CHAPTER THREE
time after time i tried to fight it
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𝐈t seemed like the rest had arrived safely back at the Toretto household. Josephine parked her Honda outside the front porch where there had been a space left. Mia rushed inside the house, a little anxious from all the running. I suppose she was never going to get used to it. Josephine sighed, stepping out of her car and lingering outside for a second to check the familiar cars parked around the neighborhood.
There was no sign of Dom's red Mazda.
She bit her lips, slamming the car door close before marching up the steps. Before she could even enter the house, Vince was already there in front of her, a half-empty bottle of Corona in his right hand. Her eyes narrowed. The stinking smell of cigarettes, booze, and sex coming from inside the house entered her nostrils like an unwanted guest.
"Jo, hey!" Vince spread his arms, a big smile on his face. He was obviously a little intoxicated but she didn't point it out as she pushed past him inside her home. He shoved his Corona toward her. "Let's party. Have a beer or some shit."
Josephine frowned, begrudgingly taking the beer as she studied the living room full of unfamiliar faces and obscene images of people making out on their couch, table, the stairs, and even by the kitchen doorway. She hoped nobody was making out on their dining table because that's all she was ever going to think about after this party. It was a horrible thought.
"Is Dom here?" She asked but Vince shrugged, getting pulled away by a random chick she didn't try to know. The no answers were really starting to frustrate her. She saw Letty by the TV and sent her a questioning look. "Dom?"
"I saw him get into his car," Letty told her. "He'll be here."
Well, that didn't make her feel better. Josephine scoffed under her breath and walked back to the front of the house.
Mia peered down the stairs and looked at her. "Come on, Jo. Let's wait for him up here."
"Yeah," Josephine muttered, giving her surroundings one glance before she trudged upstairs. She shook her head, mumbling to herself as she followed her sister to her room: "Dom's going to be pissed."
"Brian's hot," Mia said out of nowhere. She lied on her chest on her bed, her medical book opened in front of her. Sitting by her vanity, Josephine looked bored out of her mind. Well, not until she said that. "And he's older."
"So what?" Josephine grumbled, fiddling with a makeup brush Mia had left on the table. "Don't tell me you're one of those girls who likes older men?"
Mia flipped on her back and sat up, raising an eyebrow at her. "You're the one who has a history with older men."
"They were a year or two older, and honestly quite a handful." Josephine rolled her eyes. She shifted on her seat, facing her younger sister with a nonchalant look. "I wouldn't call those ones men."
"I don't know." Mia sighed dreamily, painting a pretty picture of Brian and Josephine in her mind. "Brian's just... He's too good to be true━which means he's totally for you, by the way."
Josephine scowled. "I don't want him."
"You keep saying that but you keep flirting with him." Mia stood up, mindlessly walking over her windows and leaning against the rail. She gave her a narrowed look. "Are you trying to make the man go crazy, Jo?"
"I don't..." Josephine trailed off, her scowl turning into a small frown. "I don't know."
Mia heard a car pull up in front of the house. Since she was by the window, she saw Dominic and a certain someone stepping out of the taxi. A mischievous grin appeared on her lips and before Josephine knew it, the younger girl had started grabbing clothes out of her closet before throwing something at her face.
"What now?" Josephine sighed, looking at the black lace top on her lap.
"Work with me, sis." Mia pulled her long hair out of her ponytail and forcefully turned her to the mirror. She gave her sister a sweet smile, holding her favorite lipstick in her hand. "Brian's here. And you, my dear Jo, are gonna show him what he's missing."
What she was missing was a gun in her hand to her head. Mia had taken her time to make her look presentable. The only thing she couldn't get rid of was the scowl on her pretty face. Her sister's clothes fit her like it was her own. Not her style but it was all right. Besides, Mia looked too happy seeing her do things that she doesn't often do so Josephine decided to suck it up and try to enjoy.
She stumbled out of her sister's room as she got evicted by the grinning girl. Mia had told her she was going to come down but Josephine doubted she would. The girl only wanted her to mingle for once after years and she really needed to stop doing that. Josephine muttered incoherent curse words under her breath, so focused on judging her top that she didn't notice someone was in front of her until she bumped into them.
"Oh, shit. Sorry." The familiar voice quickly made her look up, her breathing getting caught in the middle. His electric blue eyes were the most noticeable thing about him. He had a gentle hand on her arm, keeping her steadied. "You okay?"
"You lost?" Josephine retorted, not answering his question. She took a small step back, which made him remove his hand on her. "The party's downstairs."
"Bathroom." Brian sent her a tight-lipped smile, gesturing at the closed door next to them. He studied her, noticing how beautiful she looked. Not that she hasn't always looked pretty. "I like your hair."
That made Josephine snort in amusement. She raised a quizzical eyebrow. "You like my hair?"
"Yeah." Brian smiled stupidly, reaching to twirl a piece of her brown hair around a finger. "It's nice."
Josephine realized he was being genuine and she reciprocated his smile. She stood on her tip-toes and ruffled his golden curls. "Yours isn't so bad."
"Wanna come down with me?" Brian quirked a brow at her.
Josephine pursed her lips. Then she gave him a small shrug. "Well, the party isn't here so might as well."
She let Brian come downstairs first while she waited for her sister. Josephine tried not to show her disdain towards a few of the men who eyed them from head to toe and whistled under their breaths as she walked side by side with Mia through the living room. They were just at the end of the stairs when they noticed the brewing altercation between Brian and Vince.
"Did you wipe the seat?" Vince spat, but Brian had noticed the pistol on the table so he didn't push it.
"Oh, Jesus Christ! Would you cut this shit already? Come on!" Mia, who had enough of it, rushed toward Vince and pushed him back. Vince stumbled away, still glaring at Brian. She looked at Josephine and nodded. "Go. I'll deal with this."
Josephine nodded unsurely, slipping a hand around Brian's wrist. "Come on, blondie. I need a drink."
"Oh, come on, Mia, Jo," Leon sighed sarcastically. "We were just about to get along."
"Shut it." Josephine sent him a look that made him shut up almost immediately.
She dragged him to where there were less obnoxious people around and settled into one of the other rooms in the living room with opened windows. Josephine ran her fingers through her hair, already wanting to chop it off when she realized how long it took to get her fingers off the strands.
"So, what do you want?" Brian asked as he walked into the room.
"Anything cold." Josephine leaned on a cabinet, watching him closely. Her eyes slightly narrowed. "You know my brother likes you. He usually doesn't like anybody."
"Now, I know where you got it from." Brian glanced at her, obviously joking as the corner of his lips lifted into a small smirk. He walked over to her, an opened bottle of apple juice in his hand. "Yeah. He's a complicated guy."
"Oh, yeah?" She scoffed lightly, her eyes following every movement he made. He stopped in front of her, a little closer than usual. She visibly eyed him from head to toe. "What about you?"
"I'm simpler," Brian shrugged.
"You're a shitty liar." Josephine shook her head, taking the apple juice from him and setting it down on her other side.
He sat next to her, casually sliding his arms around her shoulders, never once tearing his hypnotizing gaze at her own. His thumb barely grazed her exposed arms. "Well, I'll take that as a compliment."
Josephine took upon the challenge of not looking away despite the close distance between their faces. She tried to ignore the annoying feeling bubbling in her stomach as he visibly looked at her lips and her eyes now and then like he wanted to do something more with her at this moment. Josephine Toretto does not get nervous. Especially around men. But something about Brian Spilner made her feel like a teenager in love again.
"But there's a problem," Josephine said lowly, tapping a finger on his chest as he gazed softly at her face like he was tattooing the image of her in his mind.
He tilted his head ever so slightly. His voice was gentle and quiet. "What's that?"
"You need to get some sleep," Josephine retorted, watching his eyes glint with every word she said. "And you definitely, definitely need a shower." That put a small smile on his face, fully entranced by her beauty. She slightly pulled on his shirt. "Come on, sport. I'll take you home."
Brian totally didn't mean to check her out as she walked away from him. He gulped ever so slightly and hastily followed after her before Josephine left him there. The two stumbled out of the Toretto house, chuckling to themselves as they talked about whatever. The girl had slightly insulted his driving skills again, repeating what Dom said but much more blunt about it. Brian liked that about her. How honest she was.
Josephine went around to the driver's seat and opened her door. Before she stepped inside, she looked at Brian across her who was about to enter shotgun. "You drive like a rookie cop, blondie."
Brian cleared his throat, making it seem like her choice of words didn't make him feel a little anxious. "How so?"
"Well, there's your granny-shifting." Josephine got in her car as she listed out. Brian sat next to her, listening intently. "Going over the speed limit just cause you can and swerving like a maniac. Don't drive like you only have one thing in your mind━like catching something." She put her keys into the ignition. "Drive like the speed makes you feel free. Don't be the one chasing someone."
"Be the one being chased?" Brian guessed.
"Wrong." Josephine switched her engine on, slightly laughing at his words. "Think of it as something that makes you feel relieved for a while. You take your time learning, and when you do, use it like it's a part of you. Something that makes you feel alive."
"I'll take your word for it." He nodded, studying every inch of her face from the dim lights of the interior of her car. "I don't know how you always seem to have the right words for everything."
"Not everything. I just have good people around me" Josephine smiled faintly, thinking about her family. Brian lightly scoffed, thinking of Vince. Then she remembered something, and she raised an eyebrow at him. "And don't think I didn't notice."
"What?" Brian suddenly sounded nervous.
"Wanna tell me where your car had run off to?" Josephine asked as she finally pulled out of the sidewalk.
He took a short breath of relief, releasing an uneasy laugh. "It's a long story."
"Good thing I'm about to aimlessly drive you around the city," Josephine mused.
Brian had explained to her how he had been the one who found Dominic running from a cop car that almost caught him. I suppose it was to get in his good graces. Josephine had thought. But he seemed like the type to help people because it was the right thing. Then he said that a strange biker gang appeared out of nowhere and cornered them in Chinatown.
Apparently, they held a vendetta against her brother. He expected her to be surprised but the Toretto girl just listened quietly as she drove. Dominic had a lot of enemies. Josephine wasn't surprised anymore. Then he went on about how these guys showered his car with bullets and she already knew what happened next. His sweet Mitsubishi Eclipse blew up.
Josephine commented that it was his unnecessary amount of NOS which Brian rolled his eyes at. A little amused but he knew she was right. The longer they talked, Brian began to understand why she had been the most closed off among her siblings. Despite the fact she talked easily and smoothly swerved around topics like she does with her car, something told him Josephine was hiding something inside of her.
Like the rest of them are.
And for a moment there as he listened to her voice and how smart and beautiful she was, Brian felt a certain guilt creep on him. Because as much as he hated to admit it, he was beginning to like her more than he planned and that had never been the plan. This was bad. He knew that. But he was already too tangled with Josephine Toretto's life that he was afraid there was no pulling him out of it any time soon.