“He’s an emotional guy. Watch a romantic movie where someone dies, or a movie where an animal dies, and he’ll shed a tear.”
Brent shakes his head, but his brothers nod and tell him not to lie to his new girlfriend. I’m grateful this is going well so far and we’re all enjoying ourselves.
“Okay, here’s something for you,” Peter says. “Brent broke into a house and stole a car once.”
With wide eyes, I look at Brent, who curses and glares at his youngest brother. “What the hell, Peter? That’s sacred information that we promised each other we would take to our graves.”
“You were sixteen! I was six. Ronnie was eleven. You returned it and it was for a good reason.”
“It was not for a good reason,” Brent grumbles.
“Will someone tell me what happened?” I plead before they can get distracted with their arguing.
“Our parents had a date night or something and Brent was babysitting us,” Ronnie tells me. “We were annoying the hell out of him and begged for ice cream. After two hours, he had enough. The neighbors were gone on vacation. He went to their house, found the spare key to get inside, found the car keys, and drove us to Dairy Queen for ice cream. He made us swear on our lives that we couldn’t ever tell anyone what he did.”
“And you both broke your promises,” Brent snaps.
“Oh, come on. It’s been over twenty years!” Peter argues.
I will definitely have to talk more about this with Brent later. I can’t imagine him doing such a thing with how he oozes a good guy vibe. For now, I sit back, finish off my pizza, and enjoy listening to the brothers bickering while occasionally answering their questions about myself. Too soon, I have to leave and the guys have to get back to work.
Brent walks me out to my car with a smile on his face. “Told you they would like you.”
“It was more fun than I expected. And I learned a lot more about you.”
“Yeah, if you could forget almost everything you learned, I’d be extremely grateful.”
“Not a chance. Can I have a kiss, just on the cheek, before I go?”
Brent frowns. “On the cheek? What’s wrong with your mouth?” My gaze shifts to the shop where I can clearly see his brothers sort of working, but clearly watching to see how Brent says goodbye to me. Brent doesn’t bother following my gaze. “Don’t pay them any attention, but if you think they’ll cause me to kiss you on the cheek instead of on the mouth, you’re dead wrong, hon.”
The kiss he immediately hits me with weakens my entire body and has his arms wrapping around my waist. If people married on the basis of kisses, just kisses, I would marry Brent in a heartbeat. There’s something about the way he kisses me, even the simple ones, that somehow tells me exactly everything I need to know without telling me anything specific. When I kiss Brent, I know he cares for me, he’d protect me, and he’s a person who needs to be in my life.
“You should kiss me again,” I whisper when he pulls away, already hungry for more.
He chuckles. “If I do, will you see me again tonight? We’ll go out somewhere.”
“Kiss me and I’ll do anything you want.”
Brent’s grin is slow and devilish. “That’s a dangerous promise to make, Jamie.” Before I can respond, his mouth takes mine. I thought I had experienced the best of Brent’s kisses, but I was wrong. This is filthy and dirty and it’s totally not fair that we’re dressed right now. We should be naked.
Brent pulls away, but I keep my eyes closed, not wanting this moment to be over with yet. I hear him chuckle and reach around me.
“I’ll text you when I figure out what we’re doing tonight, unless
there’s something you want to do. If that’s the case, let me know and we’ll do it.” Brent laughs. “Open your eyes, hon. You have to get back and I have to get to work.”
“One last kiss,” I whisper. When he kisses my forehead, I open my eyes, only to glare at him. “Not even funny, Brent.”
“It is a little bit, but you don’t have to admit it. I’ll see you later.” He nods toward my car where he’s opened the door already.
Reluctantly, I leave and return to campus. Hopefully, tonight’s date will involve the two of us doing something romantic. That’s what I’m in the mood for, but I’d also like to see what Brent comes up with. For now, I have to focus on one more class and seeing Erin while I get ready to see Brent again. She’s texted me a few times, needing to talk, so she’s coming over since she insists it needs to be done in person.
My class stinks as usual, but I try to pay attention and be a good student. I don’t want to slack too much because that’ll result in my having to repeat a class and I definitely don’t want to do that. Plus, this is a math class. Not my greatest subject. Luckily, I’m only tortured for an hour before I can move on to a subject I’m well versed in: friendship.
Erin waits outside of the building and steps in next to me. “First, how are you? Everything good with you and Brent?”
“I’m fine and we’re really good. Is everything okay with you?”