My Bad
Page 12
“That might be why we feel like we know each other,” I pointed out.
Honestly, there’d been so many freakin’ kids at those parties that I couldn’t remember specifically if he had been there or not. We’d gone to quite a few, and still did, but the extended family of not just the Free members, but the Dixie Wardens members, had grown exponentially. There was no way that I’d ever be able to remember.
“Probably saw each other in passing,” he agreed, walking over to me and dropping his towel unceremoniously over mine, causing me to roll my eyes.
While my eyes were distracted by the way he’d thrown the fabric, Hoax was busy sitting down next to me, shrugging his t-shirt on, and scooting in close. I hadn’t realized how close until I turned my face only to have Hoax’s lips brush mine.
Another shriek from the house had me jumping, and I looked over my shoulder to see the blinds now parted, and Bayou standing in the window, his back to us, staring at who I guessed was Brielle making a spectacle of some sort.
“So she really hates me,” I told him. “And it might or might not have been you I was staring at that night…”
He shrugged.
“Brielle is…difficult.” He paused. “She’s jealous. Angry. Petty. I could go on.”
I didn’t need him to, so I waved my hand in the air.
“She also has a mental condition, which I think is why Bayou puts up with her bullshit since she’s kind of like him. When she came into our lives, she was eight years old. Her father and Bayou’s father had been friends from a young age, and when Brielle’s father died, Donald adopted her. She latches onto people and obsesses over them. She gets super clingy, and angry, when someone gets near who she considers ‘hers.’” He sighed. “And since she can’t help it, we deal with it…even though sometimes it’d be easier to tell her to leave us the fuck alone.”
I blinked. “So, she has Asperger’s?”
He shook his head. “No, Bayou was diagnosed with that as a teenager. But he’d always been different, like Brielle. Brielle was diagnosed with schizophrenia—though it’s controlled by medication. They bonded over their differences.”
“And he’s protective over her because he sees himself in her,” I guessed.
Hoax nodded. “Exactly. Bayou has such a stranglehold on his disorder that if I hadn’t known him from the time he was a kid, I wouldn’t even know he has anything wrong with him. Honestly, he just comes off as unapproachable. I’m honestly not convinced there’s anything ‘really’ wrong with him seeing as he’s exactly like most of the human population. Brielle, though? She’s definitely got a few screws loose. I’m not convinced that she doesn’t have other things wrong with her. But, saying that, she’s my cousin—ish—and I’ll continue to care for her even when she’s acting stupid.”
I leaned my head onto his shoulder. “She doesn’t like me.”
He wrapped his arm around my back and pulled me in until we were touching from hip to shoulder. “She doesn’t get a choice in who I date, though. She never has, and never will.”
I blew out a breath. “Military men scare the hell out of me.”
He let my shoulder go and reached his hand up to snag a fallen curl that was resting on my shoulder, then started twirling it around his finger. “Tell me about these men that hurt you.”
I started with Jagger.
“That should’ve been your first clue,” he told me when he heard his name.
“Why?” I asked curiously.
“Because his name is bullshit.” Hoax laughed.
My brows rose. “His name is bullshit? Do you realize that your name is just as odd?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. But what did you think was going to happen with someone named Jagger? Now, continue. I’m sorry for interrupting.”
I snorted and went back to my story.
“We dated my senior year of high school. He graduated early and then went into the Army like a month after that. I waited for him all the way through basic training. Went to his graduation a couple months later, and then found out that his other girlfriend went, too. One that he met at the recruitment office.”
Hoax growled. “Bastard.”
“He had this elaborate lie. I wasn’t supposed to know when his Army graduation was, but I’d asked my father who called around and found out. I’d definitely surprised him, that’s for sure.” I swallowed. “Funny enough, I’m still friends with the girl that he met at the recruitment office. We both rode to the hotel together as we left base. She’s a nice girl, and was played just like I was.”
His hand stopped playing with the curl and moved up to scratch my head.
“Who’s next?” he asked, sounding calm.
This next one he wasn’t going to like.
“It took me a year or two to date again, and by this time I was in my second year of college working on my basics. There was an Army recruiter that used to come to the college a lot.” I shivered. “We met when he tried to recruit me. My sister and I fell for his lines—though we hadn’t realized that we fell for his lines together. I really wasn’t sure how he accomplished convincing us to stay quiet, we’re twins after all and keep almost nothing from each other. Anyway, he started dating us both.”
“Fuck,” Hoax muttered.
“Yeah, it ends about how you’d expect it to,” I continued. “One day I walked in on Piper talking on the phone—to him—and heard her say his name and goodbye.”
“I notice that you haven’t said his name yet,” he said.
“That’s because he’s still in the Army, and he’s still here, and I don’t want you to go kill him,” I told him honestly. “I have enough problems trying to keep my dad from doing it. I don’t need to add you to the list, too.”
He grunted out a reply that sounded like ‘whatever.’
“Would you like me to continue?” I questioned.
“Yeah,” he muttered.
I smiled and moved my arm so that I was resting it on the length of his thigh that was closest to me.
“Needless to say, we had it out, and then got pissed off that he’d played us,” I continued. “We were never mad at each other, and luckily both of us were quite busy with school to really get too involved with him. You should’ve seen the look on his face when Piper went in after nursing school graduation to enlist. It was the best thing ever.” I giggled.
“Your sister’s in the Army?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yep. She’s a nurse. Been in about three or so years now. She’s only signed up for five years, and she doesn’t think she’s going to reenlist. She’s not fond of the places she’s been stationed.”
He snorted. “I’m not sure anyone but a lucky few ever really enjoy where they’re stationed.”
“Do you like where you’re stationed?” I asked innocently.
I had my suspicions, but maybe I was wrong.
“I didn’t like my first station,” he admitted. “Do you want to go get dinner?”
A nicely avoided evasion if I’d ever heard one.
My suspicions that he was Delta Force only started to solidify more.
“Sure,” I said. “Would you like to change first?”
I looked down at his semi-wet t-shirt that was plastered to an impressive set of abs, and licked my lips.
He snorted. “Yeah. You wearing that?”
I looked down at my clothes and shrugged. “Yeah, I don’t care what I wear.”
I wasn’t going to change who I was. An oversized t-shirt and old jeans was who I was on my days off. Though I did sometimes get dressed up and wear actual new jeans on the days I was looking to impress, most of the time I was more in the mood to be comfortable.
“Fine with me,” he said. “You want to ride on my bike?”
I nodded, feeling a tad bit giddy at the thought of being on the back of his bike. “Sure.”
“I’ll bring my spare helmet,” he said.
Then he disappeared inside, and I walked over to my house and retrieved my keys and phone.
Honestly, there’d been so many freakin’ kids at those parties that I couldn’t remember specifically if he had been there or not. We’d gone to quite a few, and still did, but the extended family of not just the Free members, but the Dixie Wardens members, had grown exponentially. There was no way that I’d ever be able to remember.
“Probably saw each other in passing,” he agreed, walking over to me and dropping his towel unceremoniously over mine, causing me to roll my eyes.
While my eyes were distracted by the way he’d thrown the fabric, Hoax was busy sitting down next to me, shrugging his t-shirt on, and scooting in close. I hadn’t realized how close until I turned my face only to have Hoax’s lips brush mine.
Another shriek from the house had me jumping, and I looked over my shoulder to see the blinds now parted, and Bayou standing in the window, his back to us, staring at who I guessed was Brielle making a spectacle of some sort.
“So she really hates me,” I told him. “And it might or might not have been you I was staring at that night…”
He shrugged.
“Brielle is…difficult.” He paused. “She’s jealous. Angry. Petty. I could go on.”
I didn’t need him to, so I waved my hand in the air.
“She also has a mental condition, which I think is why Bayou puts up with her bullshit since she’s kind of like him. When she came into our lives, she was eight years old. Her father and Bayou’s father had been friends from a young age, and when Brielle’s father died, Donald adopted her. She latches onto people and obsesses over them. She gets super clingy, and angry, when someone gets near who she considers ‘hers.’” He sighed. “And since she can’t help it, we deal with it…even though sometimes it’d be easier to tell her to leave us the fuck alone.”
I blinked. “So, she has Asperger’s?”
He shook his head. “No, Bayou was diagnosed with that as a teenager. But he’d always been different, like Brielle. Brielle was diagnosed with schizophrenia—though it’s controlled by medication. They bonded over their differences.”
“And he’s protective over her because he sees himself in her,” I guessed.
Hoax nodded. “Exactly. Bayou has such a stranglehold on his disorder that if I hadn’t known him from the time he was a kid, I wouldn’t even know he has anything wrong with him. Honestly, he just comes off as unapproachable. I’m honestly not convinced there’s anything ‘really’ wrong with him seeing as he’s exactly like most of the human population. Brielle, though? She’s definitely got a few screws loose. I’m not convinced that she doesn’t have other things wrong with her. But, saying that, she’s my cousin—ish—and I’ll continue to care for her even when she’s acting stupid.”
I leaned my head onto his shoulder. “She doesn’t like me.”
He wrapped his arm around my back and pulled me in until we were touching from hip to shoulder. “She doesn’t get a choice in who I date, though. She never has, and never will.”
I blew out a breath. “Military men scare the hell out of me.”
He let my shoulder go and reached his hand up to snag a fallen curl that was resting on my shoulder, then started twirling it around his finger. “Tell me about these men that hurt you.”
I started with Jagger.
“That should’ve been your first clue,” he told me when he heard his name.
“Why?” I asked curiously.
“Because his name is bullshit.” Hoax laughed.
My brows rose. “His name is bullshit? Do you realize that your name is just as odd?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. But what did you think was going to happen with someone named Jagger? Now, continue. I’m sorry for interrupting.”
I snorted and went back to my story.
“We dated my senior year of high school. He graduated early and then went into the Army like a month after that. I waited for him all the way through basic training. Went to his graduation a couple months later, and then found out that his other girlfriend went, too. One that he met at the recruitment office.”
Hoax growled. “Bastard.”
“He had this elaborate lie. I wasn’t supposed to know when his Army graduation was, but I’d asked my father who called around and found out. I’d definitely surprised him, that’s for sure.” I swallowed. “Funny enough, I’m still friends with the girl that he met at the recruitment office. We both rode to the hotel together as we left base. She’s a nice girl, and was played just like I was.”
His hand stopped playing with the curl and moved up to scratch my head.
“Who’s next?” he asked, sounding calm.
This next one he wasn’t going to like.
“It took me a year or two to date again, and by this time I was in my second year of college working on my basics. There was an Army recruiter that used to come to the college a lot.” I shivered. “We met when he tried to recruit me. My sister and I fell for his lines—though we hadn’t realized that we fell for his lines together. I really wasn’t sure how he accomplished convincing us to stay quiet, we’re twins after all and keep almost nothing from each other. Anyway, he started dating us both.”
“Fuck,” Hoax muttered.
“Yeah, it ends about how you’d expect it to,” I continued. “One day I walked in on Piper talking on the phone—to him—and heard her say his name and goodbye.”
“I notice that you haven’t said his name yet,” he said.
“That’s because he’s still in the Army, and he’s still here, and I don’t want you to go kill him,” I told him honestly. “I have enough problems trying to keep my dad from doing it. I don’t need to add you to the list, too.”
He grunted out a reply that sounded like ‘whatever.’
“Would you like me to continue?” I questioned.
“Yeah,” he muttered.
I smiled and moved my arm so that I was resting it on the length of his thigh that was closest to me.
“Needless to say, we had it out, and then got pissed off that he’d played us,” I continued. “We were never mad at each other, and luckily both of us were quite busy with school to really get too involved with him. You should’ve seen the look on his face when Piper went in after nursing school graduation to enlist. It was the best thing ever.” I giggled.
“Your sister’s in the Army?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yep. She’s a nurse. Been in about three or so years now. She’s only signed up for five years, and she doesn’t think she’s going to reenlist. She’s not fond of the places she’s been stationed.”
He snorted. “I’m not sure anyone but a lucky few ever really enjoy where they’re stationed.”
“Do you like where you’re stationed?” I asked innocently.
I had my suspicions, but maybe I was wrong.
“I didn’t like my first station,” he admitted. “Do you want to go get dinner?”
A nicely avoided evasion if I’d ever heard one.
My suspicions that he was Delta Force only started to solidify more.
“Sure,” I said. “Would you like to change first?”
I looked down at his semi-wet t-shirt that was plastered to an impressive set of abs, and licked my lips.
He snorted. “Yeah. You wearing that?”
I looked down at my clothes and shrugged. “Yeah, I don’t care what I wear.”
I wasn’t going to change who I was. An oversized t-shirt and old jeans was who I was on my days off. Though I did sometimes get dressed up and wear actual new jeans on the days I was looking to impress, most of the time I was more in the mood to be comfortable.
“Fine with me,” he said. “You want to ride on my bike?”
I nodded, feeling a tad bit giddy at the thought of being on the back of his bike. “Sure.”
“I’ll bring my spare helmet,” he said.
Then he disappeared inside, and I walked over to my house and retrieved my keys and phone.
