Chapter 7

CHAPTER7

Bryce moved to stand up to pace the dark bedroom again, only to mumble, “Fuck it,” and stayed where he was as he took another sip from the juice box that he’d helped himself to from the kitchen. He was losing his fucking mind, Bryce thought as he glared ahead, wondering why he-

“I really hate your brothers,” came the heavy sigh as a light was turned on, revealing the bastard that better get his fucking hands off his sister.

“Me, too,” Rory mumbled as she opened her eyes only to sigh when she saw him sitting there and grumbled something that really didn’t sound very supportive.

“She’s obsessed with me,” Bryce bit out, knowing that his little sister would understand what he was going through better than anyone, thanks to the large bastard that really couldn’t seem to keep his fucking hands off her.

“Please tell me that this isn’t about Cayley,” Connor muttered, ignoring Bryce’s murderous glare as he reached over and wrapped his arm around Rory and pulled her closer.

“She followed me everywhere,” Bryce said evenly.

“I mean, did she, though?” Rory asked, opening her eyes so that she could send him a pitying look that he didn’t fucking appreciate at the moment.

“Did you really need to break into our room at two in the morning for this?” Connor demanded.

“Yes,” Bryce bit out as he took another sip of juice while he glared at them.

“I can honestly say that she didn’t follow you everywhere,” Connor, the asshole that should be taking his side to show his appreciation for not killing him when he had the chance, said as he moved to press a kiss against the side of Rory’s neck only to rethink that decision when he noted the glare on Bryce’s face.

“I’m pretty sure that she avoided you,” Rory mumbled around a yawn as she moved to get more comfortable.

“That’s what she wanted you to think,” Bryce said, wondering why he was the only one that could see it.

God, it was so obvious that she wanted him, Bryce thought, finishing off his juice box. She was always fucking there and-

“Told you he was in love with her,” Rory mumbled sleepily, making him frown.

“What the hell are you talking about? I’m not in love with her,” Bryce snapped, narrowing his eyes on his little sister and couldn’t help but wonder when she’d lost her damn mind.

“You really are, though,” Rory said around another yawn.

He opened his mouth only to shift his glare when Connor said, “Everyone knows.”

“We mock you,” Rory added.

“We really do,” Connor said with a sad shake of his head before he leaned back in and kissed the side of Rory’s neck, clearly forgetting the warning they gave him years ago about touching their sister in front of them.

“We’ve been doing it for years,” Rory murmured in agreement around a heartfelt sigh and a nod.

“You’re lying,” Bryce bit out.

“Am I, though?” she asked with a pitying look that he really didn’t fucking appreciate at the moment.

“You really are,” Bryce drawled because the last thing that he was, was in love with the little pain in the ass that he avoided like the fucking plague.

“Okay,” Rory said, looking thoughtful as she placed her hand over her husband’s where it rested on the soft swell of her belly, making Bryce swallow hard as he thought about his niece and nephew sound asleep in their beds in the other room and wondered what it would be like to-

It didn’t fucking matter, Bryce told himself as he returned to glaring at his sister.

“When’s the last time that you went on a date?” Rory asked on a bored sigh, making him frown.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Bryce asked even as he had to admit that it had been a long fucking time since he’d asked a woman out and even longer since he’d taken a woman to bed.

With the grueling schedule that they’d been keeping for the last few years merging Highland Construction with Shadow Construction after his sister married the asshole that really needed to learn how to keep his hands off her, they’d started to make a name for themselves and took on jobs that no one else could handle. It wasn’t exactly a surprise that he didn’t have time to date, he-

“And how many girls did you date in high school?” Rory asked, clearly trying to piss him off.

“I was too busy keeping you out of trouble,” Bryce pointed out, not liking where this was going one fucking bit.

“And you did a great job,” Rory said, blinking at him as her husband chuckled and pressed another fucking kiss against her neck, earning a killing glare.

“Get to the point,” Bryce bit out.

“You don’t really date, but when you do, you go for women that you’re not interested in, barely acknowledging them, and when they want more, you bury yourself in work until they take the hint and move on,” Rory said, shrugging it off.

“I’m selective,” he said evenly.

“You’re in denial,” Rory said, and before he could argue, she continued. “Why is it so difficult to admit that you like Cayley?”

“Because I don’t,” Bryce said, wondering why it was so fucking difficult for her to believe that he wasn’t interested in Cayley. He’d never showed any interest in the little pain in the ass other than staying as far away from her as humanly possible, no matter what Cayley said earlier.

He wasn’t in love with her.

He was sick and fucking tired of having to watch over her. When they were kids, she used to run wild, letting Sean talk her into doing some of the stupidest fucking shit imaginable and no one to keep her out of trouble. Their fathers grew up together, had been best friends since elementary school, so when her mother passed away when she was little, his father suggested that they buy the old house down the road from them.

John was a great guy, a good father, and a hard worker, but he had no fucking idea what to do with a little girl like Cayley. Before Bryce’s mother took off, she used to watch Cayley, which never made any sense to him since she couldn’t be bothered with her own children. Not that he could really call what she did taking care of Cayley. She did the bare minimum for the little girl that used to follow him everywhere, leaving him with no choice but to watch over her so that his brothers didn’t use her as bait to lure the Jamerson’s dog out of their yard by covering her in peanut butter.

Again.

He’d never stopped watching over her and he honestly had no fucking idea why.

“You know what I think?” Rory asked, sounding thoughtful, which should have been his first fucking clue that this wasn’t going to end well.

“I’m sure that you’re going to tell me,” Bryce said even as he couldn’t help but wonder why his sister thought that he-

“It’s the Bradford curse,” she said, making him sigh heavily.

“There’s no such thing as the Bradford curse. It’s just bullshit that the men in our family have been passing down from generation to generation to fuck with our heads for their own entertainment,” Bryce explained, wondering why anyone in his family still believed in that bullshit tale.

“Sounds like you’re afraid,” the little brat said in a taunting voice that had his eyes narrowing dangerously on her.

“I’m not afraid of anything,” he bit out.

“Then prove me wrong,” Rory said with a careless shrug.

“And how do you suggest that I do that?” Bryce drawled, suddenly fucking exhausted.

The days of barely getting any sleep and working sixteen-hour days were catching up with him. He needed a vacation, but that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Rory and Connor had given him one year to pull off the Dawson project and he honestly wasn’t sure how he was going to pull it off. He-

“Spend time with her,” Rory said, drawing his attention in a big fucking way.

“I’ve spent most of my life avoiding the little pain in the ass and now, you want me to spend time with her?” Bryce asked on a tired sigh as he rubbed his hands roughly down his face.

“Do you have a better idea?” Rory asked.

“That you fire her and let her move into another apartment?” Bryce suggested as he dropped his hands away, already knowing that she wouldn’t do that, especially since they needed the help.

“That’s really not going to work for me,” Rory murmured, sounding thoughtful as she considered him for a moment while he sat there, deciding that maybe it would be better for everyone if he-

“We’ll sell you the Thomas property,” Rory said, making everything in him go still.

He’d been kicking himself for not buying the old Thomas House when he had the chance, but at the time, Rerum Highland Construction had been on the search for old houses to renovate to build their restoration portfolio and managed to get the property first. Since it meant more work for Rerum Highland Construction, Bryce forced himself to move on, knowing that he’d get a chance to work on the old house that he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about since he first saw it.

Only, it never happened thanks to all the jobs that came their way, but now…

“What do I have to do?”