Bros
“Well, you two look good together,” Anderson said with a smirk.
“Don’t we? Told you she fits. See the way she fills all my negative spaces? It’s perfect.”
“You have it bad.”
“Not as bad as an i*** who told a woman she’d be having his brown bables within a year,” Cruz frowned at Anderson. “Did you actually think it would work?”
“I blurted it out. First time in my life I ever panicked in front of a woman. I flirted with her, and she wouldn’t even respond and I f*****g panicked and now I’ve been hiding from her brother. Have you ever seen him?. The man is jacked. I mean he’s not as big as you, but they could use you as a body double for Dave Bautista. Few men on earth are as big as you but fairly sure Halima’s brother weighs a hundred and five kilos, easily. He’s also been arrested multiple times for running with a motorcycle gang.”
hit.”
“I thought for sure you’d take the hit.”
“I’m a lover not a fighter Cruz. I need this face to convince her I’m pretty enough to be with her.”
“You’re an idiot.”
“And you’re not? Did you tell her the truth yet?”
“Shut up,” Cruz hissed and looked over his shoulder in the direction of the restaurant.
“You f*****g pansy. I’m still shocked you hid it from me until yesterday and you still didn’t tell her?”
“No.”
“It might change things for you.”
“She admitted she crushed on me since she was a little girl. Let me bask in the glow of it for a bit.”
“Cruz. You were the reason her heart got broken when she graduated college.”
“He didn’t deserve her.” Cruz looked away sheepishly.
“You need to tell her.”
“She’s going to hate me.”
“Make the wedding real. You texted me when you were meeting with the wedding planner for the right price you could get licenses and make it all real. She doesn’t even have to know until you get home. Move her in with you. Done and dusted.”
“I’m not tricking her, Anderson. I want her to want to marry me for real.”
“Cruz. You need to tell her then. She might want to do it for real if she knows.”
“Or she’ll punch me in the balls because she’s the right height,” he held his hand to waist, “then she’ll stomp
on my barely healed feet, leave me at the altar and likely have it livestreamed to f**k me over again, and then, she’ll kill me off in every book from now until she stops writing.”
“Kill you off?” Anderson laughed.
Bros
“She kills Odin off in every book.
“She does not!” Anderson threw his head back and laughed. “I mean if I could, I would. He’s been such a douche lately.”
не
“He was plotting with Ramona to f*****g drug me and let her abuse me,” Cruz gave a shudder of rage. When I threw him from the room, I told him I knew all his secrets. He didn’t know what secrets I meant but I told him I was going to tell his whole family in retaliation for trying to get me assaulted. The look on his face was pure panic. I almost took it back but then remembered what he’d done. When did he turn so f***** evil?”
“I don’t know,” Anderson took a breath, “but you’re changing the topic. Cruz, you never told anyone until yesterday the one time you saw her naked, riding the skinny kid in the dorm room changed everything for you. You sure as f**k didn’t tell anyone you made your friend hire him in Texas with all the bells and whistles a young single man would run towards. You knew he’d leave her behind.”
“He wasn’t good enough,” Cruz mumbled,
“Then you f****d off to Toronto and met Ramona!”
“I tried to forget her,” Cruz groaned and rubbed his forehead. “needed to forget her but I was the first person in the room that night and she was,” he gave a shake of his head, “she was like an ethereal s*x goddess, completely naked, head thrown back, red hair everywhere, eyes closed, perfect body and then Odin who was coming down the hall behind me slammed into me and jumped onto my back. The sound made her eyes open, and it was all over. Those ten seconds were burned into my eyes forever.”
“Your exact words were my retinas will never be the same!” Anderson mocked him, “no f*****g wonder she thought you hated her.”
“They weren’t the same.”
“I didn’t see what you saw. I pushed into Odin a microsecond too late, or it was perfect timing. She was already on the floor, the guy was screaming, and she was yelling at us to get the f**k out.”
“She told me she got hurt. When she fell off his d**k riding reverse cowgirl, she bent him the wrong way and it ripped her. She said she couldn’t pee without pain for weeks.” Guilt hit him again. “T**k we were bastards to her. Why did we do all those things to her?”
“That was the last one” Anderson said quietly.
“Yeah, because I saw her naked and f*****g. She was f*****g some scrawny little guy who could pass as a woman.”
“A guy you got rid of.”
“She doesn’t need to know.”
“It’s not a good basis for a marriage,” Anderson said bluntly.
“It’s not a real marriage.”
“You want it to be.”
“No s**L. She gets me, man and damned if I don’t become an oversized guard dog when she’s around. I want to rip throats out. Wait until you see the damn bartender in the lounge later. He makes you look ugly. He flirts with her and gives her top shelf without even asking for it. He’s even asked her to stay and sit to keep him company while he works. I get her the f**k out of there as soon as I can every time. I’ve been trying to get her
224
Bran
to come with me to the other bar on the resort for no other reason than to avoid him completely”
“Sloane told me Presley has it bad for you, Cruz. She also warned me if you hurt her, she’s going to do something to you so horrible what Presley did an pranks will look amateur”
Cruz made a face, “It’s fine. I won’t hurt her”
“You think keeping this secret isn’t going to hurt her?” Anderson reached out and grabbed his bicep, “tell her the truth before you lose her. I can see it in your face you’re in love with her. It hasn’t taken long for you to fall hard because it started the minute you saw her riding reverse cowgirl. You were at her damn graduation Cruz. Even I didn’t know it”
“I heard the little punk telling his mother he was going to propose to her, and I freaked out.”
“Tell her.”
I can’t
“She might be flattered,”
“She told me she cried for months after he left. I did that to her. I made her cry.”
“All’s fair in love and war.” Anderson quipped.
“Except I didn’t stick around for the love part. I broke her heart by shipping the little nerd as far away as I
could think and then I hightailed it back to Toronto.*
“Ramona moved in with you not long after.”
“I know. What an i*** I was.” Cruz grumbled. “She was here in the lobby earlier and I made security drag her away, I threatened to use all the s**t I saw her do when we were together to make her friends all hate her if
she didn’t f**k off.”
“Did it work?”
“I have no idea, but her folks are due here soon.” He frowned, “how the f**k did you guys all get on flights from Vancouver so easily, but her parents can’t get in from Toronto yet?”
“I have no idea. It wasn’t me or Sloane. We were laughing because when we got to the airport, there were several people on our flight who’d been bumped, and it wasn’t us who got on last minute.”
“It’s strange,” Cruz commented. “Did you want to run your bags up to your room and meet us in the
restaurant?”
“Yes. I’m damn well starving. They fed us breakfast on the flight and I’m not one to gag but the consistency of the eggs was suspiciously like someone jizzed all over them.”
“Never eat the airplane eggs.” Cruz made a face. “I’ll meet you in there.”
“Where is Odin? You haven’t seen him at all?”
“Nope.”
“I’ll find out his room number shortly and we’ll drag him out if we have to.”
“Great. For now, meet me in the restaurant.” Cruz and Anderson exchanged their typical half hug and clap on the back and then went in opposite directions.
Entering the restaurant, he stopped to watch Presley with her family. Despite her saying how much she and
Bios
her father fought all the time, it was so clear she was a daddy’s girl. Her head was on his shoulder, and she was laughing at something Halima was telling her. Surrounded by her family, she appeared relaxed, not uptight and high strung like she’d been the last couple of days and looking content.
Her eyes met his across the room and he gave her a smile and slowly sauntered over, taking the empty seat
next to her.
“Everything okay?” she asked him not moving from her father’s shoulder.
“Yes. Just doing a quick catchup with Anderson. He’s dropping off his bags and he’ll be right down.”
“How unfortunate,” Halima griped.
He chuckled, “he’s not so bad, Halima.”
“On the plane over here, I got stuck seated between him and Sloane. Now, I love Sloane but he’s a filthy sneaky bugger. I was terrified to fall asleep in case he impregnated me through osmosis or something. He actually told me he’s going to tie us together forever with our love child.”
Cruz shook his head, “you’ve captured his attention, Halima. I’ve never seen my friend take on a battle he hasn’t won.”
“He’s not winning this time.”
“Why not?” Cruz played wingman for his friend. “He’s smart, funny, gorgeous though not my type,” he earned the chuckle from Gavin, “rich and there is one thing Anderson won’t do, is lie or cheat on you. He’ll fight dirty but lying is off the table. If you ask him if he poked the hole in the condom, he’ll admit it.”
“What about you Cruz,” Sloane asked with narrowed eyes. “Do you lie, cheat and fight dirty?”
The conversation he shared with Anderson echoed in his brain and he shook his head, “of course I’ll fight dirty. It’s Ladybird and I want her with me.”
“Don’t do anything stupid, son,” Gavin muttered. “If you hurt her, it won’t only be Sloane and Halima you need to watch out for. Scarlett and Marsha will be pissed if you make her sad but if you make her cry, I’ll rip your insides out the way a bear does to fish during a salmon run,”
“Dad!” Presley blinked at the cool tone of her father.
Cruz shifted in his seat and nodded at the man, Anderson’s demands for him to tell her his secrets weighing
heavily on his mind. “Understood, sir.”
With that, he realized he was f****d.
Tatienne Richard
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Another Brunch
Another Brunch
Presley smiled when Cruz’s hand rested on her knee under the table during their luncheon with their friend and family. He was acting like a possessive boyfriend, a real boyfriend, and while she knew he wanted them to be a real couple, it felt good to know he was still of this mindset even in front of the family.
He was doting and it felt nice and even her father shot a couple of little smiles in their direction.
Her happiness though felt a complete contrast to Halima’s. The woman was pissed off. She couldn’t help but snicker at the way Halima was shooting Anderson death glares and she and Sloane exchanged more than one curious look at the way their friend was behaving. They were realizing she was not as immune to Anderson as she said she was and to Presley and Sloane, it was kind of funny to see their unflappable friend
at a loss.
Her thoughts were interrupted by her name being called.
“Presley!” a voice called from the end of their table. “Wow, you have everyone here.”
“Paris,” she smiled at the woman. “How are you?”
“Fantastic! I think I might have sealed the deal to get rid of my party pooper friends,” she rounded the table and crouched between Cruz and Presley, “I saw Ramona out in the garden area sobbing pitifully and sent my friends to find out what was wrong with her. They brought her back to the villa for drinks. My husband and I
vacated to give them privacy.”
Her words carried around the table making everyone stop talking to listen.
“What is happening?” Anderson was frowning as he lifted his water glass to his lips.
“This is Paris. We met here. She has friends who are looking for a third in their relationship and thought maybe Ramona would be a good fit.”
Anderson choked on his water as the rest of the table appeared shocked.
“Oh, don’t be a bunch of prudes,” Paris mocked them all. “My husband and I are in an open relationship. I’ve been making a play for Presley here all week, but Cruz is very jealous and possessive. Apparently, his Ladybird is his and his alone.” She squeezed his shoulder laughing. “He does not want to share her despite how much I beg.” She winked at Anderson, “I mean I even said we could share her together and he said no.”
“I’m going to need another drink,” Gavin grunted causing Paris to really look at him.
“Oh, you’re Presley’s daddy and you must be her mom,” Paris was immediately on her feet and moving to get closer to Scarlett. “You and I should talk sweetheart. You are beautiful.”
Gavin turned to Presley with raised eyebrows, and she shrugged. Paris was older th than her parents however it seemed Paris was not opposed to an older woman as su Paris was well and truly on the hunt in Nice.
Presley but younger ogled Scarlett openly.
“Why have me when she can have the OG?” Presley laughed as Paris appeared quite distracted by her mother and Scarlett was chatting her up like a seasoned professional flirt. However, then Marsha was leaning closer to Paris and Scarlett was making introductions and Paris was definitely checking Odin’s mother out and the entire table were exchanging glances.
It was clear the three women were bonding in a weird way which made Presley uncomfortable, and her father
Another Brunch
shifted in his seat draining his entire wine glass and reaching for the wine bottle and filing if up
Cruz snickered, “get it, Paris and Marsha.”
Gavin reached behind Paris and smacked Cruz in the back of the head causing her to laugh and Cruz to rub his scalp with a grin.
“Totally worth it,” he whispered in her ear.
She put her hand atop his on her knee shaking her head at his antics.
“Dad?” Odin’s voice called out and the entire table went quiet. “Mom?” he was incredulous at the sight of
Marsha with his father and Scarlett. “What are you all doing here?”
“We told you they were coming, dork,” Presley commented as she looked him over. She frowned, “are you drunk already?”
“No,” he swayed on his feet and gripped the back of the chair Sloane was sitting in. When she smacked his hands, he slapped hers back. “Don’t be a b***h, Sloane.”
“Watch how you talk to my sister,” Anderson got up from his seat and glared at Odin. He leaned closer and sniffed him, “you smell like a brewery.”
“I had a beer or two down the street at a pub. I went for a walk, and it was hot, so I stopped for a drink. So what?” He stared at Anderson, “Why are you all here?”
“For our wedding,” Cruz called out. Before Presley could address her father’s stiffening shoulders, he continued, “We can talk more about it when you’re sober. How about you join us for lunch if you can behave like a decent human being for thirty minutes? We ordered a bunch of shareable plates. There is enough for
you.”
“Does this count as brunch for this month,” Odin pushed his luck as he moved to sit next to Anderson,
“Yes,” Presley nodded before her father could argue. She was impressed at how Anderson didn’t even move away and was completely comfortable with Odin, despite knowing what he knew. Anderson was a far better friend to Odin than he deserved.
When Odin reached for the wine bottle, he grimaced at Gavin when the man pulled it away from him.
“No more alcohol Odin. We’re going to have a chat once you’re sober. We thought it would be tomorrow but seeing as you’re half–cut by lunchtime I might simply lock you in a room until you’re dry.”
Odin looked at Paris after rolling his eyes at his father, “who is she?”
“My lover,” Marsha spoke bluntly and Paris, being the fly by the seat of her pants woman she was, nodded emphatically and rose from her position and moved to sit right on Marsha’s lap.
“But I saw her here yesterday with other people. She even was near Ramona last night.”
Paris shrugged, “I’m a free spirit, sweetie. I’m young, carefree and experimental.”
“I hid my sexuality for too long in order to protect your fragile ego, Odin and more importantly, I was scared of your shitty temper.” Marsha was blunt in a way she never was before. “Paris and her husband are here in Nice on vacation and I’m looking for a good time.”
Paris kissed Marsha’s cheek, “sweetie, we have a huge villa all to ourselves. We can help you be the woman you deserve to be. In fact,” she boldly looked at Scarlett and Gavin, “we can happily hold a dinner part with
2/4
the five of us and share some drinks and see where things go.”
What started out as a joke was now making Presley uncomfortable but then her father added in his
thoughts
“We might take you
up on that, Paris. Sounds like a good time. I’m happy to watch the girls have fun.”
Presley felt Cruz vibrating behind her as he tried to stem his laughter. Anderson was covering his face with his hand as looked everywhere but at Gavin, Scarlett and Marsha. Sloane and Halima were wide–eyed Odin looked like he was going to throw up
“You’re considering watching your wife and your ex–wife have sex with a stranger, another woman?” Odin glowered at his father.
“We are a table of adults and while I don’t typically talk about my s*x life in front of my children,” he shot Presley a look, “after your mother read out loud to me one of the scenes from your last book, I feel like this makes us even.”
“You can’t be serious,” Odin was almost hyperventilating.
“My husband will be there to keep you company Gavin, and he’ll certainly help you navigate us with our
boundaries.”
Odin looked at Presley, “you’re okay with this?”
“I’m not hung up on my parents‘ sexuality. Honestly, I’ve seen them have s*x more than once. I mean, I didn’t stick around. I simply covered my eyes and backed out of the room. Do I want to be around their little party? No but would I be upset at what they chose to do in their own lives? Nope.”
nad you’re not gay. You’re going to be in a room with another man?”
“Why not? I’m not a gay man but I’m not scared of another man’s p***s, either.”
Odin looked at the wine bottle longingly and Presley almost snickered as Cruz lifted it and filled his own glass and holding Odin’s gaze, sipped the glass and smacking his lips.
“You think this is cool?” Odin asked Cruz with his nostrils flared.
Cruz didn’t look away from the question and nodded, “why not? Hell, if Gavin and Paris’s husband decided to ing to remain calm, 1 wouldn’t care. I don’t go all the way with one another,” he smirked at Gavin who was care about such things, Odin. To me, love is love.” He draped his arm over Presley’s chair and kissed her temple, “right babe?”
“Definitely. There is nobody at this table who would ever judge a person on their sexuality. I actually wrote an entire novel where the female lead kept two male lovers, and the two men got it on all the time. No biggie.”
Anderson flexed and looked at Sloane, “we have a cousin who is a drag queen in Montreal. They’re amazing. They bring the most fun to family reunions.”
“True story,” Sloane tipped her wine glass at her brother.
“This is bullshit,” Odin started to go off but then Sloane cut him off before he could.
Sloane yawned loudly over Odin’s blustering, “it was such a long flight. I hope the food gets here soon
because I need to sleep off this jetlag. We have a wedding to plan.”
“You’re really getting married,” Odin glared at Cruz. “You’ve never liked her.”
Another Brunch
Anderson and Cruz exchanged a look and Presley didn’t miss it, What the hell was that? She wanted to but then held back knowing she didn’t want to make Odin question them in the moment.
“I have always liked her, Odin. I simply didn’t know how to express It.” Cruz shrugged. “I mean as kids, | considered her a post but only the way any best friend of an older brother would. As we got older, it change Spending time with her since I moved back to Vancouver has reaffirmed for me how much I do care for her She’s important to me Odin and I’m not ready to let her walk away from me now
A sick feeling settled in her tummy as Presley considered the words were only half–truths. She wanted them to be real. She wanted him to mean them.
“And you?” Odin broke into her thoughts. “You love him too?”
“Always have, always will,” she gave a tight smile and lifted her glass to her lips, taking a long sip.
The server arriving with their orders stopped further conversation and Presley was glad. This felt like it was going to be a very long day despite the fact it was already half over.
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