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Joseph scowled as he stared at the text making sure he sent the right thing before putting it back in his pocket.
He turned back to the punching bag and started pummelling his fist repeatedly in the hopes of releasing some of his tension.
"You know all you need to do I find a girl and get laid. A night of pure animalistic sex will help you release all that tension instead of going at it with a punching bag."
Joseph turned to glare at Jason who was working in the corner with some dumbbells.
"Not everyone thinks with their dick like you Jason. Some meaningless sex won't do shit for me right now." Joseph replied as he threw another punch.
"This is about Miranda right?" Jason asked him
Joseph paused and glanced at his brother without responding. He waited for him to say something stupid like he always does.
"You really care about her." Jason continued when he didn't receive a response from Joseph.
"What if I do?" Joseph asked tensely
"I just had no idea. Back in the day, she was never really your type. I mean everyone knew she was head over heels for you, but everyone could also see that you stayed clear of her."
"Because she was too much for me," Joseph told his brother.
"Too much? I mean if being stuck at home in a treehouse in her backyard reading and listening to boy bands was too much then OK I guess." Jason kidded
"That's the point, she was so pure and such a ... girl next door."
Jason began to interrupt, no doubt to point out that she actually was the girl next door but Joseph threw him a look that made him shut up and listen.
"After we lost mom and dad I was out of control. You know that better than anyone else and I mean the amount of broken hearts we left in our wake is nothing to be proud of." Joseph replied
"All those girls knew we wanted nothing but a quick night. They knew what they were getting into." Jason defended
"Maybe so, but there's always that one woman that does it anyway hoping she's the woman to change you, make you want to settle down. Of course, I knew Miranda was into me, that's why I ignored her because I knew getting involved with her would have left her hurt. You know how much mom liked her, I didn't want to do something that would dishonor mom." said Joseph shaking his head.
"You kinda did that anyway." Jason pointed out.
Joseph shook his head before removing the tape from his hands.
"And now I have no idea how to fix it," Joseph said
"Well, I don't exactly believe in coincidence. Her moving here and running into you after all these years must be for a reason. Kinda like God throwing you a second chance of getting this right?" Jason explained
"It's really hard to do that when she's so closed off. I don't know much about her. She's definitely not the girl we use to know." Joseph complained.
"So get to know her."
"How?" Joseph asked with genuine confusion.
"Don't ask me, man. I don't know how chicks' minds work. Not unless they're looking for a quick fu-"
"I get the point." Joseph interrupted.
"Why did you reject her though? I mean if you cared about her this much, why didn't you stick with her when you woke up with her the morning after? I mean I know you didn't want to hurt her and all but you must have known rejecting her wasn't exactly going to be like spraying her with happy gas." Jason asked
Joseph's stomach clenched with regret.
"I didn't want the responsibility of anyone's heart back then," Joseph said honestly
"And now?" Jason asked
"Now, I can't think of walking away from her. I don't just want Zeke, I want her too. I don't want to walk away from her and always wonder what if. I know she objects to the thought of us together though."
"Well, I say you overrule and prove your case," Jason told her.
"Zeke wants us together too," Joseph told him as they walked over to the treadmill.
"That's even better. When you've tried every angle and if she's still not budging. Use Zeke to get to her."
"That's a bit dirty don't you think?" Joseph asked uneasily.
"Dirty doesn't always have to be bad," Jason replied with a smirk.
"Your one-tracked mind scares me sometimes," Joseph replied chuckling.
"I'll take that as a compliment," Jason replied as his feet stomped against the belt of the machine at a slow pace.
Joseph thought over the conversation with his brother as he too started a light jog. What he was saying made sense even though he wouldn't actually admit that to him. The fact that his brother had all this good advice about women made Joseph wonder why he didn't just settle down. Obviously, if he put his mind to it he could make go of a decent relationship. Which brought his mind back to Amara, his date from the charity ball.
"So Amara seems like a nice girl," he said carefully.
He saw Jason go tense and throw him a quick but guarded glance.
"She is," Jason replied
"That's why you sent her with me right? You knew she would be safe and untouched?" Joseph pushed
"I don't know what you're talking about," Jason told him.
"She likes you, you know that right?" Joseph asked
"A lot of women do." Jason threw at him.
"She's different than your usual though isn't she?" Joseph asked
When Jason hit the machine to speed up the pace and plugged his earbuds in Joseph knew his younger brother was finished with this conversation. That didn't mean he was though. He planned to figure out the puzzle about what was going on with them. For now, though he would focus on his own woman.
Mine.
The thought sounded good to him. Now he just had to make it a reality. She was too tense and he knew just how to get her to unwind.
He grinned to himself as he slowed the machine and brought it to a stop. He waved to Jason and pulled his cell phone from his pocket he pushed one and called Miranda, number one on his speed dial.
