Chapter 4

Hayden

When I heard Millie calling my name, I stiffened. I was already walking down the hall to my old room, ostensibly to get changed into some dry shorts, but that wasn't really it. We were having dinner outside tonight, so I could've just wrapped a towel around my waist and stayed in my boardies.

But that wouldn't bring me closer to Jamie.

When Mum told me she was coming over, Hunter and I had shared a look. He'd smirked, but I… I scratched at my chest, feeling that tightness there that always started up when my sister's best friend was around. Made growing up real fucking awkward. Hunt had assured me it was just a dumb crush, that I'd grow out of it when we were still in high school, but more than ten years later, here I was. Slinking up the hallway slowly, ears pricked, hoping to catch the sound of her voice. My hand went to Millie's doorknob, my fingertips sliding over the alloy knob, trying to feel a hint of warmth left by Jamie's fingers, even though I knew logically it would've been Millie who opened it.

Some hint of her.

Because the minute we walked into the house, I hadn't noticed the water dripping on the floor or Mum's flustered reaction. Everything else dropped away but her. The way Jamie's jeans hugged the most perfect arse. The little plaid shirt she was wearing, the soft folds falling around her breasts, the shape of them revealed each time she moved. Then there was all that long, honey-blonde hair. I wanted to brush it until it shone like gold, run my fingers through it, then wrap it about my fist as I?—

"Hayden!" My sister the cock block. Millie seemed to have a sixth sense about these things, always appearing right when I didn't want her to as she jerked the door open and then closed again. "There you are, you little freak."

"Millie?" I heard Jamie's muffled voice and barely resisted pulling my sister's hand away as Jamie tried to twist the knob. "Millie! Bitch, don't you dare?—"

"Talk about what?" I frowned at my sister.

"Only your greatest hope and wildest dreams," Millie replied with a grin.

"Millie! God damn it…" We both heard Jamie's voice trail away before my sister looked up at me.

"And what have you got to do with all of my hopes and dreams, Squirt?" I asked, rapping my knuckles on my sister's head. She shoved me backwards, which of course meant I had to rally, but before I could grab her in a headlock, she delivered her most devastating blow, and it wasn't an elbow to the ribs.

"I could remove the ban on dating Jamie."

"What?"

Her smirk barely registered because it was her eyes I stared into. Millie had made clear that going anywhere near her friend would be a severe offence against the sibling code. It hadn't been an issue when they were skinny little girls.

But then Jamie had to go and grow up.

Splashing in the pool, running around in little tank tops and shorts during summer, both Hunt and I caught every moment of Jamie blossoming into adulthood. Our bodies were doing the same thing, growing in weird ways, changing, so mucking about with the girls in the pool became something else altogether. I found myself wanting to wrestle Jamie a whole lot more, anything to give me an excuse to drag her closer, feel her body against mine. Millie noticed that too and had a firm word to us.

"Don't go creeping on my friend." Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the two of us, but her serious expression had us grinning. Millie being serious about anything just gave us more ammunition to use against her. "I mean it. You've got most of the girls in school panting after you, but Jamie… She's my friend. Mine, and I don't need her feeling too awkward to come around here because you dumped her just like you do all the others."

Our smiles faded then.

"Be a fuck boy with all the other girls, but not Jamie."

As an adult I understood her concerns. It would've been beyond shit to have to walk into your ex's place every time you wanted to hang out with your best friend. I was nothing but a snot-nosed kid back then, sure to break her heart without even realising it. I hadn't deserved a chance with Jamie.

But now…?

"What the fuck are you talking about, Mills?"

I tried to say that in a drawl, all nonchalant and shit, but instead my voice broke, ruining the illusion. My sister's smile grew wider.

"I know."

My heart started pounding harder than the moment when we came home to tell Dad we'd crashed the car driving around with our mates, but just like then, I had to put a brave front on it.

"You know what, Millie?" I said, straightening up as I crossed my arms.

"I know you've been panting after Jamie for years." My jaw locked down tight. "That you never have relationships that last beyond a month or two, and even those have been few and far between." My teeth ground together. "And that you have a type. Curvy girls with light brown hair, just like Jamie has."

"You seem to pay a whole lot of attention to my love life," I said as casually as I could. "Can't say I do the same. The only common thread I'm seeing is that they're all dickheads."

"And yours are all Jamie-lites. Want to change that?"

"Are you ever going to actually explain what this is all about or is this like charades again?" I raised a hand, pretending to hold an old video camera. "Is it a movie, TV show, or book?"

"It's you dating my best friend."

"What?"

My hands fell limp by my side. It was like every muscle in my body went lax right then.

"Got your attention now, have I? Well, here's the deal. You know how intense Jamie's mum is." Did I ever. The lady was a force of nature. "Well, Majorie wants Jamie married, so my girl's been holding her mum off with stories about casually dating three guys." Muscle tension was back as my hands formed fists, ready to smack whichever of these dickheads I could get to first. "They don't actually exist," she said with a snort, making clear that Millie had caught my visceral reaction. "Well, not until now. Do you think you and your idiot twin can put on a show for her mum? Take Jamie out, give her a good time, and convince her parents that you're actually keen to take things to the next level? It'd only be for a week."

But it wouldn't be. I smiled slowly, Millie's eyes narrowing as she saw it.

"So you're rescinding the ban?" I said, one eyebrow rising. "You know you can't slap it back on again."

"The ban was only supposed to last until the end of high school." Millie shook her head. "Jamie was the only real friend I had at the time, and I didn't want you guys fucking that up for me, but once we graduated, everyone was an adult." She stared at me meaningfully. "Free to make their own choices."

And I chose Jamie.

I tried to stop my smile from widening and failed utterly.

"I'll date her for a week," I replied, like I was doing Millie some big favour, "but if she's enjoying herself, I'm not gonna stop. You know that, right?"

My sister let out a long sigh.

"I do. I think it's why I haven't said anything about it before, but…" Her brows jerked down. "You're gonna treat her like a princess. No, a queen. If you hurt her…" She shoved a finger in my face. "I know where you live, brother."

Hurt her? My chest ached at the thought of it. I shook my head sharply, not able to put that into words.

"Threatening Hay Bale already?" We both turned around to see Hunter coming down the hall. "What'd you do this time, dickhead?"

"Nothing, if he knows what's good for him," Millie growled. "Now, you?—"

"I'll tell him," I said, grabbing my brother's arms and dragging him down the hall. "You…" I swallowed hard. "You break the news to Jamie."

"What the fuck?" Hunter said, jerking himself free of my grip when we got to the kitchen. "What's got your knickers in a twist?"

"Millie wants us to fake date Jamie for a week while her mum's in town," I replied.

He blinked, opened his mouth, closed it, then blinked again before shaking his head.

"What about her ‘dating ban?'" He moved his fingers in the air to approximate the shape of apostrophes.

"Apparently that only was supposed to last past high school."

"Ohh…" He smirked at me. "Well, you must be pleased. Millie finally giving you the green light to chase after the woman of your dreams."

"I am." I didn't stare my brother down, allowing myself to be utterly vulnerable very often, but I did that now, willing him to see it. "I feel like I've been waiting for so fucking long for this, Hunt." His smile faded, but that didn't explain why his eyes went suddenly hard. "And I need you to stay the fuck out of it. Remember when Lily Kennedy thought she was dating both of us?"

"But she was just dating me." Hunter nodded. "Yeah, I remember. So what? You just want me to turn up when you can't replicate yourself, be your little stand in when you need me?"

I'm not sure why he sounded so bloody bitter about that. It wasn't like I hadn't done the same for him plenty of times before.

"I need this, Hunt."

His frown only got deeper but he nodded, just like I knew he would.

"OK, so we let the fam know it's the two of us dating Jamie."

"Three of us," I corrected. "Millie's going to talk to Brock?—"

"Talk to Brock about what?"

We both turned to find our big brother standing there looking like a spitting image of Dad. Same grumpy expression, same intense stare.

"Millie's roping Brock into this too?" Hunter laughed. "Oh, this is gonna be a shitshow."

Brock ignored him, focussing entirely on me.

"What's going to be a shitshow?"

"Millie wants us all to fake date Jamie for a week."