I pour two glasses of wine and hand her one as I sit down. “This is our normal. Today, tonight… what you see is us. We watch TV, eat good meals, cuddle as close as possible, even throwing in a few lewd comments to aggravate my brother, and hang out. All that drama you experienced is not us. Bryce and I don’t fight. We don’t argue. He won’t let us. He takes care of me. He’s proven many times that he’ll step in and take charge if it keeps me safe and secure.
“The other night, we were treated to a huge dose of how manipulative and nasty people can be. I allowed a shred of doubt to infiltrate the fortress of love Bryce has given me. It was a terrible and relationship changing event. I never want to feel that much pain again in my life.”
I take a deep breath to push down the anxiety at the memory. “There is one good thing that came from this experience, if you can believe it. Bryce and I have spend countless hours discussing exactly how we let this happen. We both take some blame. Bryce isn’t just the love of my life; he’s the only relationship I’ve ever had. In my attempts to be mature and handle Liza my own way, I d
idn’t truly talk to him. That was a mistake. He knew about my jealousy but not about the deep insecurities she planted in me. In turn, he now recognizes his naiveté at misreading the situation.”
“Is it too intrusive to ask what exactly happened?”
“Nope, but you were right to think he didn’t cheat on me.” I explain in detail everything that happened, starting from the beginning. When I’m done, Jamie drains the last of her glass and gets up to pour us more.
“What did Bryce do?” she asks with wide eyes.
“After he cussed her out at the bar, he left and started calling me. He was in the parking lot at the bar when Nate found him. You probably know what happened next.”
“No, Nate was too angry and told me very little. I stayed with you until Bryce picked you up and carried you to his room.”
“Well, apparently, my brother punched the shit out of Bryce and told him I was on the verge of a meltdown here. Once Bryce found out, he took off and came to me.
“When they left the house that morning, Nate promising to protect Bryce’s career, they went straight to Tommy’s house. The party was dying down. Bryce confronted the girls, wanting to know exactly what was said. He didn’t give them a chance to talk at the bar. Nicole had loose lips and spilled. Then she said she was sorry things happened the way they did. Liza was too drunk to comprehend his anger and tried to crawl up his body. His public rejection from earlier didn’t deter her. He physically removed her and handed her to Nate. Dani spoke up and told everyone what she witnessed. My brother had to restrain Liza as she attempted to go after Dani, screaming that she was a traitor.
“According to Bryce, Dani begged to come to me directly, but he stopped her. Told her she’d have her chance to tell the truth. Then Nicole started to back track, but it was too late. Bryce told them that no one fucks with me or us. He also told Liza to forget all the things he ever told her because she’d fucked with the wrong person.”
“That’s despicable. What kind of person does that? And what kind of people support it?”
“The kind of people who are out of our lives.”
“Really?”
“Yes, we both feel betrayed in different ways. Maybe we’re being stuck up or judgmental in our own right, but where we’re from, this doesn’t happen. Friends truly support each other and wish for the best. They don’t sit back and let the backstabbing happen right under their noses. The guys will still work together, but the social aspect is over. From what we can tell, Rick and Dani are decent people.
“But Tommy’s comment to Nicole about it being none of her business where Bryce ‘slips his dick’ was unacceptable.”
“I can see that. The trust is broken,” she agrees.
“In our lives, we hold people accountable for their actions. So, in reality, if Bryce wanted Liza, it’s fine. But you do it after cutting things off with your fiancée. That’s our style. It’s not for everyone, but it’s for us.
“One example is a few years ago when Bryce was going through a break-up. The relationship was over, but the woman had some problems and depended on him a little too much. Nate knew Bryce wanted to patch up our severed friendship, but he stayed neutral until Bryce handled the shit. Then he supported us. It may have been a brotherly thing, but it was also a respect thing.
“I think it’s noble.”
“Nate was smart to keep you away. He saw the disaster for what is was.”
“Why is that? Does he have a sixth sense?”
“Bryce and I talked to him for a while last night. He explained that the parties started to get wilder and wilder at Tommy and Nicole’s. There wasn’t one incident, but he backed off. Then he met you and started to spend time away from the whole gang, so he dropped it. New Year’s Eve, he had a bad feeling. That’s why y’all came back to the house to check on me.”
“Like I said, the whole brotherly protection thing is sexy. It shows loyalty and love.” She licks her lips and wiggles her eyebrows.
“STOP.” I throw my hand in her face. “I do not need to know anything about Nate that is sexy.”
She laughs openly at me for a few minutes while I try my best to ignore her. It’s my turn to drain my glass and refill.
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop, but the look on your face is priceless. Know it or not, your brother is fucking hot.”
“Good looking, handsome, cute… but never hot! Ssstttoooppp!”
She drops her head to the table to hide her face, but her shoulders still jiggle.