BETWEEN TWO BROTHERS

COVER UP

EMILY

Everything can’t be over before it even begins. I can’t lose Jeremy. What do I say? How much had he heard from the discussion?

“Emily and I …..I heard Daniel say

What is he about to say? My heart was beating so fast

“Emily and I were just coming to an agreement that I won’t tell you….

Daniel turned and looked at me smugly, “Should I tell him Emily?”

“What is going on here?” Jeremy asked, his eyes growing suspicious

I looked pleadingly towards Daniel, begging him not to say it

“That she didn’t love mom’s turkey, I overheard her on the phone, and she didn’t know I was in the toilet,” Daniel said.

My breath rushed out of me. I felt so relieved, but I still felt guilty as the lies I was beginning to tell Jeremy were getting too much.

“Why wouldn’t you want to tell me that, Em?” Jeremy asked, brushing my hair behind my ears and pulling me forward.

Uh.. I didn’t want you to feel bad because it’s your mom’s food, that is why I was begging Daniel to keep what he overheard a secret,” I whispered.

“It’s okay, Em, I know you can be really picky about food, so I even expected it.” Jeremy laughed.

“Come, let’s go to the room, we are yet to unpack and test that bed,” Jeremy said, wiggling his brows.

I glanced back to look at Daniel. His jaw looked tight, but his face was totally blank. There was no smirk on his lips, no mocking spark in his eyes. I couldn’t read him.

Was he angry, or did he just not care, after all he had been saying just moments ago?

Well, I didn’t want him to care; that would make this whole thing a little easier, but why did I feel disappointed?

“You guys should carry on with that. I'm going to my room, just don’t be too loud, you know I’m next door,” Daniel said, looking directly at me, then he stormed out.

What was he doing next door!! This day just kept getting worse.

“Let’s go, babe,” Jeremy said, leading me with his hands placed on the small of my back.

We walked up the stairs and came to a stop at the door

“Ohh shoot, I forgot the keys downstairs, just stay here, I will be back right now,” Jeremy said while placing a kiss on my forehead.

“Okay,” I said

He then walked back where we had come from. I stood thinking about how my life was turning into a whole circus show when I felt a hand on my waist, thinking it was Jeremy, I turned.

“You were back so soon.”

“You were expecting me,” Daniel said, looking at me smugly

“What….” I stepped back. “I thought you were Jeremy.”

“You have to stop doing this. We narrowly escaped Jeremy hearing our conversation,” I whispered.

“I can’t stop, and you know this.”

“Don’t tell me you weren’t wishing it were you and I about to christen that bed, or you would be fighting so hard not to moan my name while he is f*****g you,” he flicked my n*****s, which were pointing towards him, just begging to be sucked by him.

“Ouuu,” I moaned

He bent his head and used his teeth to craze my n*****s through my shirt

“Daniellll my God …..” I moan, I couldn’t help myself.

Well, bye. My ears will be on the wall waiting to hear you moan my name, and trust me, I would be j*********f to the thoughts of you, he said, and walked into his room next door.

What just happened? How am I going to survive the next week? My body keeps betraying me at every turn.

But I was lying to myself, it wasn’t just my body that was drawn to him, my heart was also drawn to him. he brings out a side of me I thought was long dead.

He made me feel alive. I haven’t felt that way in a long time. I have just been living the motions.

Babe, are you alright? You look flushed Jeremy said. I had not even heard him walk back. Thank God he had not come minutes earlier.

“I just don’t feel fine, I think I need to lie down for a bit,” I said.

“Okay…. Let’s go inside. I will just unpack our things while you take a nap, you are probably jetlagged.”

Jeremy’s room was… neat. Too neat. The kind of neat where you wonder if anyone actually lived there. I already knew he was this way, but I didn’t expect his childhood room to look the same way.

His bed was always made perfectly, the blanket pulled tight like he measured it. The navy duvet matched the curtains, and everything had this boring, safe vibe like a hotel room that never changed.

His desk was the same. Laptop closed, pens lined up, textbooks stacked in order. Even his closet looked like a*****e display, shirts hung by colour, shoes lined up straight.

The walls had pictures of Jeremy at graduation, Jeremy with his parents, and Jeremy with me. Smiling, safe, predictable pictures.

The whole place smelled like his aftershave and laundry detergent. Clean. Normal. Comfortable.

And yet, sitting on his bed, looking around, I felt restless. Because no matter how safe this room was, my mind kept dragging me back to Daniel’s rough grip, his reckless heat, his voice in my ear calling me Doll.

“I’m going to shower,” I said to Jeremy.

~ ~ ~

DANIEL

I dreaded hearing them go at it. I needed to clear some steam, so I called up Jack, my best friend.

“My man,” he said

“Is there a race tonight? You need to put me on one,” I said

“Yeah, yeah, come over here.”

“You are the star of the show; there will always be a spot waiting for you,” Jack teased.

“I’m on my way,” I said, then hung up.

I left the house and drove to the racing field with Ruby. She was sleek and beautiful; she had never failed me or twisted my emotions in a knot. I arrived with a low hum and the eyes of everyone on me.

I stepped out and saw Jack walking towards me.

The space was crowded with bodies rubbing and dancing in tune with the music, low light almost like it wanted to conceal what was being done here, and the smell of alcohol, sweaty bodies, and s*x permeated the air.

“You have been gone for so long.”

‘‘We missed you, Dan baby’’

‘‘Where have you been?’’

Came from different girls, I used to enjoy the attention even like it up, but now the only attention I wanted was from a sharp-mouthed 5’4 woman who was currently in the arms of my brother.

I was getting worked up again.

Jack finally reached me, and we shook hands.

“What has got you so worked up this beautiful night?” he said, slapping my back.

“Nothing, I’m fine.”

“Okay, if you say so, the racing begins in 5 minutes, you will be racing Ronnie, that motherfucker needs to be taught a lesson, and you arrived just in time to do that,” he laughed.

I won the race that was expected. Ronnie was just a loud nigga that likes to run his mouth. He had no real skill; it was an easy win.

“I will be on my way home,” I told Jack.

“Oh no, so soon do you have a curfew or something?” he teased, and everyone around laughed

….Fuck you,” I said, “I’m off.”

I drove back home, but I couldn’t make myself go inside. I can’t lie down next door, imagining her with him.

I went to the pool and sat down, but I was so restless that I needed to see her.

I picked up my phone and scrolled to her number, which I had gotten when I stole it from Jeremy’s phone earlier during dinner, and I texted her.

“Come outside, Doll”.