“I’ve got something to tell you, all of you if you want to sit,” he continued.
My curiosity peaked. “Okay, let’s go sit out by the pool, it’s a nice night and I hate discussing anything at the table, it brings back bad memories of the conversations Mum and Dad had with me in high school.”
Ian laughed, remembering the many interventions my parents staged during my wild child phase, some of which he experienced via speakerphone while he was on tour.
“Oh and drinks, I need a glass of wine,” I added.
I had switched to water after one mimosa today and now I felt like I needed some relaxation in the form of vino.
“Got it, babe.” My wonderful man was way ahead of me, pouring a glass of wine for both me and Amy.
“Did I mention I love him?” Amy said seriously.
I gave her a playful shove. “Back off, sister, you’re already making out with my brother, stay away from my man.”
She laughed. “Right, I don’t want to have to have another boxing match in the front yard.” She tried to make the mood light, but her glance was darting to Ian, who was watching her unsmiling. His brooding was interrupted by Cade.
“Beer?” He held out a bottle towards Ian. I held my breath, this was the alpha version of an olive branch. I watched as Ian paused, then begrudgingly took the beer.
Yes!
Amy and I exchanged a no look high five, we were best friends after all, and she was watching the exchange thinking the same thing as me.
Ian scowled at us. “Girls, outside, now.” It was disturbing how much my brother ordered us around like Cade did to me.
We sat down outside and I gazed over at my brother expectantly.
“Well?”
“Jesus, Gwen, you’ve barely got your ass in the chair. Same as when you were little, no patience.”
I rolled my eyes. “I can’t help that I’m a naturally curious person, Ian. It’s what you love most about me.” I ignored his snort. “Now spill.”
He took a tug of his beer before looking between Amy and me. “My next tour of duty ends at the start of next year,” he began. My heart started pounding, hoping this was going where I thought it was going. I nodded frantically for him to go on.
“After thinking about it, and all the shit that’s been going on, I’ve decided it will be my last tour. I’m getting too old for this shit anyway.”
I let out a squeal and leaped out of my chair to hug my big brother. “This is so freaking awesome, Ian!” I exclaimed, giving him a kiss on the cheek while he chuckled. “Seriously, soon I’ll be able to stop checking every news site in the morning to see what new horrors are going on in the world and worrying which one you are experiencing.” I looked him in the eyes with a tear running down my cheek.
“Come on, Ace, no tears, you know I hate it when you cry. Plus, you should be happy about this, it’s what you and Mum have been nagging me about for years.”
“I am happy, you dork! I’m just emotional. Oh my god, I have to tell Mum, she will be so happy. I’ll call her right now.” I jumped up, turning to run into the house to get my cell when Ian stopped me.
He glanced at his watch. “Ace, it’s four-thirty in the morning back home right now.”
I waved my hand, “Mum won’t care, she’s an early riser.”
Ian gave me a look. “I’ll call her, Gwen. Just wait a second. Jesus.”
“Okay, okay,” I conceded, watching my brother stare over at Amy, who hadn’t said a word since the announcement.
“Ames?” he said softly, eyes so full of love it almost made me cry.
She scowled at him, eyes red and angry, her glare marring her face.
“Fuck you, Ian,” she shot back, venom lacing her voice. She shoved her chair back and stormed inside.
I was not expecting her to react like that. Ian obviously wasn’t either. He drained his beer and pushed back his chair with so much force it toppled over, then he followed Amy back into the house.
“Well, shit,” I exclaimed after the door had slammed. I glanced over at Cade, who was reclined back in the chair, legs straight, crossed over each other. He even sat like a fricking alpha male. I skipped over to him, jumping on his lap, so I was straddling him.
“How cool is that? Ian coming home. Aside from Amy’s reaction, this is awesome!” I kissed Cade excitedly.
“Great news, babe. Happy my girl is going to have one less worry on her hands.” He deepened our kiss and all other thoughts left my mind.
“Thanks for letting me leave early, Gwen, you rock!” Rosie said as she checked her cleavage in the store mirror.
“It’s nothing, I’m not going to twat block you if the guy is as hot as you say he is.”
Rosie turned, a serious look on her face. “Oh he is, you could cast him in marble and create a piece of art out of this man.” She got a dreamy look on her face and I laughed.
“Go!” I ordered. “And have wild sex with this guy.”
She ran up and kissed my cheek.
“Don’t worry I intend to and don’t tell my brother I’m on a date. Now, he’s the ultimate twat blocker. I couldn’t lose my virginity until I was nineteen, ‘cause he had the guys beat up anyone who freaking kissed me,” she ranted angrily before replacing her scowl with a smile. “Got to go, my Greek god is waiting!” she sang before all but skipping out the door, which was no mean feat in six-inch heels.
I smiled, wondering if she was serial dating to get Luke out of her mind, then I scolded myself. I mustn’t meddle. Oh, who was I kidding? Of course I was going to, but first I’d see how her date went.
I busied myself with tidying the store. It had been a long busy day and it was still an hour till close, I wanted to get out of here ASAP. Dwayne was sitting outside on his bike, like he had been for the past three hours, I bet he was bored shitless.
It had been a crazy week. Ian had left two days ago, which sucked. I hated saying goodbye, but it was so good knowing I wouldn’t be doing it for much longer. The last days of his stay had been relatively uneventful, Amy was still refusing to talk to him after some fight they had which she wouldn’t tell me about. Her reluctance to tell me anything when I was dying to know what was going on was getting annoying. We were best friends, she was morally obligated to tell me everything. Ian was the same, telling me it was between him and Amy no one else.
Apart from that tension, we enjoyed hanging out, almost like old times. He was even making an effort with Cade, who wasn’t around much, but they still got along when they were together. I was happy, whether it was for my sake or not, I was glad.
Things between them got even less tense on Ian’s last night. We were about to go to Valentines to dinner, with Amy even agreeing (grudgingly) to come. Cade had announced he “had to have a word” with Ian and instructed us to go and drink cocktails before dinner.
This had made me immensely curious and slightly pissed at being ordered around, but Cade had given me one of his no nonsense stares. Amy and I had spent two cosmos discussing what they could have been talking about before they arrived, Cade (gasp) smiling, which was a rare occurrence for my hard ass biker.
I had grilled him later that night asking what they were talking about, but he refused to tell me, only saying, “It was guy shit, babe, nothing for you to worry about.”