Page 15 of My Crush's Brother

“You want to hear something funny?” He looks over at me as he comes off his elbows and stands up.

“Sure.”

“So, when I was little and I’d come over to your house to hang out with Trevor you always scared me.” I can’t help but grin and I can a small one forming on his lips too.

“Is that right?”

“Oh yeah. You were his older, cool brother who always had a different girl over like every week.”

“Ha!” He throws his head back with a loud bark, “It wasn’t a different girl every week woman, come on now!” I can’t help but giggle.

“Yes it was! I can distinctly remember this one time that you had Marsha Greggs, Felicity Troutwater and Mel Preston over all within a month!” He just shakes his head and lets out a soft laugh to himself. “I remember because you would always go in the hot tub with them, and after some time you’d get out and run to grab your guitar and serenade them.”

It’s dark out but I swear I can see a blush start to form on his cheeks. “I—I’m sorry I had no idea you were watching me.”

“Oh I watched alright. That’s the first time I saw a girl’s boobs that weren’t my own and how I learned what french kissing is.”

“Lord have mercy,” he says against his hands as he rubs them over his face.

“It’s all good, it taught me valuable life lessons.” I say playfully elbowing him.

He looks over at me and neither of us say anything. The moonlight bounces between us and I swear I can see a spark of something. Like he wants to tell me something or kiss me. I drop my eyes from his down to his lips and he notices.

He stands up stiffly and shoves his hands in his pockets, “You ready to get back in there? I’m sure there’s a few guys that are dying to get a chance to dance with you.”

He starts to walk away but I reach out and grab the hook of his elbow, “Hey wait. I actually came out here to tell you something.”

He turns back around to face me, “Yeah?”

I take in a long inhale before letting it slowly, “Okay so this is going to sound crazy...A few weeks ago I came up with this crazy, hairbrained plan to get Trevor to notice me or want me or something.” I can see his back instantly tense and his mouth set in a firm line.

“Just hear me out. I was thinking that if he thought I was seeing someone else that he’d get jealous and it would propel him into action or something. Like he’d finally see that he’s been in love with me?—”

“Are you fucking kidding me Pearl?” Before I can finish what I’m saying he interrupts me harshly.

“No, wait let me ex-” before I can say anything else I can see rage settle over his face.

“No you wait. This stupid childhood crush has gone on long enough. It’s pathetic at this point! He’s in love with someone else Pearl, why can’t you accept that? He is trying to make it work with this woman and you need to back off and learn some goddamn boundaries. If you really love him and care about him like you say then you just need to accept the fact that he doesn’t want you Pearl. He doesn’t love you!”

I stand there in pure shock as his words echo around me. I’ve never seen him this angry. Tears spring to my eyes as I try to register my emotions. I want to yell at him and tell him that I know all that already but instead I stand there motionless.

“Grow up Pearl.” He shakes his head before turning and marching back toward the barn.

I don’t know how long I stood there before tears begin streaming down my cheeks. It’s not the words or the truth of them that hurts, it was the way he looked at me...like he was disgusted. I don’t know how the conversation got so convoluted, I had wanted to tell him that I didn’t feel that way anymore about Trevor. That I had realized all those things he just yelled at me on my own.

It’s only a matter of moments before my tears of sadness turn to tears of anger. How dare he, what gives him the right to parent me or tell me how to live my life? If he wasn’t such a rude prick he would have heard what I have to say before cutting me off.

I wipe away the tears before marching back inside. I glance around but don’t see him anywhere.

“Hey you okay?” Jade grabs my arm, alarmed I’m sure by my smeared mascara and tear stained face.

“Yeah I’m good. Have you seen Blake?” I ask still looking around the room for him.

“I think he left? He walked through a little bit ago and went out the front door. What happened between you two? Do I need to say something to him?”

I nod my head and give her a soft smile, “No, it’s nothing. I’m going to take off. Not feeling that great but I’ll call you tomorrow.” I give her hand a quick squeeze before heading out the door and jumping in my bug.

I make the quick drive up the mountains, as I pull in to the cabin parking lot I see Blake’s truck. I put my car in park, slam the door and march my way to his cabin. It’s time BlakeWinthrop gets a piece of my mind. I bang loudly until I hear his footsteps heading toward me and he opens the door in nothing but a towel, dripping water all over the floor. A look of pure shock on his face and mine.

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