Chapter Nine

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Chapter Nine

 

Luke Archer

“I cannot believe she is going out with that guy! She even made it sound like she was doing me a favor by going out with him,” I bristled when Jamie’s words from this afternoon replayed in my head like a line from the movies. I thought you’d be happy, those were the words that she had used. And they irritated me to no end. “What does she see in him? And what the hell does he see in her?” 

My sister sighed and glared at me from across the living room, flipping through fashion magazines like what I had just told her wasn’t even worth paying attention to. She was the only person I could turn to and it seemed that she didn’t give a damn. How nice of her. “You’ve been going on and on about this for the last two hours. Give it a rest, will ya? You’re being annoying.”

Me? Annoying her? Was she freaking kidding me? Did she forget about the time when she barged into my room and just sat there complaining for hours about her idiot of an assistant? Or the time she rattled on and on about how inconsiderate and manipulative my father was for persuading her into helping out the family business? I’d listened to her without any complaint back then. It should only be fair that she treat me with the same courtesy, right? 

Besides, it wasn’t like I had anyone else to talk to. So if I was annoying her then so be it.

“It’s screwed up,” I muttered, flopping down on the couch next to her when she began humming. “Why would she want to go out with him?”

I flinched when Sienna scowled and slammed the magazine shut, hurling it on the floor. My sister wasn’t exactly what you would call sweet-tempered so her reaction was not surprising. “Luke, why does her going out with Adam concern you? She’s sort of your friend and he’s been your friend for years. What’s the problem?”

I shrugged. If I knew the answer to that question, I wouldn’t be bugging her, would I? “I don’t know. It just feels wrong.”

“Here’s a wild guess: you like Jamie,” she quipped, smirking.  

I gawked at her strangely then broke into a fit of laughter when I found her glaring at me, completely deadpan. “Trust me, no.”

“Okay.” She shrugged. “Whatever.” She picked up another magazine and much to my irritation, started flipping through the pages again. Jeez, what was with women and magazines? If you ask me, I think they are a waste of paper and ink.

I took a deep breath and leaned against the cushion with my eyes closed. An image of Jamie’s shocked and confused face as I snapped at her this afternoon flashed across my mind. I felt kind of guilty for lashing out on her like that; I mean, I wasn’t heartless. A part of me felt foolish for not seeing this coming; after witnessing how close she and Adam were at that party last week, I should have guessed he would ask her out.

I felt as if my head was going to explode.

Desperately in need to have my attention diverted, I asked Sienna about her boyfriend's whereabouts. Sienna's boyfriend, Ryan Bradshaw, had been dating my sister for a little over a year now. My parents loved him since he was the son of Hedrick Bradshaw, the CEO of Bradshaw Corp and one of the richest men in the country. "I thought he was flying in to see you."

"He was. But a European client showed up at the last minute so I'm flying to New York to see him tomorrow."

Nope, attention still not diverted. Still thinking about Adam and Jamie. God, I sucked at this. 

“So what do I do?” I asked.

Sienna knew exactly what I was referring to. “Do I look like a shrink?” my sister asked sourly.

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