Ultimate Game Changer *SAMPLE*

.Six.

Braxton

I wasn't sure we were going to make it, but we lived through Hurricane Emerson. Honestly, I wasn't sure we would. She put us through hell that night in Washington, and most of the yesterday, but she finally recovered.

I don't know what her problem was that day and why she went to such an extreme to piss Cade and me off, but she's calmed down since then. Aiden has still been sniffing around her, and now that I know about his little arrangement with his wife, I don't want Em anywhere near him. He's no good for her. God, she's so fucking innocent, it'd crush her if she ever actually started liking the guy. Cade's been doing a decent job of his brotherly cock-blocking, but I'm thinking I may actually have to step in soon because he can't watch her all the time.

We played Cleveland last night, and our next stop isn't until tomorrow night, so we drove to the next city late last night so that we could spend our day off in Chicago. Hands down, Chicago is one of my most favorite cities to visit. I'm never bored, the pussy is grade A prime and constant, and the city is just alive.

We splurged for cheap enough place to stay for the night that it's not considered a hotel, but expensive enough to have gated entrance so our van and equipment will be semi-safe. It's a place made for kings and queens – The Motor Vu Inn. Fancy. It's so fancy, that I've opted to sleep on top of the bed covers just in case there might be any creepy crawlies inside the sheets. But, the coffee is black and strong and free, most important part.

It's a little past 9:15am in the morning, and I'm just finishing up my shower when I hear a knock at my door. I throw a towel around my waist and head toward the sound. Tossing the door open, I find a surprised Emerson staring down at the small towel draped around my lower half. "Good morning to you too," I say with a smirk. Her eyes travel slow and steady up my body to finally meet mine, but by that time her face is two shades of red.

"Hey," she says, seemingly contemplating her next words. "I just wanted to say thank you for taking care of me the other day, I know I'm not your responsibility and I'm just Cade's annoying little sister, but I appreciate it."

I cock my head to the side. "You're never just going to be Cade's annoying little sister...you've been in my life nearly as long as you've been in his. You're like my own blood. So yeah, in a way, you are my responsibility...just like I expect you to hold my hair back when I puke." I joke, winking at her.

She pushes me in the shoulder lightly. "Thank you, Brax, and I mean that, but sometimes, I just need you guys to back off a little bit. Let me live my life. I'm twenty-two, I don't want to be single for the rest of my life. You guys just need to loosen the reigns a bit. Even Mischa isn't as overbearing as the two of you, and she's our guardian." She sighs, leaning on the doorframe.

"Does this have anything to do with Aiden and all of the attention he's been showing you lately?" I ask, my gaze lowering protectively.

She shakes her head. "No. This doesn't have anything to do with Aiden. This has to do with the fact that when I was sixteen and Terrence Young asked me out, my brother threatened him for a week to leave me alone. This has to do with the fact that when I was seventeen, David Carrington asked me to prom and then a few days later he miraculously had a change of heart. I had to go to prom alone while he took Tara Forner, do you know how much that sucked?" She pauses, gathering her thoughts.

"This has to do with the fact that when I finally turned eighteen, I thought Cade was going to lighten up. I thought for once in my life he was going to let me experience something...anything, and that was shattered when he gave my date a black eye on our first date just for kissing me. Or wait, do you remember the time when I was twenty and it wasn't just Cade but the whole band who ruined my relationship with Evan Driscoll?"