Page 53 of Messing With My Brother's Best Friends

“That’s what fucking happened?” I’d imagined this moment so many damn times, but never like this. Gage smeared with half the pantry’s contents, dripping onto the granite floor as he took a step closer. “That’s why you left? Jesus, Kendall…”

His hands slapped down on my arms, digging in now, holding me right where I was. Being helpless again, of jerking against his hold and not being able to get free, had me snarling like an animal. My heart beat like a rabbit’s, but now I was like one caught in a snare, jerking, while the snare bit tighter.

“We didn’t fuck with your cooking ever.” His gaze burned me like a brand, his words like slaps to the face. “Remember? We liked eating what you made too fucking much to screw with that, but also… Your mum made clear that if we screwed with her pantry and your cooking, we were no longer welcome in the house.”

His fingers were sticky, repellent as they stroked down the side of my face, but I couldn’t stop him from touching me.

“But maybe this will convince you. We had a plan.” I stared balefully up at him, remembering their ‘plans.’ “Not like that. Connor fought hard to get you that apprenticeship because… We’d all be at technical college together, doing our apprenticeships and… Then we could make clear how we felt about you. This house.” He glanced around, and I was relieved and disappointed to no longer be the focus of his attention. “The business, everything, it was supposed to be for…”

His shuddering breath, that was what broke through the hard shell I’d encased myself within. He was a prick, but a great actor he was not. I watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed hard.

“It was supposed to be for you, Kendall. All of it, everything we dreamed of for the future was for you. That was why we didn’t mess with your apprenticeship interview or anything. We wanted you to get that job just as much as you did.”

He stepped back then, and I wavered on my feet, unable to support myself properly. My hand slapped down on the counter, clinging to the edge, my brain racing as one of the key pillars of my life was shattered beneath me. But as I stared at the hectic swirl of the marble pattern, I saw it.

If they hadn’t messed with the sugar, who had?

The answer was an easy one, Finn’s frantic expression that day taking on a whole new cast. He’d looked as guilty as hell, but he’d led me to believe it was because he was ashamed of what his friends had done rather than…

Admit his own fucking guilt.

I knew my brother. Going so far as to hurt my chances of getting an apprenticeship I wanted with every breath in my body was beyond the scope of his shittiness. He was like a small kid pulling the wings off flies. He didn’t know it was fucking agony being the fly, because he was too caught up in his own fun. Finn would’ve swapped out the sugar some time before. I hadn’t baked anything for a while before the big interview, too preoccupied with school concluding to have the time, so he… I jerked away from Gage, storming back down the hallway to find my phone.

I pulled up my brother’s contact and put a call through, hearing the ring buzz in my ear until I got his message bank.

“You need to fucking call me,” I growled down the line, then threw my phone down on the bed.

Only to find Gage looming in the doorway.

I wondered if they felt a rush of guilt after they pulled a prank on me as I took his state in. It’d made so much sense a moment before, to slather him in condiments, but now… My breath was coming in too fast, my chest feeling tight as regret hit me hard.

What if he wasn’t the enemy?

What if he wasn’t the one to hurt me so damn badly?

What if instead he…?

Gage deserved a face full of flour, a head dripping with honey, my mind rationalised, but… I saw the way he was blinking, the whites of his eyes red and irritated by whatever I’d thrown at him.

There was something I wanted so damn much after the dust settled with my brother and his friends, something that would have made it all better, allowed me to laugh right along with them. I watched my hand rise, my head shaking as I offered it to him despite myself.

“C’mon, let’s get you cleaned up.”

Chapter 28

Kendall

What a fucking mess.

I blinked, no longer feeling that weird kind of glee now that the urge to destroy Gage was burned out of me. Mum used to hand the lot of them a broom and a mop, making the boys clean up after they’d finished wreaking havoc, but I was the one to make myself deal with the aftermath now. But first, Gage. I found a roll of paper towel and then wet a bunch of it before hopping up on the bench and gesturing him forward.

“I can…”

Whatever he had to say, it was silenced by me pressing the towel to his face and wiping some of the mess away. He’d need a shower. That probably would’ve been a more efficient way of dealing with this whole mess, but I couldn’t seem to bring myself to suggest it. He could get in there and scrub himself clean while I…

“I love you, Kendall Kennedy. I fucking love you.”

I jerked the towel away, and he just stared at me mutely, searching my face for a reason before angling his cheek closer.

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