Brother After Dark

Chapter Forty

Zach.

Shit! Does he know?

He can’t, can he?

I closed the door behind me, double-locking it, just in case. I leaned on the door and thought for a whole minute. Could it be possible that he knew? Well, Blaire and I were careful. We never kissed or held hands in public. We were careful to keep our distance from each other. Even at the house, we avoided being together in the same common rooms.

No, I don’t think he knows.

I found Blaire in the bathroom burning candles and incense sticks. Suddenly, my bathroom smelled like a spa.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed her at the base of her neck.

“Are you setting up a bath for us?” I asked. Suddenly, I liked the idea of that.

“No, only for you,” she replied.

“Why?”

“I can’t come out of your room looking like I just came out of the shower, babe. Somebody might suspect something.”

I wanted to tell her I didn’t care. But then I remembered what her dad had said in the hall. It seemed like he knew. And he was warning me of what this would bring to the family. The scandal. The shame. There would be consequences. And those would be heavier on her than it would ever be for me. I could walk out of this family anytime I wanted. I was not really a part of this. Not legally, at least.

“We need to drive to Miami,” I reminded her.

She sighed. “Yeah, I forgot about that. I haven’t packed yet.”

She turned to face me. “You go shower here, I’ll go back to my room. I’ll meet you downstairs after an hour.”

I pulled her to me and gave her a kiss on the lips. Then I let her go.

I took a longer time than usual in the bath. The candles Blaire lit made it easier for me to linger under the warm water cascading on my skin. It gave me time to think about us and our future together.

I loved her from the moment she was born. She was my sister. I loved her all throughout these years. But in that concert, I fell in love with her without knowing who she was. I intended to make her mine then, and when I found out she was the same sister I came back for, I thought it was hopeless. But here we were now. We may be keeping this a secret, but I got what I wanted. She was mine. And I’d steal little pieces of heaven as often as I could just so I could be with her.

After showering, I packed a weekend’s worth of clothes. I would rather stay here in the house with Blaire, to be honest. Or better yet, we could spend the full weekend in the shed where nobody could disturb us, and we wouldn’t have to be hiding secrets from anybody.

These were not really our family. We had met some of our cousins when we were little, but I hadn’t heard from them after the court rulings on my adoption. So, I was sure they wouldn’t really miss me if I didn’t come. But then again, I was not doing this for myself. I was doing this for my family, most particularly for Blaire. This was legally her family.

I went to her room without so much as a knock. I found her packing her stuff.

“No skimpy bikinis and short skirts,” I said.

She zipped her bag and carried it with one hand. She turned around and raised a brow at me. “Says who? My overprotective brother?”

I didn’t say anything, but I gave her a teasing smirk. I took her bag from her and opened the door. As she passed by me, I whispered in a very quiet voice, “No. Says your overjealous boyfriend.”

Her head snapped back at me. She raised a quizzical brow and asked, “What did you say?”

“I didn’t say anything,” I said innocently. Then I winked at her.

She narrowed her eyes at me, and then she walked out of the room with me trailing behind her.

“Are we going to drive there immediately?”

“No. You haven’t eaten anything yet. We’ll have brunch first, and then we’ll start to drive. They’re not really expecting us ’til afternoon. And I absolutely have no desire to arrive there earlier.”

“Now that you mentioned it, I’m starving.”

We drove to Midfield for brunch. By noontime, I asked her if she wanted to watch a movie first before driving. I wanted to arrive in Miami as late as possible. Possibly during dinnertime, and then we could go to sleep.

This was going to be a difficult weekend for us. We would be in the company of strangers, people we did not know and probably would not like. But unfortunately, we had to keep our distance from each other and act like a normal brother and sister.

Shit! I don’t even know how that works anymore.

On our way to Miami, I reached out for her hand and intertwined our fingers. She yawned as she relaxed on the passenger seat.

“You can sleep if you want,” I told her.

“No. It’s a long drive,” she said. “You’ll be bored.”

“It’s not my first long drive, baby girl. Come on, you look tired. I think I wore you out last night.” I gave her a smug look.

She pinched my arm. “Conceited much!”

I pulled her hand to my lips and gave it a lingering kiss. Her skin felt soft against my lips. I could smell her familiar perfume, a fruity-floral scent, potent and sensual, but not too strong and with a soft, exotic touch. I hadn’t smelled this scent anywhere else. Only on her. And my bed sheets on my bed at home and in the shed.

“What perfume do you use?” I suddenly asked her.

“Why do you ask?”

I shrugged. “Well, who knows? I may pass by some shops, at least I have an idea what to get you.”

She laughed. “You can’t buy this perfume.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not just wearing one perfume. It’s a combination of three scents.”

I stared back at her. “What?”

She smiled. “I mix my own. I got some oils and EDPs and made this one up. I liked it.”

I smiled. “Well, I love it. You should commercialize this. Get this out to the market.”

“And have at least ten thousand other girls wear the same perfume? No way! I want to be unique.”

I smiled. “Well, you are unique, you know. You have always been one of a kind.”

And she was. I had always been drawn to her, even when we were kids. And maybe deep inside, I had been looking for someone like her. And I thought I did. At the concert. Finally, a girl who was so much like my sister, but somebody I could have. It turned out, they were one and the same person. Thus, our predicament.