“Then good for her. Don’t tell me you expected her to be like you? Unable to hold a relationship because you’re living in the past. Wouldn’t that be too painful for her? You’re my brother, Abe, but I am not going to be on your side with this.”
I arched an eyebrow at her, feeling like this conversation was very ironic. It wasn’t quite the same as it was now, but the gist of it was much the same as when she’d told me about Chris, after I’d met him a couple times when he was still her boyfriend. I didn’t like it, but she managed to talk me into it. I had no intention of talking my sister into going along with my decisions. She was my little sister, and besides my mom, one of the important women still in my life, but she didn’t rule my decisions.
“She might not see me again after yesterday,” I said nonchalantly with a shrug. “So you don’t have to worry yourself so needlessly.”
“Did you do something to her?” she asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at me.
“I didn’t,” I said with a helpless shrug, ignoring the thin string of guilt that tugged in my chest. “We really only went for drinks, and then she got in a cab. I’m not sure she got back okay, but I couldn’t exactly follow her.”
More like I wanted to follow her, but she was entirely too quick and I didn’t know where she was staying while in the city. I didn’t think it was with Nora, so maybe a hotel?
What would I have done if I could have followed her?
My thoughts ran wild. Would I…have followed her to her room and invited myself in? Probably. I would have tried to continue what I started at the club, and I wondered if Brooklyn would have objected or not. I would have peeled off her jacket, then that red dress that clung deliciously to her curves, and taken her to bed…
My body heated up as the fantasy continued. I picked up a glass of wine that had been poured for me already and took a sip. Brooklyn wasn’t the only one still sensitive. From just a kiss, she had left me half hard in my pants. I had tried dating a few times since we broke up, but I could never stand the women my mom tried to set me up with, and I never even attempted to touch them. So, I’d grown intimate with my right hand over the last few years to deal with my frustration and I soon grew bored of one-night stands and wanted a little more connection to come. Like fucking close my eyes and blink a few times and have a relief that would blow my mind. No one. No woman had ever done that for me. But just because I got myself off often didn’t mean I was pent up. Feeling her soft, warm body pressed against me, her taste on my tongue, and her scent in my nose… It was exactly what I’d been waiting for.
“Abe, I hope you’re listening to me,” Maria said warningly.
I looked up at her, pushing away those fantasies. I felt a little uncomfortable, shifting, only to hold still when it made my pants at my crotch tighten up even more. I was feeling a bit aghast at my lack of control. What exactly was I thinking in front of my little sister?
“I heard you properly this time, Maria,” I reassured her. “But there’s no need for you to worry.”
She narrowed her eyes, not looking reassured at all. “You’re still planning on seeing her, aren’t you?”
“If I can, I’m not going to give up the chance,” I said honestly. “I know what happened before a lot better than you do, Maria. Maybe I’ve changed.”
I wasn’t entirely sure about that, but the one thing I was definitely sure of, was how Brooklyn made me feel, and how she was one of a kind. Getting into other relationships always felt like I was just trying to replace her, and every single time it didn’t work out, anyway.
“Listen to me, Abe,” Maria said, abandoning her food and leaning back in her chair like I was, crossing her arms over her chest. “When I met Chris, I never thought we would get so close so quickly.”
I frowned, wondering why she was suddenly talking about him. I opened my mouth to object, but she held a hand up and stopped me.
“Now Chris is the kind of man that knows what he wants and goes for it without hesitation. He’s the kind of man that is committed, the kind that a lot of women would want simply for that quality alone. Do you know what he said to me when he proposed to me? That he was sure he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. Can you compare that to yourself?”
I rolled my eyes at my sister’s naiveté. I didn’t doubt that Chris was committed, but I was sure he was only after one thing, and that was our family’s money. While I didn’t know what he did, and he did seem to have some funds, his level was nowhere near our family’s.
Still, as I thought of how quickly he moved, I couldn’t help feeling some disappointment in myself. He looked older than I had been back then—another reason I didn’t particularly like him for my twenty-one- year-old sister—and he had made the decision for marriage so quickly. Whatever he was really after, he wasn’t the kind of man that hesitated, that was for sure.
Yet I strung Brooklyn along for three years, and she must have thought we would end up married, only for the end result to end in the way it did. I should have handled things better back then, I knew. But, that didn’t mean I was going to stay away from Brooklyn completely now.
This time, I was determined not to give up so easily. I wasn’t just going ahead mindlessly, impulsively. Every moment since I saw her, I’d been thinking about it, and I wondered why we couldn’t work something out.
Chapter Seven
Brooklyn
I sat aside and watched as Nora spoke with the wedding planner she’d hired. We weren’t walking much today, she just had this meeting to attend to, and she’d wanted me to accompany her so I couldn’t refuse. Besides, I didn’t have that many free days left, and the reason I took so much time off was to spend time with her, even if it was just sitting back as she handled her matters.
As much as dealing with an overly hyper best friend was annoying, I knew I would miss her when I left.
My cell vibrated in my purse. I was reaching for it, when a sudden touch on my shoulder startled me, and I looked up to see Nora sit down in the chair across from me.
“Hey, there,” she said, smiling at me. “Sorry to leave on your own like this, bored.”
I sighed and leaned back in my seat, crossing my legs and arms as I arched an eyebrow at her. “You know, if you’re sorry, then you could have just left me alone to sleep. Why did you have to wake me up this morning, huh?”
“It’s not like I woke you up early, for once,” she retorted. “You were practically out of bed when I showed up, and I fed you both breakfast and lunch, so be a little more grateful, would you?”