Forbidden | BxB

30

"What did you two do last night?" Mrs. Holland asked as she washed her hands in the kitchen sink.

Brayden stuffed his mouth full of cereal so he had an excuse to not answer. Nicholas rolled his eyes and popped a cheerio into his.

"We went to the arcade," He told his mother while leaning against the kitchen counter. He was sore, and the way he flinched at his own movements made Brayden bite his lip.

"Oh, that sounds fun," She said with a smile and dried her hands off with a small towel. "Did you guys win anything big?"

"Nah," Brayden said, wiping the milk off of his lips with the back of his hand. "Nicholas had insisted that we give our tickets to the little kids near us."

"That was sweet," Kirsten said and smiled at the two boys. "And again, I apologize that Justin and I got home so late. Traffic's horrible."

"It's fine Mom," Nicholas said, "We were sleeping anyways. It's not like we needed anything."

Brayden's phone buzzed and he took it out of his pocket. His eyebrows furrowed slightly and Nicholas glanced at him.

"Is everything alright?" Kirsten asked, noticing the two's expressions.

"Ah, it's just my dad," He told her. "Everything's good, he just wanted to know where I was."

"Speaking of your father, how is he?" She inquired as she turned on the stove. Nicholas could tell that she was just trying to make small talk.

"He's....the same as always," Brayden said, whiling typing a quick reply. "Always in a bad mood, you know how he is..."

Kirsten nodded knowingly. "I'm sorry to hear that. But you already know that you're welcome here any time."

"I know," Brayden said, forcing a soft, sincere smile. "Thank you."

Mr. Holland walked in and set his paper down onto the table. He kissed Kirsten on the cheek, making her smile, and then looked at his son.

"Alex called the house phone a few minutes ago," Justin told him. "You should invite her over. We haven't seen her in ages."

"It's a nice day to go swimming," Kirsten agreed with her husband, nodding her head.

Nicholas looked over at Brayden, who shrugged. "Alright," He said, "Can Con come over too?"

—

Alex put her hair up into a tight bun and put her hands on her hips. "Is the water cold?" She asked.

Connor dipped his toes into the lake. "It's fine, Alex. I think you'll live," He teased.

Brayden threw his towel onto the deck and jumped into the water. The water around him ejected upwards and splashed the other three.

"Dick," Nicholas laughed and jumped in after him.

Alex rolled her eyes and Connor gave her a knowing look. She sighed and sat down on the ledge, gently lowering herself into the liquid.

She flinched and pulled herself back up. "It's cold," She whined. Connor licked his lips and a grin appeared on his face. "Don't you dare!"

Connor shoved her into the water and the boys laughed. Alex came back to the surface, wiped her face, and glared at the boy. "You ass!" She yelled.

Connor lightly jumped in next to her and smiled. "At least you're in."

Brayden chuckled. "Thank you Connor. Without you, we'd be waiting all day for her."

"Oh shut up, Brayden," Alex huffed.