Page 23 of Hold On Me

He messes my hair up and grins before taking his seat again as I let out the breath I was holding and offer a shaky thanks to him. “Besides, I knew you liked her. So just ask her out, bro.” The laughter’s back in his voice, but I shake my head to knock him back. “Why? She likes you too. I know she does. I’m a damn psychic.”

“She wouldn’t want what I have to offer.” I drag my hands through my hair, casually fixing the mess Jenson made of it, and tug a little on the ends. Jenson reaches forward and grabs my hands, forcing me to look at him.

“Talk to me, you big dope. You’re a part of my family now. I seem to have a thing about you Brits. First Edie, Angie, and Lockheart, and now you. I’ve surrounded myself with a British colony.”

With a small laugh I let my eyes reach his. “I don’t know how to do this.”

“Do what? Stop stressing and open your fluffing mouth and speak to me. It’s simple.” He leans back and smiles, drapes his arms over the back of his chair, and waits.

“Jenson, I don’t have siblings. I don’t even have a dad who I can talk to. I learnt a long time ago not to trust people or depend on them. It only leaves you open to hurt and failure. I don’t have relationships, I can’t offer anyone a happily ever after.” I slump back in my chair and avoid his eyes.

“That sucks. But how do you know you can’t offer that if you’ve never tried?”

I open my mouth to speak, but when nothing comes out, he chuckles and continues. “Dude, I get it. When it goes wrong, it’s the worst. But when it goes right? That’s fluffing magical. I’mnot saying you and Buttercup will be the greatest love story ever told, that’s reserved for me and Kitten, but what if you could be something? And I give you my word I won’t make fun or tell anyone. I’ll even keep it from Angie if you want me to. I meant it when I said you’re my bro.”

He casually looks around and then jumps up and heads out of my office. He walks over to a desk and starts to chat with the lady sitting there—Haley if I’m not mistaken—as my head swims with thoughts and possibilities. After a few seconds he comes back, looking smug as I eye him suspiciously.

“Oh my god…will you knock it off with the brow. I just asked her for some coffee and tea seeing as we’ll be here a while. That’s all.” As if on cue, Haley walks into my office with two cups on a tray. She places them on my desk and takes the other tea cup away as I offer her a small smile.

“Thanks. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the other day. It's hard for me to open up.”

“Well duh.” He brings his cup to his lips as I roll my eyes at his quick wit.

“It’s awkward. She’s your sister after all. Plus, I didn’t even want to think about her in that way, but the interview kind of changed everything.” Another sip and a lot of awkward avoidance of eye contact is the only way I’ll get through this conversation.

With a shake of his head and a small laugh, he dismisses my worries as if they’re nothing. “Sheismy sister, but she’s also the toughest person I’ve ever met. I don’t have to go all alpha for her, she can handle herself.”

“Interesting. I’m sure you warned the team off her though.”

He grins against the rim of his cup. “That was for their own protection. Like I said, Penny can handle herself, but she’d come out of any trysts with them feeling bad for it and then I’d have to kill them.”

“I’m confused. You just said you didn’t need to go all alpha, and now you’re talking about killing your teammates.” I place my cup down and copy his earlier stance and lean back as he rolls his eyes and laughs.

“Okay, I need to give you a little insight into our Buttercup if I want anything to happen between you two. And for the record, I do. I’m shipping you two big time. Angie taught me that word.”

He places his cup down and leans his elbows on his thighs. “Pen’s tough. She can banter with the best of people and will advocate for those that need it til she’s blue in the face. She has a good heart.” He pauses to study me and I nod in agreement. No arguments from me. I’ve seen the way she loves her family, how she helps people in the community, and she oozes goodness from her pores. “But she’s also got a huge complex about her mom. Thinks people will judge her for what that woman did in the past.”

I groan inwardly, suspicious that this is something to do with why she left the school, but I keep my mouth shut about it. I don’t want to break her trust before I’ve even earned it. Besides, I’ll know soon enough. Once the NDA forms are back, I’ll have her sign them and she can unburden herself on me.

“Imagine what would happen if she decided to have a little fun with a teammate and word got out? Jenson asks. “Now, I wouldn’t judge her at all. Everyone needs to let off steam.” He winks before continuing. “But she would judge herself. She’d be constantly comparing what she did with what her mom used to do. Trust me, there’s no comparison, but she doesn’t see it that way.

“Now, the guys on the team, apart from Adonis who was settled way before he started playing with us, are jackasses. They think it’s a sport to be pictured out with different women. They don’t care who sees them, they aren’t discreet. And while I know she could’ve handled them, I don’t think she could’ve handledthe fall out from seeing herself splashed all over the place while casually seeing one of them. That’s when we would’ve had to step in.”

After a few moments of silence, I clear my throat. “Hank’s told me a little about her mum.” The surprise on his face isn’t missed as he waits for me to continue. “I understand what you're saying, I really do. But I don’t know if I’d be any different from the players. I’m photographed by the press all the time, and I couldn’t promise anything more to her than they could. Why am I different for you?”

“You’re a good guy. And maybe you can’t offer her the fairytale, but maybe she doesn’t want that anyway.” He shrugs and then bats my thigh with his hand. “Besides, I’ve seen the way you look at her. Like you wanna protect her and devour her at the same time. Even if it was a little something something, an itch to scratch for you both, you wouldn’t let her come away from it hurt. You’d make sure she was alright.” His eyes lock onto mine to show how genuine he’s being and I swallow down the emotion it’s all causing. I can’t argue with him. Not when he’s right.

“So you’d be okay with us, erm, hooking up and nothing more?” I let my eyes fall from his. Normally I’m not so embarrassed talking about having sex with a beautiful woman, but, as I reiterate again, it’s his bloody sister.

“Yep.” His grin’s back and there’s a look in his eyes I can’t quite place. “Just make sure she’s got a smile on her face and we’ll be fine. And keep talking. Now, I’m going to get ready for tonight. Some of us have games to win.” He stands up, slaps me on the back and heads out of my office, shooting a wave over to Haley who smiles kindly back.

Jenson’s words flit into my mind and make me question myself. Being jealous over her flirting with someone else isn’t territory I’m used to, which obviously means there’s somethingthere with her. Maybe I shouldn’t be ignoring it. Maybe we both need to do something in order to move on. He does know her better than anyone, so maybe she would be okay with a casual thing with me if I could keep it quiet. That way I wouldn’t have to open myself up to her too much, she wouldn’t be painted as a scarlet woman, and I’d be able to scratch this itch that’s been irritating me since I first saw her.

As I drain the last bit of my tea, my mind’s made up. I’ll invite her to dinner tomorrow and get to scratching.

14

THE BRADYS MADE AND CLAIMED - GROUP TEXTS

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