Caught Between Brothers

Chapter 5 - The invitation

Rose POV

Dexter. I could still remember how he looked but more so the way he made me feel the last days he went to college.

“Rosie? Are you okay?” JC asked.

“I am.” I smiled a bit, but my heart was pounding. My breathing was uneven, and I had to inhale deeply before telling JC to answer the call. “It might be important.”

JC stared at me for a second before taking the call. I wanted to give him privacy, but I wanted to know what it was about. I reached for my phone and opened one of my social media accounts to see if there was anything new. I liked a few posts but was straining my ears to see if I could make out something from the conversation. I knew it was improper to listen, but if JC felt the need of privacy, he could go out instead.

I made a quick glance at JC. He was not speaking at all, and his eyebrows were knitted.

“I’ll see what I can do.” That was all he said before dropping the call.

“Are you alright?” I asked softly.

I didn’t know the words would be the beginning of my fall. My curiosity got the best of me. I should have shut my mouth.

“Oh my goodness! You really are an angel!” he exclaimed, not really answering my question.

“What did I do?” His tone of voice made me think he was planning something bad.

“It will be Mom’s birthday next weekend. Mom and Dad will be going on a weekend trip, so Mom wants us to have dinner with them on Friday,” he said, sighing dramatically as if it was a burden.

“That’s nice!” I wanted to greet his Mom, but I was not cool with meeting anyone from the neighborhood. I wanted to stay there in peace for the next two months, inside the comforts of my parents' house. “Get her a nice gift then. Will you be cooking dinner for her or will you be going out?”

“Dining somewhere. The problem is… Dexter will not be able to go as he has a business meeting that suddenly came up and now he wants me to tell Mom.” He shook his head as he explained.

“Woah! Why wouldn’t he tell her himself?” There I was again, asking questions when I should have stopped already.

He stared at me for a moment before answering my question. “Our relationship with Dexter has been strained for the past years. He has been avoiding us as much as possible. He only comes when there is an occasion, but also brings trouble.” It was noticeable how he emphasized the word ‘trouble’.

“Oh, that is sad.” I didn’t ask anything further even though I wanted to.

“Anyway, I don’t care anymore. If Dexter won’t come then perhaps you can?” He looked at me with hope in his eyes.

My eyes widened, not prepared at all for his question. It felt like something got stuck in my chest.

“I- I’m sorry. I- don’t think… I-” The thought of seeing his parents after a long time made me panic. The stuttering was too much that JC had to intervene. It was as if I could not breathe.

“Hey.” He transferred to the seat beside me. “I’m sorry. I did not know how much the invitation would affect you.” He took my hand in his and rubbed my back to comfort me. “Rosie, if there is anything I can do for you, please let me know. I’m here as your friend. Come on. Breathe.”

I closed my eyes and took several breaths. It did help somehow, but then all I wanted was to lie down and curl myself.

JC guided me to the living room where he got me seated comfortably. In no time, Baron was by my feet.

“I’ll be right back. Don’t move, okay?” I nodded in reply. He then turned to Baron. “Will you stay here with Rosie while I get her some water?”

Baron barked once in reply.

It did not take long for JC to come back. He made me drink from the glass, after which he sat beside me, took a pillow, placed it on his lap, then told me to lie down.

I did what I was told. I placed my head on the pillow and put up my feet up as well, with my knees up against my chest. JC then began to finger comb my hair.

“I know you are not okay, Rosie. I am not going to push you to tell me what happened or what is happening. But let me repeat, I am here. I am your friend. If you want to talk to someone, I could be that person. I don’t want you to think that I’m just another person who will come and go. I am willing to stay as long as you want me to. Even when you go back to your place, I will still be your friend.”

His words, his voice, and his hands were very comforting. I didn’t know what to reply to him so I just stayed silent. After a few minutes, I calmed down, with my breathing evened out.

“I’m sorry.” The words came out in a whisper that I didn’t know if JC would be able to hear.

“Hey, you don’t have to say sorry. You have nothing to apologize for.”

“And thank you.” I pressed my eyes closed and felt a couple of tears escape. Before I knew it, I was crying.

I cried with the comfort JC was giving me. No one had really been a friend to me. The emotions were overflowing that I was not able to keep it all in me.

JC must have panicked when he heard me sob. He helped me to sit up and took me in an embrace.

“Did I hurt you, angel? What’s wrong? I’ll make everything all right for you. I don’t want to see you crying.” JC raised his hand to my face to wipe the few tears that came rolling down my cheeks

“No. It was me. I- It had been so long since I had been comforted by somebody else. I always have to deal with my issues by myself. I mean, Mom and Dad are always supportive and comforting, but I felt I never really had a friend. You know nothing but you’re willing to stay. Thank you.” I pushed my face against his chest and heaved a sigh. I didn’t realize my arms found their way around JC’s torso.

“Hush, angel. You have always been my friend. Remember? I will take whatever you are willing to give. And I will also give whatever I can. No pressure."

Another spell of silence enveloped us, but it was comforting and peaceful.

After a while, I opened my eyes and realized JC and I had fallen asleep on the couch, with me lying almost on top of him!

I was afraid to move because I might wake him up, so I stayed where I was. It was then my senses awakened as I began to inhale his scent, the same one from last night. One of my hands was on his torso and it felt hard underneath my palm. Surely JC had been seriously taking care of his body and had been giving himself time to work out.

My perverted mind had thoughts of touching JC’s abs. Right then, I wanted to feel his skin. Controlling myself, I fisted my hand and gently took it away from his abs.

“Did you have a nice nap?”

I almost jumped at the abrupt interruption in my lustful thoughts. Oh my goodness, I would have been caught in the act if I had pressed my palm to his abs.

Too shy to look up, I involuntarily pressed my face to his chest. “Yes, I did. Thank you.”

His body shook with a gentle laugh. “We both needed it. We have to hunt for dinner. Dinner first or walk?”

Looking out of the window, I saw it was still bright outside. “Let’s have dinner first.”

JC offered his hand, but I did not take it, not before checking if I had drool on my chin. I quickly finger-combed my hair before accepting JC's hand. When he got me standing up, he pulled me in for a tight hug before kissing my forehead.

“You will be okay. We will be okay.” He did not give me time to react as he released me and took my hand. We went to the kitchen to see what we could fix ourselves.

The night went the same as the previous one. We had dinner, took Baron out for a walk, and watched a movie.

I brought JC’s hoodie on our walk, and I ended up wearing it again. My thick long sleeves could not warm me up from the cold. As for the movie, this time we took time in choosing what to watch. Finally, after thirty minutes of checking titles, we had decided to watch ‘Lord of the Rings’. It was not new, but we found out that we both liked the movie series.

Conversation flowed easily between us. JC asked for suggestions on what to get his mom. We also talked about restaurants around the city. I had not been out that much, but I loved how JC talked about food and dining.

The night went on without any other incident. The only difference from the previous night was that JC and I sat closely together - with his arm over my shoulder and my head on his shoulder. It was a scene made for the movies. But there I was, thrilled and scared at the same time. I said I would have to sort out my feelings, but I had not done any sorting.

“I’ll go home now. Will you be okay by yourself?” JC asked after the movie. “I could stay if you need me to.”

“You haven’t been home much since last night. You might have things that need to be done at home. I’ll be okay.” I had to deal with myself and my feelings.

JC didn’t look convinced of what I said, so I put on a smile.

“I want you to sleep right away. If you can’t sleep, send me a message. Or if you need anything, no matter what it is, send me a message. Or better call me.”

“Yes, daddy.” I said it because he sounded like my dad. I rolled my eyes, then saw JC had his jaw set. It occurred late to me that what I said also has a different meaning to it. “I said it because you sounded like my dad. There’s nothing to it. Don’t think of anything else.”

JC then had the corner of his lips up in a sinister smile. “Whatever, Rosie. I didn't know you had a kink.”

I didn't answer but just pushed him to the door.

When JC said his final goodbye and was almost out of the house, he turned to me. “See you for breakfast again?”

“Why?”

“I will drop by anyway to see if you are okay.”

“Wait a minute. Did Dad tell you about checking on me?”

“No! I didn’t even know you would be here. Honest!” He put up his hand then made a cross sign over his chest. “Just breakfast. I will be at Mom’s after. You could… I mean, nothing. I did not say anything.”

I knew what he wanted to say. He wanted to invite me tomorrow to his parents’ house.

Sighing, as I knew it would be futile to argue with him, I agreed to the breakfast. He replied with a fist pump before taking a step forward to me and dropping a kiss.

“See you in the morning! Or later! Go on. Lock the door.”

I wasn’t able to say anything, so I just waved at him before I shut the door and locked it.

He missed! How could JC even miss my lips? He kissed the corner!

I was internally screaming going up the stairs with Baron looking at me like I had gone crazy.

Well, I had gone crazy. I told myself JC was off limits, and there I was shivering to his touch, craving for his masculine scent, wanting his kiss on my lips! Worst of all was, I anticipated every time he said he would come!

Perhaps this was all a phase. He was available and the only man I had been hanging out with. This wouldn’t last. It would hurt when I went back to my apartment. He would definitely be missed, but I would be able to manage myself, as always.

.

.

.

Sunday morning was a bit different from Saturday morning. Before we ate breakfast, JC had me doing some exercises.

“What are you now? A gym instructor? Why are you punishing me?” I complained as I could no longer move my arms.

He made me wear my sneakers, and we were out in the backyard doing stretches, jumping jacks, and crunches.

“Try pushing yourself to do something. Exercise can make a difference to your day. A shower can also make a lot of difference to your day.”

I knew what he was talking about. There were days when I just lay down on my bed and did not do anything. It was not being lazy, but depression setting in. There would be days when I would not shower too, but would feel a whole lot better when I did.

It was a lot harder than he thought. I wished I had JC’s determination.

When I was in high school and part of the cheering squad, I was a whole different person back then. But everything came crashing down.

“Uh-oh. Don’t go there,” JC said, cutting my thoughts. He might have noticed I was spacing out. “One last minute of jacks and you can take a shower.”

“Yes, coach!” I answered with my eyes rolling. What happened next was not expected. JC smacked my bum!

“Get moving!”

I wasn’t able to reply, in shock, but jumped at his count. When we were done, he told me to get a shower.

“How about you?” I asked.

“Me?” JC asked back.

“Yes. You want to shower, too?”

“Are you inviting me to get in the shower with you, Rosie?” JC wriggled his eyebrows as he asked.

“No!” My jaw dropped at his question. “There’s the downstairs bathroom if you want to use it!” I made a face at him. I turned around to go back inside the house, but before I could take another step, I went back to him and slapped his butt. “That’s for slapping mine!” I shouted before running away.

After I had my shower, I went downstairs with a prepared breakfast.

“See what I told you.”

“What?”

“Exercise and shower can make a lot of difference.”

“And what was different with me?”

“Didn’t you notice? You were humming a song.”

I shrugged my shoulders before sitting on a seat. I did feel lighter, but it couldn’t have been the jumping jacks or the shower. Perhaps it was having him there.

“See you are smiling more.”

“Will you stop looking at me?”

“Nope.”

I was annoyed, but I couldn’t help but smile.

After breakfast, when JC was about to go, he looked sad but promised to be back by dinner time.

“From now on, we will have meals together as much as possible.” He sighed. “I wish I could bring you to see Mom. I’m sorry. But I’m sure Mom misses you.”

“Fine then. I’ll go to her birthday dinner.”