Page 25 of My Forbidden Boss

»Well, we’ll join them.« Toni stood up and reached out his hand towards Veronika, who took it.

»Good night, sweethearts, don’t stay up too late!« she crooned.

»Well, Sis, don’t you want to go to bed? It’s pretty late,« Elliot slurred.

»Maybe it would be better if you went to bed,« I replied, to which he just chuckled dryly.

»I’m actually feeling quite good.« He cracked open another can with a hiss and took a demonstrative big gulp. »You know, Wes, Brianna is quite the stick-in-the-mud, always has been.«

»You’re acting ridiculous, you better stop before you embarrass yourself,« I tried again to halt him.

»I embarrass myself? I don’t think that’s going to happen.« He emptied the can and crushed it between his fingers. I threw a glance at Wesley, who placed his hand on Elliot’s shoulder.

»Maybe it really would be better if we went to bed. It’s been a long day.«

»Come on, finally I get to spend a few hours with my best friend again and you want to go to bed already?« Elliot leaned forward and poked at the embers with a stick, sending little sparks up into the sky. »Do you remember Edward Warhammer?« he asked Wesley. I had a feeling where this conversation was heading.

»The scrawny Eddie, whose name was the only mighty thing about him?« Wesley queried, and Elliot laughed.

»That’s the one. Did you know that Brianna went to prom with him? You should have seen the two of them.«

»Elliot, what are you doing?« My brother ignored my protests as if I weren’t there at all.

»I had to punch him at our front door when he tried to give her a goodbye kiss.« I remembered precisely the most embarrassing moment of my life. Elliot had completely overreacted. To be exact, he had already drunk far too much then and was visiting for the weekend from college. I had wished that he would stay there forever and never come back. »If you had been there, I would have asked you to take her to prom.« Elliot turned to Wesley.

»What? Why me?« Wesley asked suspiciously.

I swallowed the lump that had been steadily growing in my throat. »Because you would have certainly kept your hands to yourself and looked after her.« Damn it. Did he mean that seriously? Had Wesley really picked fights for these reasons? Because he saw me as a little sister, just like Elliot? Last night had sounded entirely different, but my brother didn’t see the signs. Thankfully.

»Don’t you think I would have taken advantage of the fact that you trust me? As the only boy?« Wesley asked, playing along with Elliot’s game.

He laughed. »No way. You’re different, you’re like a brother, and that would have been damn weird.«

I couldn’t stand to listen to this conversation anymore. I got up abruptly. »You haven’t been in contact with Wesley for ages because you were busy with your own stuff, and now you act as if you’re still like brothers. That’s ridiculous.«

»What do you mean?« my brother growled.

»Grow up, Elliot.«

I’d had enough. Elliot’s drunken rambling was not just meaningless, but he loved making me look bad to make himself feel better. By now, I didn’t have to put up with that anymore.

When I got back inside the house, I went straight to the bathroom to get ready for bed. But when I lay in bed, sleep was far from my mind.

19

Wesley

Ihad never seen Elliot this way before. That he made wise-cracks and regularly drew attention with his overall behavior was nothing new. But his words dripped with bitterness. Was he jealous of Brianna? Or still just hurt by all the things that had been happening to him lately?

As a friend, I wanted to be there for him and at the same time knock some sense into him for hurting Brianna like that. Because he would surely regret that tomorrow.

At some point, he had fallen asleep in the folding chair. The night was mild, and I had draped a blanket over him and left him lying there. Even though I was about the same size and built similarly, it would have taken quite some effort to hoist his slumped body all the way to his bed. He would be fine out here. Another question was more pressing: how was Brianna doing?

When I went inside, the others were already asleep and not a sound could be heard within the house. I walked down the dark hallway and saw light under Brianna’s door. She was still awake. I knocked softly and opened the door. Brianna lay under the covers, a book held in her hands.

»Hey, can I come in?« I asked.

She slid back and sat up, placing the book on the bedside table. »Sure.«

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