15. Reed

15

Reed

I lay in bed staring at the dimly lit wall while I waited for Brandy to come inside. I was giving her thirty more minutes before I went out to drag her ass in here. I understood the need for space and the fact that Brandy needed an abundance of it, but sleeping in a trashy parking lot in the middle of a city was not an ideal way for her to spend the night. Aside from that, the fall temperatures dropped dramatically at night, and with her in those little shorts and loose tee, I knew she had to be getting cold.

The thought didn’t sit well with me, but forcing Brandy to do much of anything was like pulling teeth. Once she set her mind on something, that was it. There was no changing it unless you wanted to deal with her wrath.

She wasn’t always like this. We used to actually get along—that was, until I interrupted her night of poor decision-making. She’d been acting out because of her father, and I couldn’t, in good mind, let her make bad choices simply because she was upset and didn’t know how to properly get that out.

Everything with Brandy was extreme. My little sister blamed it on her being a Gemini, but I had the biggest feeling it was simply just because she was Brandy Rose. A girl who, despite her mother’s love, was taught to bottle things inside and never let anyone see her weak side.

But what she didn’t know was emotions didn’t make people weak. Being vulnerable wasn’t a bad thing. Although I held my walls up stronger than most, I could admit it wasn’t the smartest way to live life. Fortunately for me, I didn’t give a shit.

The door to the room opened, then snicked shut after Brandy slid inside. In the dim light coming from the crack in the bathroom door, I could see her faint silhouette stiffen, her body reluctant in her movements. I’d kept the light on for her arrival—one, so she could see, and two, because I knew she wouldn’t like walking into a pitch black room.

One glance at the red digital clock on the nightstand had me holding back an eye roll. One minute after eleven. It was typical Brandy behavior to push my limits, so much so that I should have expected it.

She flicked on the main light, the brightness blinding me for a second despite the bulb flickering from the ceiling. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“What do you mean, what am I doing ? I’m lying in bed,” I replied.

She raised her brows in a that’s the problem motion. “Shouldn’t you be on the floor?”

I was conflicted on whether the sass in her tone was better than the silence I’d been stuck in before she walked in.

I sat up, the blanket falling to pool around my waist, exposing my bare chest. I didn’t miss the way her eyes fought not to steal a glance. “You want me to sleep on the floor.” My tone was flat, unamused.

Her lips rolled together before she said, “Better grab a pillow and get comfortable, Satan. It’s the gentlemanly thing to do.”

I settled back against the scratchy pillows. “Nah. I think I’m good.”

Twin flames lit in her gaze, licking at my skin. “ Now is the time you choose not to be a gentleman?”

My fingers folded around each other in my lap, resting atop the sheet. “Who said I was a gentleman?”

She did. And we both fucking knew it. She wanted to mock me for it when I tried to be nice to her? To set aside our differences and treat each other like human beings rather than punching bags? Then this was what happened.

“So your plan is to what? Sleep next to me?” she asked.

I flipped up the corner of the sheet, gesturing to the empty spot. “Are you scared, Brandy Rose?”

Those eyes turned to slits. “Not even the slightest.”

I patted the mattress to piss her off a little more. I shouldn’t poke the tiger before she was about to sleep beside me, but maybe I wanted those claws out, ready to strike.

With a quick flick of the switch, the room went dark, save for the sliver of light from the bathroom. A shoe was thrown to the ground, then another. Feet padded across the creaky floor and slowed right before the bed dipped beside me.

Brandy slipped under the covers, pulling them up to her chin and, of course, clean off of me. I got comfortable, lying with my back to her back, to which she inched away. When she readjusted for the sixth time with a sigh, I knew what was coming.

“If you weren’t such a hard person, this wouldn’t be so fucking uncomfortable,” she muttered.

I reached behind me, grabbing hold of the edge of the sheet and pulling it over my body.

“I’m not hard, Brandy,” I grumbled, my cheek plastered against the pillow. I shifted my head, trying to find a comfortable position with her constant movement.

“You were in the dressing room,” she pointed out. I froze—her comment caught me off guard. But two could play at that game.

“Is that how you would prefer me?” I asked.

With an exaggerated groan, Brandy yet again yanked the blanket off of me. I waited for her comeback, but it never came.

Eventually, the sound of her breathing evened out. My body relaxed knowing she was finally resting, that mind of hers quiet for once.

Then I fell asleep beside the woman who never dropped her guard—not even for me.