Owned by My Best Friend's Brother

7. The kid likes you

CICI POV

I don't know what Alex is up to but I'm going to find out! As soon as we pull into the lot, my dad parks the SUV next to the Audi. I quickly get down and make my way to Alex who is opening the trunk where we have the supplies. I'm standing right next to him throwing daggers with my eyes, but he's too busy ignoring me to notice.

"What is your deal, Alex?" I asked, tapping my foot on the ground. "About?" He busied himself, pulling out the ice chest and putting it on the cart Derick brought over.

All of the boys are helping unload the car and he's acting like he's too busy to talk to me. After he unloads a few more things, I pull him to the side while he looks at me like I'm crazy. I looked over to make sure Stella was okay and she was helping pull out some of the lighter bags.

"Spill." I demanded. "I wanted to talk to her, that's all." He shrugged and started to walk away.

I quickly grabbed him and forced him to look at me again. He frowned at me and normally I would be scared, but this is about my best friend. I brought her with me and she's my responsibility.

"Uh uh, no way. You need to tell me what's going on. You're always sitting next to her, whispering and having your own private conversations with her. What's the hell is going on Alex!" I'm getting aggressive with my questioning and he's starting to get annoyed. "Did you forget that your my little sister, Cici. I've let a lot of things slide because I made a mistake the other day, but that ends now. You need to respect me." He says sternly while glaring at me.

At this point, almost everyone is looking over at us while pretending to unload an empty trunk. Stella is looking at the ocean none the wiser. Even though I'm still upset, I know that he's right. He's always looked out for me and taken care of me. Yes, he can be a jerk sometimes, but when it counts, he's a really good big brother.

"I'm sorry Alex, I just want to make sure my friend is alright." I said softly with my head down. I feel like a puppy that just got drop kicked. He took me in for a hug and kissed the top of my head. We pulled away and he looked me in the eyes and smiled. "I asked her to come to dinner with me tonight. Does that upset you?" He asks, trying to gauge my reaction. That is a really good question. I never once thought Alex would be interested in my little hermit. Logan defiantly, Derick more than likely, but he's interested in any female.

"I don't know." I shook my head, trying to wrap my head around this. He sighed and looked back at everyone. They are waiting for my dad to come back with the keys to the small yacht we rented. "I just don't want her getting hurt." I warned him. "I just want to get to know her." He says while looking over at Stella, who's too busy looking at the view to notice. "Okay." I told him while giving him one last hug.

I know that my bestie had a few bad experiences when she got to college. All the boys were two years older than her off that bat. All she says is they had expectations she couldn't meet, but she never tells me what happened or gets into specifics. I would assume that if anything really bad happened she would tell me, but maybe she's more guarded than I thought. After the men finished unloading the car, we boarded the yacht and the ladies went down to the cabin and changed into our suits while the men organized everything we brought. While we were changing, we scolded ourselves for not just wearing our suits under our clothes so we could easily strip them off. The men were smart enough to wear their swim shorts and T-shirts ahead of time.

"Wow Stella, that bikini looks much better than the one Cici lent you." Mom complimented her while giving Stella a once over.

"Thank you Vera." Stella blushed and picked up her lotion and towel.

Mom and Dad wanted to rest in the cabin for a bit while we went up on deck. I'm dying to ask Stella what her and my brother talked about, but I need a more private setting for that conversation. We decide to sit and soak up some sun, we pick a good spot and get comfortable. I'm about to start applying sun screen when Logan walks over and stops in his tracks when he sees Stella. He is wide-eyed and looks like he's going to stick his tongue out and start howling like that cartoon character.

"Put your eyes back in their sockets Logan, it's rude to stare." I giggled. "No one is looking at you Cici." Logan snapped at me. "I would hope not, I'm related to everyone here except Stella." I chuckled and stuck my tongue out at him.

Logan glares at me and sits next to Stella. She is trying to pretend she doesn't notice him gawking at her, she is too nice. She needs to tell him that he is too young and that he should run off and find a girl his age to crush on. I motioned for Stella to turn her back towards me so I could apply sun screen while she applied some on her front. She does the same for me and we lay back ready to soak in the sun. We started to chat about what we should do this week. We heard Alex and Derick talking and walking over to where we were sitting. They both stop when they see Stella and look her up and down. They catch themselves quickly and continue their conversation and take the seats in front of us like nothing happened. These boys are horrible!

"What are we doing tonight when we get back home?" Logan asks the group. "I have a date." Derick replies. "Hopefully not with Tina." I commented with a scowl.

Derick glares at me and waives me off. Logan is looking at Stella expecting an answer and she smiles at him and looks unsure if she should tell him.

"Stella has plans but I'm free, Logan." I smiled at him and he looked at Stella for confirmation. I hate to do this to my little brother, but I don't want him getting his hopes up. I'd already asked Stella what he thought about Logan the moment I saw him crushing on her. She admits he's attractive, but doesn't see him that way. "Um.. I.." Stella can't seem to bring herself to break his little heart. "I'm taking her to dinner." Alex announced.

Logan's face shows his displeasure. He looks like he wants to say something to Alex but thinks better of it and gets up and walks away. I can tell my bestie feels bad that Logan is upset, she's come to like him. As a friend.

"He'll get over it." I tried to console her. "It's just dinner, I don't understand why he's so upset?" Stella replied lowly. "He's head over heels for you." Derick chuckles, clearly not reading the room.

I scowl at him and he puts his hands up defensively. Stella gets up and walks further away from us to lean on the rail and look out into the ocean. I debated going over to see if she's okay but I figured she might like some time to herself.

ALEX POV

It didn't even register that Logan had feelings for Stella, I just thought he was being Logan. I knew he found her attractive since he's always around her. I didn't think he had actual feelings for her. What's the kid thinking? Does he really think he can land a college girl? I look over to where she's standing and I have to say she looks delicious in her new bikini. Way better than the one I first saw her in, the dreaded bikini that got me on the wrong foot with her. I know I'm gawking at her and probably ignoring my siblings. I take a deep breath and compose myself. I turn to Cici and Derick and they are deep in conversation, not even paying me a second glance. I got up and went to stand next to Stella.

"You going to let him down gently or let him keep thinking he has a chance?" I asked Stella while looking out into the ocean.

She needs to be honest with Logan or she's going to end up hurting him more. He may look like a man, due to his size and build, but the reality is he's just a kid still.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Stella said while looking at me, furrowing her eyebrows. "Come on Stella, the kid likes you. He's been following you around since you got here and unless your going to give him a shot, you need to tell him your not interested." I further clarified. "I never gave him the impression that we were anything but friends." Stella defended. "But he more than gave you the impression that he likes you." I knew for a fact she knew how he felt.

She really doesn't like confrontation, even though she can hold her own. Or it could be that she is going to be staying at the same house as Logan for the next couple of months and doesn't want him upset with her. Whatever the reason, she is really good at playing dumb.

"He never said anything to me." She says with a shrug. I couldn't help but laugh at her attempt to continue to burry her head in the sand. "That doesn't mean you don't have eyes, you can clearly see he has a crush on you." I chuckled while moving closer to her.

She looks up at me with her signature frown and pout. If I thought for one second she knew how endearing that damn pout was, I would scold her for using it as often as she does. I can tell that she uses it when she's thinking up a storm, probably telling me off in her head. She doesn't want to say what's on her mind out loud. I let out a laugh that I can't contain just imagining the colorful commentary that's going on in her little head.

"What's so funny?" She glares at me with her hands on her hips. "You. You're trying to figure out how to get out of telling Logan you're only friends." I replied. "Or do you see him as more?" I doubt as much but it doesn't hurt to ask. "No... I just doubt he likes me that much. Maybe you guys are making a bigger deal out of this than it is." She shrugs her shoulders. "You saw how upset he got, Stella. Why don't you just ask him what he feels and tell him how you feel? Avoiding the issue is only going to leave room for a misunderstanding." I advise.

She nods her head and looks out into the ocean. This must be the first time a guy has a crush on her and she just wants to be friends. The men her age and the ones she's encountered in college don't do crushes or at least don't express them the way my sixteen-year-old brother does. This may actually be a good life lesson for her. She can't just unwillingly lead someone along because she doesn't want to hurt their feelings. I feel bad for my little brother, but even though Stella is innocent and inexperienced, intellectually she's on another level. I doubt he could keep up with her if she did give him a chance.