Their Best Friend

At The house

Sammi POV

I wait a bit longer and walk down, and pretty soon after, the knock has me walking to the door. Opening it, Jake smiles at me.

“Okay, show me where it’s going, and then when the guys come, it’ll be easier,” he smiles and waits for me.

“Sure, this way.” As I walk up the stairs, I hear him following me. I step into my room, and he glances around it.

“It’s a big room,” he mutters, and I watch as he taps along the ceiling. “There are not many secure places to attach it, though, that are away from the walls enough. Is there another room that it could go in?”

There are loads of rooms, but I didn’t want my brothers finding it. Then again, I know the rooms they never go in. “I think I know the room,” I say while smiling before walking out. Going down the hall, I unlock a door and push it open. He glances around and checks the ceiling again.

I can already see he has questions but doesn’t ask. “This will be fine. There are more beams in this room that it can attach to, so you have a choice, here, here, or here?” he says as he points out the spots, and I consider it. Honestly, I’ve no idea.

“Which do you think would work better?” He’s done this for years, so he will know more than me.

“This spot.” He walks towards the window. “It will have the most space surrounding it, good air flow as well as lighting. You could also have a mirror fitted on one of the walls so you can see yourself as you do it.”

“Thank you, Jake,” I look around the room, and he nods.

“It’s not a problem. I’ll grab the items from the car and bring them up, ready for the guys who are fitting it. The idea is you can change the hoop and bar, so you can practise on both,” he says before leaning forward and kissing my cheek.

I watch as he walks out of the room. I need to figure out a cover story for why I would be in this room if the guys notice.

It’s been far too long, and I am constantly anxious that one of my brothers will come home. So when the guys step back, saying it’s done, I have a virtual party in my mind to celebrate not getting caught.

“We need you to try it out so we know it’s stable,” one of the guys looks at me. I go to walk forward, but Jake stops me.

“No, she doesn’t. You can literally pull and swing it on to check,” he argues with them, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

“It’s fine. It needs testing,” I whisper to Jake.

“No, they tested the ones in the club. They are trying to get a free show. She’s not getting on it; test it yourself,” Jake snaps, and I watch as they pull it again and turn it. I thought it would have been normal protocol to have someone try to use it. Then again, if it stays up with two big guys dangling from it, it’s secure.

I watch as Jake thanks them and we guide them back out of the house. He turns and smiles at me.

“Get ready. I’m driving you in today.” He stands waiting for me, so I rush and go to get ready. Once I am, I walk down again, and he guides me to his car. “You have some time, so how about a date before work?” He smiles at me, and I chew my lip. My mind goes to this morning and Grayson.

“Sure.” I smile at him, and he leans forward. His lips press against mine, and his hand grips the back of my neck. I moan and push my body closer to him. He chuckles and moves back.

“We should probably leave, or we will have to go straight to work,” he stops talking and kisses me again. As he pulls back, I see the car, and Grayson stands beside it, glaring our way.

Shit. Jake turns and looks. “Should I introduce myself?” He looks from Grayson to me.

“No, he’s my brother’s friend. No one important, let’s go.” I smile, and Jake drives off before Grayson can reach us, for which I’m grateful. His face screams; he is shocked. So, did he really think I lied this morning?

We stop outside a small cottage cafe.

“It’s not the best, but it’s daytime, and we don’t have time for anything big. We will book a day off work and have a real date in a week,” Jake says as he opens his door and gets out. I go to open my door, but he is already there, opening it.

“One, I’m fine with coming here, Jake. Two, you don’t need to walk around the car and open my door.” I am grateful for him doing it, but I can’t. There is no way I can sit in the car and wait for him to walk around and open the door. Some people do, which is their choice, but for me, that’s too much.

“Okay, I will try to remember that. Let’s get in.” He walks in, and I follow. Sitting at the table, we order something to eat. We talked a lot more about him, so I learned more about him. Afterwards, I explained about my parents’ accident and how Zade put the first years of his life of freedom into bringing me up and ensuring I had a home.

“So I have a question,” his head tilts. I nod and wait for him to ask it. “That room today looked like it hadn’t been seen in years. You actually unlocked it?”

I should have known that question would come up. “My mum was an artist. That is her studio. I would spend hours in there with her, drawing and painting. After the accident, most of the art was wrapped up and put in storage so it didn’t slowly get destroyed. No one has been in there since.”

It’s the biggest room in the house. After the accident, Zade offered it to me as a bedroom, but I refused. I didn’t want my mother’s desk and other things removed. Once all the art was removed, the room became bare except for the table and art supplies in one small corner.

“So you can draw?” He looks at me, and I nod.

“I can, yes. I did throughout school and such, but after I gave it up. It was my mum’s dream, and it felt wrong to keep going without her.” She should have been here to go on the journey with me.

“That’s understandable. What did you do in school?”

“I took a business course. I had planned to help with the family business, which is why I did that course.” Then I realised I wanted freedom from my brothers and that the course wouldn’t be used unless I created something myself away from the family business.

“You can always use the skills you got there to create something new and unique to you. Wouldn’t your brothers help with costs if you wanted to create your own business?”

I nod at him in response. The fact is, I can pay for it myself. When I turned twenty-one, I got money that was left to me—plenty to survive on and make a business. I’m not comfortable telling him that yet, however. “My brothers would help, but then they would also want to be involved because they have this sort of God complex where they think they rule everything and have a right to be involved with everything in my life.”

We both laugh, and he nods. “God complex is a difficult thing, especially when it is family who have it and insist on you following their orders.”

His words are right. With Grayson, I can just tell him to get lost and threaten to tell my brothers. As for my brothers, nothing will calm their God complex down. We leave, and he drives us to work.

The week passes, and I relax into a routine. Things are going well at work and with Jake and me. I saw my brothers a few times, and they asked who the guy was. Much to their disappointment, I refused to give them any real details.

Right now, for a few weeks, I want to get close to Jake without my brothers questioning him while doing the protective dad routine and possibly scaring Jake away. I’ve yet to tell him I’m a virgin. I plan to tell him tonight.

This date was booked on the day the hoop got fitted. He made everyone aware we wouldn’t be working tonight, so we could go out for a real meal, as he said. It means I will have the chance to be honest and explain to him the situation. Then I can only hope things go well and he doesn’t see me as too complicated because I’m still a virgin.