This Time Around (Maybe #2)(6)

“I’d hope so,” I say dryly as I open the lid and take a long sip.

“I mean with Taiya! She’s so freaking hot,” she says, sighing dramatically.

“Don’t swoon on me,” I tell her with a small chuckle. She’s not telling me anything that I don’t already know. Taiya is one of those women who will always be beautiful, at any age. She has the sort of beauty to bring a man to his knees. Trust me; I know from experience.

“Hey bro,” Reid greets as he walks out of the bedroom. He’s bare chested and has a soft look on his face. He definitely just got laid. He leans down and kisses Summer on the forehead, like he hasn’t seen her all day, instead of a few seconds. If possible, it makes me miss Taiya even more.

“Did you see her?” he asks.

I nod, and grin. “This building. Really, what are the chances?”

Summer smirks smugly. “Yeah, I might have had something to do with that.”

Reid and I both glance at her in surprise. “What do you mean?” I ask warily, leaning back on the counter.

“I may have run into her. I introduced myself, and told her I was Reid’s girlfriend, and then mentioned that there was a gorgeous apartment available…” she trails off, wiggling her eyebrows and looking mighty pleased with herself. I shake my head at her, close the space between us and wrap my arm around her shoulder.

“I owe you,” I tell her, kissing her on top of her head.

“And I plan to collect,” she says with an evil grin. Of course she does.

“What are you two up to? Besides f*cking yourselves to death that is. Ouch!” I say as Reid slaps me on the back of my head.

“Summer has classes, but I’m doing nothing. Want to bond?” he asks, uncrossing his arms. He kisses Summer on the mouth, and we say our byes as she walks out. Reid eyes her ass as she departs, clearly enjoying the view. I wonder if they’re still in their honeymoon stage or if they are going to be like this forever. For some reason, I’d go with the latter.

“Yeah, I do,” I reply, knowing that we’re going to end up either playing video games or going to the gym to spar. Truthfully, I wouldn’t mind either one right now. Sometimes it just feels nice to have some alone time with my brother to bond.

“Gym?” my brother asks, grabbing a banana out of the fruit bowl and peeling it.

“Sure,” I reply. I could definitely use the tension release. I haven’t slept with anyone since Taiya slapped me. And I don’t think I can consider that as foreplay.

He pauses. “Then I’ll kick your ass on the PS4,” he pauses, “after I take a shower.”

“Plan to lose,” I say, smirking.

Reid takes a bite, chews and swallows. “We’ll see about that”

“I like a challenge,” I tell him, grabbing my own banana and taking a bite.

“Copycat,” Reid says, throwing his peel in the bin.

“I’m having a flashback to our childhood,” I muse.

The good parts, anyway.

“Right. Shall we go? You can tell me more lame jokes on the way,” Reid says, grinning playfully.

My mouth curves into an identical grin.

He loves my jokes.

*****

“Did you bring food?” I ask Summer as soon as she walks into the room.

“Hello to you too,” she says, swatting me on the head with one of her books.

My stomach growls. “Reid, make your woman cook,” I pout while complaining.

Summer and Reid kiss, and she giggles as he pulls her down onto his lap, abandoning his remote control. Looks like game time is over. I roll my eyes, hoping that they aren’t like this around other company. No wonder they don’t get many visitors.

“Food’s on the table,” Summer says when she pulls herself away from Reid, her brown eyes smiling.

Standing up, I grin at her and head straight for the kitchen. When I see exactly what she brought, I walk back into the lounge room scowling. “What is this?” I ask, waving around the bag.

“Salad,” she answers, smirking. She pushes away some brown strands of hair off her forehead.

“Since when do we eat salad?” I deadpan. Now don’t get me wrong, I will eat salad as a side dish. It’s meant to be a side dish, not a whole meal. That’s just wrong. I’m not trying out for Australia’s Next Top Model any time soon, and my body is in peak shape anyway.

“Clean eating,” is all she says. I blink once, before darting my eyes to my brother, who is now outright laughing, his body shaking silently.

“You’ve lost your balls, brother,” I mutter, peering into the bag at the offending salad. All I see is green. A whole lot of green.

“Is there at least chicken in it?” I ask hopefully. I could go for some chicken.

“No,” she replies, pursing her lips.

I narrow my eyes at her. “If you wanted me to stop coming here, you just had to say so, you didn’t have to go to such drastic measures.”

Summer bursts out laughing, almost elbowing Reid in the face as she doubles over. The bastard would have deserved it, but he moves out of the way just in time.

“We’re eating healthily, Ryan,” Summer says, standing up and walking past me and into the kitchen. I glance back at my brother, who is running his hands through his blond hair. I don’t say anything, letting my eyes do the talking for me. Reid’s resounding chuckle lets me know he got my message loud and clear. My stomach growls, so I stalk back into the kitchen and make myself a sandwich.