Brothers Forever

26. Will You Come With Me?

Chapter 26: Will You Come With Me?

Sterling's Point of View

Mr. Shaw wasn’t home much and neither was his fiancée. And in order for Bren to come to my house, she had to be able to get ahold of him which was almost impossible—I think he did it on purpose, honestly. And if she was able to get in touch with him, he’d first have to call my parents to assure they were at home. It was a ridiculous process that we didn’t usually bother with after the first few attempts. Instead, I usually went to her house which was definitely a new thing for me. Bren’s house was never a place I had spent a lot of time at.

The only time I saw her outside of school since Monday was on Wednesday. We had hung out in her bedroom—with the door wide open—and her father made a point to walk by every few minutes. You would have thought he’d get bored of it eventually but no. Every few minutes he’d be back by again. Needless to say, not much happened besides a quick kiss here and there.

And since Bren was weary of PDA, the only thing she’d tolerate at school was holding hands, hugging, and occasionally—if I was extremely lucky—a small peck on the lips.

I was going crazy. Before it was tolerable because we weren’t dating, and I was well aware of that fact. But now, now I finally had her again, and I couldn’t do anything still.

On Saturday, Mr. Shaw and his fiancée apparently had all sorts of wedding stuff to do, so I couldn’t see Bren as my parents were both at work. However, it was fine for Grey to go and hang out with her. I had nothing against them being friends, but when my brother could see my girlfriend and I couldn’t, well, that pissed me off a bit.

But, Carson’s mom was going to be home all day the next day, and it had already been cleared for me to go over there. Hopefully, she wouldn’t keep nearly as watchful of an eye over us as Mr. Shaw.

Sunday morning arrived, and I pulled up to the front of Bren’s house right at ten. I had expected Bren to be the one to open the door when I knocked, but it was a little girl that looked about seven. She was easily the cutest little kid I had ever seen. Her dark hair flowed in curls around her pink cheeks. She glanced up at me before her dark brown eyes moved to her bare feet.

“Who are you?” Her voice was so quiet, I almost didn’t hear her.

“I’m Sterling. I’m here to see Bren.” She looked up at me with wide brown eyes.

“Oh. You’re Bren’s,” a giggle escaped her lips, “boyfriend?”

I nodded, and she gestured for me to come in.

“I’ll get her for you,” she said before walking by the stairs. She stopped at the bottom and yelled, “Bren! Your boyfriend is here!” She covered her mouth to hide the giggle again.

I chuckled. “Thanks.”

A woman with dark, curly hair came into the room. “Carly, what did I tell you about screaming like that? Go up the stairs and get whoever you need.”

Carly didn’t say anything, but I saw her roll her eyes.

The woman turned to me. She had on a simple t-shirt and jeans. The resemblance between her and Carson was startling.

“Sorry about that.” She smiled apologetically. “You must be Sterling. I’m Francine.”

“Nice to meet you ma’am.” I shook the hand she held out as Bren came down the stairs.

“Hey.” She was wearing a pink top and light jeans. Her blonde hair was braided and hanging over her left shoulder. But what really caught my attention was the fact that the boot was gone.