Taking Chances (Taking Chances 1)

We all laughed and Jeremy eyed me curiously, “Sis, what the fuck are you doing?”

“Language!” I chastised him but started giggling uncontrollably when I still couldn’t get down, “I can’t get back down. I usually can’t even jump up here. How the hell did I get up here Konrad?”

“Language!” Jeremy tried to mimic my pitch as he scooped me off the counter. “God you’re so short.”

“No, the rest of you are just freakishly tall.” I pushed him away from me and went to stand by Bree, since she was much closer to my height.

“Aww, are they making fun of you again sweetheart?” Brandon was grinning when he rounded the corner, “I can’t believe anyone would ever make fun of your height. Because you’re average height, right?”

I glared at him until he wrapped his arms around me with my favorite smile and his dimple flashing at me, “Exactly.” I reached up on my tiptoes and kissed him soundly.

“Uh, one, get a room. Two, Harper I want you to meet Aubrey.”

I peeked around Brandon’s side and saw a pretty girl with pale skin, raven black hair and wide brown eyes tucked under Jeremy’s arm. Oh my word they were cute together. “Hi Aubrey!” I walked over to them and hugged her quickly, dropping my arms and stepping back when I remembered how much I hated being hugged before Bree socialized me.

“Aubrey, this is my sister-in-law, Harper.”

She gave a small wave and blushed when she smiled, oh yeah, we were going to get along just fine. “Nice to meet you Harper, you have a beautiful home.”

“Thank you! Aubrey, this is my best friend Breanna and her fiancé Konrad.” I waited until they said their hellos and stepped back into Brandon’s arms, “And I’m guessing you just met Brandon?”

She nodded and bit her lower lip, trying to curl further into Jeremy’s arm.

“Um, no! Where is the little munchkin?” One of the twins called from the dining room.

I laughed and when Kate and Laura walked into the kitchen, I went to hug them both. “He’s at Mom and Dad’s for the night, figured this would be a little much for him. You girls remember Konrad and Bree?”

Laura jumped over to Bree’s side for a hug and Kate crossed her arms and failed at glaring at me, “I wanted to see my little Liam though.” She pouted and drug her feet to hug Bree.

“Next time,” I promised them, “besides, we have four or five single guys fresh out of the Marine Corps coming today, you really want to be playing with a baby that whole time?”

“Oh my God, really?!” They both said at the same time.

I laughed and nodded. The twins were Brandon and Jeremy’s cousins, only a year younger than myself and insanely beautiful. They had a good half foot on me, had blue eyes and unnatural blonde hair, but they rocked it pretty well. Other than their eyes, I still hadn’t found a way to tell them apart, thank God Kate had one eye that was half blue and half brown, or I’d always wonder who I was talking to.

“Well then!” Kate said and grabbed her sister’s hand, “We’re going to go change into our bikinis!”

“You do realize we don’t have a pool, right?” I called to their retreating forms.

“Don’t care!”

“I’m going to end up punching someone, aren’t I?” Brandon grumbled from behind me.

“Probably.” I sighed and looked up at him, glad to see he was smiling. “When are you going to start the grill?”

“Already did after I let them in. I’ll put the burgers on a bit after everyone else gets here.”

“Thank you.” I kissed his soft lips and relaxed further into his chest, “And thank you for this, I think it’ll be a good day.”

“I think you’re right.” He lifted me up and sat me on the counter, gave me another kiss that almost reduced me to a puddle and walked over to Jeremy, “Come help me with the ice chests.”

“Brandon! I just barely got down from the counter, and Jeremy had to help me!”

“I know.” He smiled wickedly and walked out to the garage.

I turned to Konrad, “Care to help?”

“Ya know, I forgot to get the ice from the store…wanna go with me baby?” He grabbed Bree’s hand and led her quickly out of the kitchen.

Jerks.

Looking to the only person left in the room I added dryly, “Want to join?”

Aubrey walked up next to me and had to jump three times before she got enough leverage to lift herself all the way up.

“They’re really high up, right? It’s not just me?”

“No, it’s definitely not just you.” She said softly and tucked her hair behind her ears, “Thank you so much for having us, this is really sweet of you.”

“Of course! It’s fun to do. I apologize in advance if it gets rowdy. I don’t know much about the guys coming.”

She laughed and swung her legs back and forth, “That’s fine.”

Man, did I talk this soft too? “So tell me, how did you meet Jeremy?”

“Um, school.”

“Oh yeah? How long have you been dating?”

Aubrey blushed fiercely and looked over to the door leading to the garage, “Only a week. He asked me out a few times last year, we were Chemistry partners, but I don’t know…he scared me.”

“What? Why?”

“Well I mean, besides his size, he’s really popular and outgoing. He was already popular after his first week at the school, and I knew a lot of girls liked him. I don’t know. Guys like him don’t date girls like me, I thought it was a joke.”

The first half of that didn’t surprise me one bit. He’d really filled out in the last year, was built just like Brandon, and looked exactly like him. Their size was intimidating, and they were incredibly handsome. But what the hell? “I’m sorry, I must be missing something, girls like you?”

“He plays football and is the captain of the soccer team, I’m not into sports or anything school related really.”

“If he’s dating you, then I’m pretty sure that doesn’t matter at all to him. You’re gorgeous Aubrey, and you seem really sweet, it’s not hard to see why he likes you. Jeremy doesn’t just date girls…actually, he hasn’t had a girlfriend in the two years that I’ve been with Brandon. So for him to ask you out is a big thing for him. And those boys don’t have a cruel bone in their body, he would never date you as a joke. He’s just like his brother, they’re extremely protective and devoted to the girls in their life. Nothing less.”

She blushed again, “You and Brandon are so perfect together. Jeremy’s told me so much about you both, and seeing you together is cute. It’s obvious how much you love each other.”

I smiled and leaned back on my hands, “We are definitely in love.”

Brandon and Jeremy walked through carrying two ice chests and smiled widely upon seeing us on the counter. Jeremy couldn’t tear his eyes from Aubrey. Oh he was such a goner.

“So then, you’re not into sports, what are you into?”

Aubrey was looking at Jeremy’s back and biting the corner of her bottom lip, “Um, what?” She blinked her doe-like eyes at me.

“Interests,” I laughed and nudged her side, “what are your interests? Besides Jeremy.”

“Oh,” there goes that blush again, I think I’ve met my match in the blushing department, “well I like photography, and I read a lot.”

“What do you read?” I never got into reading, the only books in my house growing up were by Stephen E. Ambrose, R. Lee Ermey or Tom Clancy and those didn’t exactly pique my interest.

“Anything with a love story. I love love triangles.”

How is that exciting? I was in the middle of a love triangle not long ago. It wasn’t exactly fun. I just nodded my head, “And photography?”

She touched the large bag at her side, I’m guessing she had her camera in there, “Anything really. Scenery, people, flowers…” She trailed off.

“I’d like to see them sometime, if that’s okay with you.”

“See what?” Jeremy asked as he jogged back into the kitchen, planting himself between Aubrey’s legs, his hands resting lightly on her waist.

“She said she likes photography.”

Jeremy glanced up at me briefly, “Oh man sis, you should see her stuff, she’s really good. She has her camera with her, why don’t you show her what you have on there Aubrey?”

Kate and Laura chose that moment to come back in and Aubrey’s blush instantly left her face as she took her hand back out of her bag.

“Later.” I whispered and she nodded her head in relief.

Brandon walked into the kitchen talking on my phone, even though I saw it in his hands, I still patted my shorts to make sure I didn’t have it on me, “Yeah, you’ll see a white truck and black Jeep out front, just walk on in. We’re in the kitchen. See ya.” He tapped the screen and handed it to me.

“Carter?”

“Yep, they just pulled onto the street. Where’d Konrad go?”

I rolled my eyes, “Jerk said he forgot to get ice and left me on the counter. Thankfully someone is nice enough and agreed to join me up here after everyone ditched me.”

Brandon looked at Jeremy and started laughing, “Sweetheart, he didn’t forget the ice, we just dumped it all in the ice chests with the drinks.”

Konrad and Bree walked back in the kitchen, Bree looked completely ravished. I narrowed my eyes at him and pointed at his chest, “Ice, huh? Asshole.”

He gave a sheepish grin and shrugged, “I’m sorry, but it’s too funny that you can’t get down.”

“You’re on my list Konrad Anderson. You are on. My. List.” Everyone was laughing loudly when we heard a voice from somewhere in the front.

“Hello?”