how hard he had been working for that promotion, and shit, I’ve just poured salt into his wound by hooking up with the one girl that fucked him over.
“The nurses didn’t like Tracey. She used to treat them like shit, but again I thought that was them being petty.” Miles chuckles. “Fuck, I thought I was god’s gift that these women were jealous of me fucking someone else. Such an idiot.” He shakes his head at himself. “They were trying to warn me so many times, but I didn’t listen until they played me a recorded conversation after I found out I didn’t get the promotion. Apparently, the nurses had enough evidence of the department head and his sleazebag behavior, that they set up a sting in his office after their complaints had gone unheard. What they recorded was my boss offering Tracey the promotion if she agreed to keep sleeping with him.” Well, shit, damn. That is crazy. “You can imagine the next morning after finding all this out, seeing her in my apartment fucking my brother. I sort of lost it.” Honestly, I don’t blame him. “I’m sorry about all that. None of this was your fault. It was a fucked-up situation, and I took my anger out on you because I couldn’t take it out on her.”
“What’s happened now?” I ask, curious.
“They started an internal investigation this week. They have called me in to give evidence. It doesn’t look good that I was having relations with her as it’s frowned upon at the hospital, but as we were at the same level, it’s not as bad.” He lets out a shaky breath. “Fuck, I’m sorry that I flirted with Nell. That poor girl probably thinks I’m the biggest creep, but I just…” he states honestly. “I wanted to hurt you for no good reason.”
