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CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

EASTON

I got my first message from the sister a week after her party.

She started simple enough, asking for ideas on when the date would be so she could plan a theme.

I knew Gary didn’t want her involved but ignoring her had only made things harder on him.

I still hated myself for not asking first and causing all the shit that happened to him.

But I couldn’t answer her without talking to my folks first. Something I wasn’t looking forward to because I knew they’d make it into a whole thing.

Since I figured it’d be easier to have a sibling back me up, I called Jayden first. It was a weekend, he shouldn’t be working, so when a female voice picked up, I was a little surprised.

“Hello? Who’s this?” the woman’s voice demanded.

My brows furrowed. “Who the hell is this?”

She was quiet for a moment. “Why is a guy calling under a girl’s name?”

I wasn’t sure what the hell she was talking about, or who she even was, and I didn’t have the patience to deal with it.

I was at the cafe on campus where Gary worked, sitting out of the way so I could keep an eye on him.

The guy who attacked him was caught, but it wasn’t the same guy from the library or the one who’d gone after him at his work.

There was more than one asshole targeting him, and I wasn’t going to leave him unprotected if I could help it.

“Where’s Jayden?” I growled.

“Answer my question first! Why is your contact a girl’s name? Are you calling from some girl’s phone? Because I’m his girlfriend, and I don’t want other girls calling him.”

This bitch was insane. Jayden was single the last I checked, broke up with that bitch Bella weeks ago, and this relationship couldn’t be more than a week old at most. If she was already screening his calls, then she was probably a gold digger looking to stake her claim on the family fortune.

I was going to enjoy throwing a wrench in her plan.

“Jenna? Have you seen my phone?” Jayden’s voice sounded farther away, and I heard Jenna suck in a breath like she was surprised she got caught.

She hung up on me, and I let out a growl, fighting a serious urge to start punching something.

Which was how Gary managed to sneak up on me.

He put a hand on my shoulder, setting a cup of coffee down in front of me.

“Everything okay?”

Drawing in a deep breath, I let it out in a huff. “Yeah. My brother’s new girlfriend is a fucking bitch. How much longer is your shift?”

He tipped his head, thinking about it. “Two-ish hours? It always takes a minute to do the hand off, but technically, my shift is scheduled to end at ten.”

I nodded. I’d been a little distant to Gary over the past week.

I think he noticed, but he didn’t say anything about it.

I liked what we were doing, and I didn't want to screw things up, but Angel’s warning kept bouncing around my head like a rubber ball on speed, smacking into the forefront of my thoughts randomly throughout the day.

“You do realize he’s smitten with you, right?”

No. I hadn’t realized that. I knew Gary liked me.

We were good friends. I didn't think it went past sex. But now that Angel mentioned it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Part of me hated the idea. I didn’t want Gary to have feelings for me, because I couldn’t return them.

I didn’t feel that way. I cared about his well being, I liked having sex with him, and he was fun to hang out with, but I wasn’t in love with him.

I kind of doubted I’d ever feel that way.

But…

That possessive part of me was on board with Gary catching feelings. It meant he wasn’t going to go anywhere. No one else would steal him away if he was in love with me.

That seemed fucking cruel, and I actually felt guilty for thinking it.

I shouldn’t want him stuck in half a relationship just so I could keep him to myself.

I should want him to find someone who makes him happy.

But currently that someone was me, and I didn’t feel guilty enough to stop what we were doing.

It was confusing, and it made me a little standoffish, I guess. Gary didn’t get butthurt about it. He took anything I gave him and didn’t complain. How much of that was him being fucked up after the way his family treated him?

Oh… I didn’t like that. Being compared to them. I didn’t want to do romantic-y things, but I didn't want to treat him like shit either.

Before he could walk away, I caught his wrist, drawing him back to me and into my lap. He always seemed happy to be there, and I didn’t hate it. It gave me direct access to touch him, and I liked feeling his ass on my dick. It reminded me of what we’d get up to later.

I didn't have the words to explain anything to him, so instead I buried my face into his neck.

He hummed a happy sound, hugging me tightly.

Maybe I could pull some kind of relationship off with him if it was as simple as this.

If all I had to do to make him happy was hold him, I could get on board with that.

My phone rang, and I sighed heavily. Two seconds of making Gary happy wasn’t enough. But he released the hug and slipped off my lap, heading back to work while I begrudgingly answered my phone with a snarled, “What?”

“Hey, don’t bite my head off. You called me first,” Jayden teased.

I scowled. “Yeah, and then your bitch girlfriend started accusing me of being a woman talking to her man. What the fuck was that?”

“That was a test,” he explained, and I could practically hear him putting his feet up on his desk in his home office.

“After Bella showed her true colors, I changed your contact information to the name Amber to see what the woman I was dating would do if they saw your name pop up. It weeded out a lot of gold diggers. Jenna included.”

Not a terrible plan, to be honest. And I didn’t care about being used like that, but– “Amber? Seriously? Couldn’t think of a better name than that?”

Jayden chuckled. “Sorry. It’s your name. You should get to pick.”

“Go for something hot, like Crystal or Roxy,” I demanded. Seriously, if he was looking to catch them being nosy, the name had to be catchier than Amber.

“Those sound like stripper names,” Jayden pointed out.

“So?”

He snorted but didn’t argue. “Alright. I’ll change it. Was there a reason you called? Not that I’m not happy to just chat.”

Of course, he was happy to just chat. He was the needy brother. I was surprised he hadn’t demanded another dinner recently. He usually bugged me about one once a month at minimum, but every other week was what he preferred. Family was everything to him, and he refused to let me be an outsider.

“Yeah. I need you to help me tell the folks I’m getting married.”

He must’ve just taken a drink of something, because I heard him spit it out dramatically.

That actually would’ve been hilarious to watch, and I was disappointed I didn’t think to video call him.

Still, I enjoyed listening to him cough and splutter while I took a sip of the coffee Gary had brought me.

Once Jayden had pulled himself back together, he croaked, “I’m pretty sure I misheard you. What did you say?”

“I’m getting married,” I repeated dryly.

“To who?!”

My eyes flicked to Gary, who stood behind the counter, smiling and nodding at a professor who already had their drink and seemed intent on bending his ear for a while.

He didn’t look annoyed like I would’ve been, but then again, his job was boring as hell.

People telling their stories were probably more entertaining than staring at the wall all morning.

“Easton,” Jayden snapped to get my attention.

With a scowl, I said, “Remember that guy I was helping? The one with the fucked up family?”

“Yeah… Wait. You aren’t marrying him to keep making the sister jealous, are you? I could totally see you doing that.”

Since he knew about the plan to make the sister jealous to get her to back off, I saw no reason to lie to him. As long as he kept his big mouth shut. The fewer people who knew this was a trick, the better.

“Not technically. But she didn’t react like we thought she would, and she threatened Gary afterward. We figured if we made it look real, she’d know he was protected permanently, and she couldn’t screw with him. She won’t stick around after he’s married.”

“How real are we talking? And was it really we, or was it just you? From what you’ve told me of the guy, he doesn’t seem like the type to suggest something so insane.”

I rolled my eyes. “Just me, but he agreed to it. And full wedding real. I want to make a damn point. She sent people to try and assault him because he didn't answer her texts. She’ll never leave him alone. He’d need to leave the state to get away from her, and I’m not letting her chase him away.”

Over my dead body was I letting her chase Gary out of the state. He was going to stay here with his friends, where I could watch over him.

“Only you would come up with a crazy scheme like this,” Jayden sighed.

“Alright, as your favorite brother, I’m in.

I’ll help you set this thing up. But you need to tell our parents yourself.

Christmas vacation is coming in a few weeks.

Bring your boyf– sorry, fiancé home for the holidays and introduce him to the family.

I’ll stop by this week to meet him first so I can back you up. ”

I made a face, but it couldn’t be helped. They had to be involved. Even if we did something as simple as a courthouse wedding, my folks would lose their shit if I didn’t tell them first. And since this wedding was supposed to be big, they’d find out about it eventually.

“Fuck. Fine. But text first. I’m tired of people walking in on me and Gary. I’m going to change the locks on the damn condo soon.”

“Noted,” Jayden chuckled.

This ruse was supposed to be fun. It was getting not fun really quick. My attention shifted to Gary again, and my protective instincts flared. I’d put up with it to keep him safe. I’d marry every damn one of my friends to keep them safe. Pretty sure that was illegal, though.