His to Love (His #3)

Chapter 26

Turns out none of the girls had time to go for a drinks tonight. So I stayed at home by myself until Braden showed up at my flat. 

I eyed him when he stepped in and he instantly lost his happy expression. He wasn't smiling but I've learned it by now that I know when he's happy just by looking at his face. "What? What's that look for?" he asked me, sitting on the couch beside me. 

"You're an asshole," I told him. 

"Thanks," Braden replied dryly. "I get that called a lot lately."

I snorted. "I wonder why." 

Braden eyed me at that. "You're really such a sunshine to be around, Brooke," he said sarcastically.

I shrugged. "Many people said that we're both very similar, so ..."

Braden let out a sigh. "Won't you offer me anything to drink?"

"You know where you can find it." 

Braden sat on the edge of the couch, staring at me. "What the hell is up with you today, Brooks?"

"What the fuck do you think you're doing with Rory? You gave her the same proposition you give to every other woman! What the hell!" 

Braden clasped his hands together on his legs and got into his usual businessman posture. "What else did you think? I'm not looking for a relationship right now."

"Oh, boo-ho, brother! One woman hurt you in the past so it suddenly gives you the right to hurt everyone else because you're afraid to love someone else again? You men honestly make me sick. If women did that, we would be called whores and bitches. But because it's you, it makes it completely okay!" 

Braden blinked at me a few times, staring at me in shock. "Are we really talking just about me here?" 

I put my legs down on the floor where I previously had them on the couch and stared at Braden. "Let me ask you something - a simple question. If a man came to me, a man that I liked, and gave me the same proposition you give to women ... Would you be okay with that?"

"Why? Did anyone came to you with that proposition?" Braden focused on that rather than answering my question straight away.

"Rhetorically speaking," I said, exasperated. 

Braden frowned. "Nobody better even try. For fuck's sake, you're my little sister!"

I had to roll my eyes at him. "Okay, so you wouldn't want your sister to have the same relationship you have with other women. I think those women have brothers, too, you know. Be careful, brother. You're going to have children one day, too, and you might have a daughter. Would you like your daughter to be with a man like you?" I asked him. "Careful what you do. Karma can be a real bitch."

Braden stared at me for long minutes, not saying anything.

I stood up. "I'm going to get us both a cold beer," I told him.

And that's how we ended up watching a film on the couch in the living room, our conversation long forgotten. None of us commented anything on it and I think it made Braden think. It dawned on me that Braden was staying up, waiting for Rory to come home when the clock went past midnight. 

I stay up with him. I know that I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. 

"If you had any troubles ... you'd tell me, right?" Braden suddenly asks, causing my head to swiftly turn to look at him. 

"I guess," I murmur. It's been a long time since I ran to Braden when my life got hard. I always tried to be independent, even though I knew that Braden could solve any minor problems in my life with just a snap of his fingers. And I didn't want that my whole life.