“You’ve been gone forever,” I tell him. “At least, it feels that way now that I have to deal with Mom all by myself.”
“Seriously,” he says, stepping back to fix me with a hard stare. “You have a phone. Use it. If anything happens, I need to know. I’m not putting up with more of this I didn’t want to worry you shit, alright? Especially if Orlando gives you more of that you’re going to make a grand prize one day crap. Got it?”
“Yeah, yeah,” I say, rolling my eyes and getting back to cutting my orange. “Got it.”
“I’m serious, Bri,” he says. “I don’t like the shit that’s going down in this house. If things get weird, go next door. Tanner will look out for you. I spoke to his mom. She seems cool and is okay to take you in if you need a place to lay low.”
My mouth drops as my head whips up to gape at my brother. “You spoke to my boyfriend’s mother about me? What the hell, Damien? Not cool.”
He rolls his eyes as though I’m being a dramatic child and it’s the most infuriating thing I’ve ever seen. “Chill out, it’s not like I went over there to discuss your relationship with the guy. I just wanted to make sure you had somewhere to go if shit hits the fan here.”
“You’re an ass,” I remind him.
Damien scoffs. “At least I’ve got one, Pancake. Ever heard of a squat?”
My mouth drops and I stare at him in horror, more than ready to take a bitch out. “Take that back,” I demand, my hands twitching for a fight. “I’ve been working on my ass. It’s juicy now. A perfectly suitable bubble butt.”
He scoffs again. “Right. Sure you have.”
“Don’t you have a plane you need to catch?”
Damien’s gaze snaps up to the clock on the wall and lets out a heavy sigh. “Yeah, I do. I better get out of here, actually. You good here? You got everything you need?”
“I’m fine,” I say for the millionth time since he first got here. “You know I’m eighteen, right? I’m not a little kid. I can take care of myself.”
The asshole just smirks back at me before fixing his bag over his shoulder and backing away. “You keep telling yourself that.” He turns and starts walking out of the kitchen before stopping and glancing back at me. “Bri?” he calls.
My head lifts from my orange and I do what I can to not get emotional about him leaving again. The first time was hard enough, but I suppose with the line of work he’s getting into, this is just something I’m going to have to get used to. “Yeah?” I say, my voice low to mask the lump that’s quickly growing in my throat.
“Don’t let Mom get married again,” he says, a stupid grin on his face. “Oh, and keep away from hard wax. We don’t need a repeat of lipgate, especially when I’m not here to laugh my ass off.”
My mouth drops open, humiliation washing through me, and before I can launch my orange across the kitchen, the fucker disappears. “We had a pact,” I call after him, knowing damn well we shook on that. The great lip incident of ninth grade was never to be spoken of, but if the fucker wants to play dirty, then I’m more than happy to remind him about the time he sneeze-farted in seventh grade and accidentally followed through.
The only response I get is a booming laugh before I hear the front door slam closed behind him, leaving me with a heavy heart despite the need to pulverize him. It’s only a few more weeks and then he’ll be back to torture me some more. Until then, I’m sure I can convince Mom she needs an extended honeymoon seeing as though she had to cut her Paris trip short. She’s always wanted to visit Italy and go skiing in Switzerland. Hell, I could come up with a six month plan if that’s what she needs. A trip around the world to visit every popular tourist destination on Orlando’s credit card? Consider it done.
Concentrating on breakfast, I get everything sorted, and as Jensen comes downstairs to eat, I make a point in sharing what I’ve made. After all, I’m already at war with both Mom and Orlando, I don’t need that same bullshit with Jensen. Besides, he’s really not so bad. He keeps out of my way and in return, I keep out of his … ya know, unless Tanner’s in a rage induced temper tantrum, and I just happen to have a set of broken ribs and no car. However, I’m hoping I won’t be put in that same situation again.
“Was that your brother leaving?” Jensen mumbles around a bite of food, barely glancing up as he speaks.