My Boyfriend, Me, and His Brother

Chapter 2

"Cut it out!" I hissed quietly to Devon as i walked by him. He had been staring at me since Cody and I had rejoined the barbecue in the backyard, and it was starting to make me feel really self-conscious.

I heard him chuckle behind me, and i clenched my fists in frustration. Why did i like that jerk again? I asked myself. I already knew the answer though. Devon wasn't really a jerk, he was far from it actually. He was just as sweet as Cody, he just acted like this when he was hurting. Over the six years that i had known Devon, i had realized that he hid behind his jerk self. What killed me most was knowing that i was the one causing him to act like this.

"Hey beautiful. You okay?" Hands grabbed my waist from behind. I whipped around, taken off guard. My thoughts instantly flew to Devon, him holding my waist in his room. When i discovered it was Cody, i was instantly ashamed that i had even thought about Devon. I should've been thinking about my boyfriend,not his brother, after all.

"Huh? Oh, yeah i'm fine." I smiled, waving my hand dismissively. Truth was, i was far from fine, i was a wreck.

"You look stressed." Cody stated, gently pushing my long brown hair behind my ear. I closed my eyes and leaned into his hand.

He cupped my cheek, and lightly kissed my nose. I giggled and opened my eyes. He smiled at me, with his perfectly straight and white teeth. I examined his face slowly, taking in his short, light brown curls and his eyes the same shade of gray as his brothers. Though, where Cody's eyes were always soft and kind, Devon's were mysterious. People could never tell how he was feeling. Except for me. My mind added. I had seen him when it was just me and him, and in those moments, his eyes were softer and kinder than Cody's. Okay, stop comparing those two! I mentally scolded myself. Cody's your boyfriend, focus on him.

"I'm not. Just overwhelmed by all the people here." I finally responded to his stresses statment, looking around the big backyard. There had to be ten families here, at least. I had only been expecting five, maybe six, definitely not this many! So, i wasn't really lying to Cody about that, i just left out the whole Devon problem. No matter how understanding and amazing Cody was, i don't think he would be okay with me being somewhat in love with his brother.

"I know. Mom pretty much invited the whole neighborhood. She's just so excited that Devon's back for the summer and she feels the need to celebrate." Cody laughed, rolling his eyes. I laughed too. We both knew that his mom was a bit, well, enthusiastic. I had never seen that lady without a smile, unless the boys had done something bad, then she got scary angry. Other than those few times though, she was the sweetest woman i had ever met. She was short and had the same brown curls as Cody, but her hair was dark brown like Devon. She had pixie like features, with wide blue eyes. She was also like my second mother.

"That's your mom for you. Speaking of, where is she?" I asked, looking around the backyard.

 Over by the gigantic pool there were small kids running around, playing and yelling. There was a group of men gathered around the grill, where Mr. Bower was cooking the hot dogs and hamburgers. Other people were just randomly spread out, chatting and laughing. Then, i saw Devon. Our eyes locked, and i realized how angry he looked. He glanced at Cody, whose back was to him, and his jaw clenched. He was definitely jealous, and of his own younger brother. Oh gosh, i was going to ruin their relationship, and tear their brotherhood apart! I wouldn't be able to live with myself if i did that. I mean, they weren't particularly close, but they still had their brotherly moments.

Devon's eyes returned to mine, and his expression changed a bit, to one of longing. I looked at him sadly, trying to send him an apology with my eyes. I don't know if it had gotten across to him or not, because our moment was interupted by a hand waving back and forth in front of my face. My eyes snapped to Cody, who was looking at me, amused.