The Brother's Estate

Good Sportsmanship Part 1

Everything was far too loud for her. She'd never been shooting, yet there she was, sat at the edge of a bench at the shooting range, surrounded by guns. Jack had invited her, and Josh had tagged along. Every so often, one of them would offer her their gun, and each time they asked, she gave them the same answer: 'no'.

"Got it," Josh shouted as he hit a target off in the distance. Charlotte looked up, and then sipped her can of cola. She couldn't quite understand why they were so passionate about hitting pieces of clay hung up against wooden boards. It just didn't appeal to her whatsoever. There was something about the two brothers that set her on edge, and it wasn't their passion for shooting. Something competitive, something deviant. Josh was entirely different to Jack. He was cool, he had an air about him that was dangerous... and though her eye had been on Jack for most of the day, she wondered to the other brother, too.

"Well done," Jack replied. She looked back down the field as she dug her boots further into the mud, and then she heard them both cock their guns to reload. It was an atmosphere she enjoyed, but only minimally; it wasn't how she'd choose to spend her time.

Jack patted his hand on Charlotte's shoulder and she placed her hand on top of his. Jack never looked down to her, but his gaze was fixed straight ahead.

"What wonderful weather," Josh remarked as he looked up at the blue sky. Half a dozen birds flew overhead, and she rolled her eyes and she sinked further down on the bench and looked around. The early morning had brought a small downpour of rain, but as the morning had passed, the sun had appeared once more. Beneath her feet, the earth felt damp, but it wasn't wet. The mud had been drying under the harsh midday sun, and Charlotte's face was burning. Jack moved away from her and whispered something to his brother. Charlotte watched as he made his way further down the range until he was out of view behind a shed that separated the two sections of the shooting range. Josh looked at her again and smirked.

Within seconds of him looking at her, she felt off. Something felt peculiar, and she swallowed hard as she fidgeted awkwardly before she took off her thin coat. Josh glanced over as she pulled it off, his eyes seemingly fixed on her cleavage rather than her face. She rolled her eyes and bit her lip as she stifled her laughter.

"Charlotte," he said.

"What?"

"Don't you want a try? Come on, it's great fun." Charlotte nodded uneasily and stood as she approached him and he positioned himself behind her, helping her to hold it. She could feel him pressed against her back and she could almost taste the cognac on his breath. His chest moved with every breath that he took, and it set her on edge. Her breathing quickened a little as she felt him touch her, and she was disgusted that she felt attracted to the brother of the man who she liked. "Okay, hold it still, got it?" He pushed his hands upwards and tightened his grip around her wrists as he aimed for her. "Now pull this away from your shoulder. You'll hurt yourself."

"Okay," she said as she focused intensely. There was a split second where she found herself lost in the moment, and she closed her eyes until she was disturbed by the sensation of heavy breathing against her neck. "What now?"

"Aim properly, for yourself." Charlotte nodded. Josh let go of her wrists and then placed one hand on her waist and the other on her shoulder. "Now, make sure you aim... try the pink target down there," he whispered. "Shoot." As she went to pull the trigger, she was startled by the loud sound of a gunshot in the distance, and she missed the target entirely. Josh snickered behind her and let her go as he pulled the gun from her hands. "You'll get there. Don't worry."

"Yeah." She turned and she moved behind him, stood on the grass. With every movement he made, she could see the bones protruding from his broad back underneath the thin black shirt he wore that clung to every muscle. Her gaze was fixed on him as he took a shot in seconds, and hit the target that she was unable to.

"Charlie," she heard from down the range. "Charlie, come." She looked up, like a dog hearing its master. She saw Jack with his gun pressed over his shoulder, and she slowly made her way over the uneven ground.

"What is it?"

"You just shot Josh's gun, now I want you to try over here."

"Why?"

Jack moved around as though he wanted to avoid giving an answer. The grimace on his face told her absolutely everything that she needed to know: he was jealous. He was jealous of one tiny thing. "It's... it's easier over here."

Charlotte rolled her eyes and giggled. "Jealous?"

"Jealous of what? Why... why would I be jealous?" He let out an exasperated sigh as his brow furrowed.

She turned on her heel as she smiled into the air, and put her hand out, holding out for the gun. He placed it into her hand gently, and that time, she was entirely on her own when it came to shooting. She didn't know if she'd need to hit the target or not, she didn't know if she could... but she was going to try.

"Do you know what you're doing?"

She shook her head with a grin, and pulled the gun up to where she thought it had to be, and then she tried to aim.

"You're holding it wrong," he giggled. Josh was still out of sight, and she didn't mind messing up again, there was simply no need for her to show off, after all, she'd never even held a gun before that day. Though, of course, they'd offered for her to go out shooting once before.

"No, I am not." She pulled it up higher, and positioned hrself into the right pose for shooting, or at least, whatever she thought would be the proper pose. She closed her eyes and inhaled sharply and then she focused. One. Two. Three.

Again, she missed. But that time, only narrowly. Charlotte was relatively impressed with herself, and lightly jumped on the balls of her feet. As she twirled back to face him, she noticed the two brothers right behind her, both of them in mirrored poses and watching her, their arms crossed and their heads lightly tilted, both bearing the same expression.

"Well, that was cute," Josh said. His words spit like poison, but it made her feel strange. He was cocky, he was arrogant, and she knew that from only meeting him twice. But there was an air about him.

Jack pushed in front of his brother and then touched Charlotte's arm, smiling. "It's alright, you said you'd never been shooting, didn't you? It'll take time for you to get good at something like this, but that wasn't a bad shot." Kindness was written all over his face as she looked up at him.

"Oh, little brother," Josh laughed. "Don't coddle her. That was a damn awful shot, and you know it. We should definitely take her hunting, now that would be hilarious." Jack turned swiftly, and stared at his brother. "I suppose it's time for me to go home," he said as he looked down at his watch. Jack sharply nodded as he waited for something else to happen. "Yeah, it's about time. I guess I'll see you back there."

"I don't think I'll be going home tonight," Jack mumbled.

"What do you mean?"

"I think I'll stay at my penthouse." Josh grinned at his brothers confession, his lips curled upwards in a deviant smirk. "Why're you..."

"Oh, now I know what that means." Josh turned and left to pack up his gear before he went home and Charlotte looked up at Jack, who proceeded to take the gun and put it down on the floor in the case.

"What does that mean, Jack?"

"It doesn't mean anything," he replied. "I just wanted to take you somewhere without my brother being around. Well, both of them. Ali can be awful to be around sometimes, he just... he doesn't know when to take things seriously."

Charlotte giggled and they walked around the corner to where Josh had been. There was an uneasy silence for a few minutes as they stood still and stared at the empty bench and the empty chairs. She was able to put things together. Josh's comment, Jack's reaction... she knew why she was being taken somewhere private, somewhere away from his brothers.

"Josh drove us here, didn't he?" Charlotte nodded as Jack put his hands on his head and turned around with his chin turned up whilst he stared into the sky. "Fuck."