My Brother’s Best Friend

Wrath of a Roommate

SKIP

She tastes so incredibly good.

I FELT like a goddamn teenager-always horny and hungry for her. I didn’t want to let her go yet, but the vibration of her phone made us both freeze. Probably Brett.

“We need to talk.”

“I know,” I said as I shifted my head to the side, checking the caller ID. “Shit!”

Then her eyes widened. “I forget Kat’s shift has ended. How did I always forget everything when you’re around?” She propped her hand on her waist and the other was rubbing her temple.

I smirked, feeling my heart raced. “I take that as a compliment.”

“Not funny. We really should talk.” Her face turned deadly serious and that looked alone made me prouder. “I want to tell you something.”

“Okay, love. Let’s have a seat then.” Sitting down, I held her hand and let her sit on my lap. “What is it? You know you can trust me, right?”

Her eyes glittered with pain. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

“Bitch!”

Arella was startled by the voice of her roommate-it was comical how she was quickly on her feet. I turned my head to the door and stood up.

The look on Kat’s face confirmed she was shocked and not fancy to see me, then quickly turned fatal, squinting the already squinty eyes. “What the hell is going on here?”

She dropped her bag causing it to thud against the wooden floor. “You!” She pointed her finger directly at me as she prowled towards us. “You broke her heart. You made her cry, you, Skip. No matter how hot you are, you don’t have the right to hurt my best friend, you fucking hotbrit! And what do you think are you doing here, huh? To feel sorry for your arse? Get the fuck out of my apartment, you, arsehole!” She jabbed her finger on my nose.

My nose. And she smelled ethyl alcohol.

My mouth fell open and dried. I was about to say something, but my brain went blank. I closed my gaping mouth and blinked rapidly. Before I could say something, she burst into laughter, throwing her head back, while her hand was guarding her abdomen.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

What had just happened?

“Oh, my god, Are. Marry this guy or I will! He looked priceless and about to cry in front of me. No doubt he loves you, you lucky girl!” Then she left me alone. Still laughing, she hugged Arella who I didn’t realize was also laughing with her.

“Blinding! How many days did you two plan to pull those stunts?” I narrowed my eyes to Kat.

She just flipped her dark silky hair. “Huh! At least it worked, but what I said was true, Skip. If you ever hurt her again, I will-”

“Knee me on my goolies?” My balls had been seriously threatened these past weeks, but I guessed I deserved it.

“Nope! I will slit your neck with the Kampilan, my Lolo owned,” she corrected.

“Cam- what?”

“It’s similar to a machete. Do you even know what a machete is? Never mind.” She waved her hand to dismiss. “Anyway, it’s an old folks’ weapon to fight against bad guys.” She raised her brow as if intimidating me.

“Brilliant, that must be quite deadly,” I commented wittily. This tiny little creature was feisty. I liked the idea of her protectiveness over Arella.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

I watched her while I crossed my arms over my chest, offering her a bemused smile.

“Okay, enough threatening him, Kat. So, why are you so early?” Arella butted in.

“Well, your brother asked me to check up on you.” She turned to pick up her bag.

“My brother? Why didn’t he call me instead? What is going on between you two?” There was something in Arella’s voice that made Kat look pale.

She looked like someone had caught her hand in the cookie jar. She blinked rapidly, but neither of them looked away.

When she didn’t respond Arella watched her closely. “Oh, my god! Did you sleep with my brother?”

Now I didn’t see that coming. I huffed unknowingly.

That’s ridiculous, love.

Did she think before she says that? I didn’t like how she questioned Kat’s loyalty to her. I couldn’t blame her though, everything was possible, just like what happened between us.

Kat’s eyes narrowed back, yet her brows were furrowing. “Really, Are? Do you think I would ever do that to you? No offense, hotbrit.” She looked at me, then back to Arella.

“None taken,” I mumbled.

“But no matter how hot your brother is, I value our friendship more than my itch,” she said defensively.

“Then why is he calling you instead of me?”

“Are you jealous of me now? Did you even check your phone?”

“Cut the crap, Kat.”

“Why are you here anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be at the lab?”

Arella sighed deeply. Her shoulders drooped. “I’m fired.”

Shit!

“What? You can’t be fired,” Kat asked in a disbelieving voice.

“It’s all my fault,” I admitted, grimacing.

“Not entirely,” Arella defended.

“Wait a minute. Did you happen to punch Duke?” Kat’s face lit up at me, then she laughed again. The tension in the air suddenly vanished like a cloud of smoke.

“I was about to, but my lawyer advised me not to interfere. Why?”

“It’s nothing, Skip. Let’s go out to the living room.” Arella grabbed my arm.

“You, two ate ice cream alone, huh?” Kat eyed at the tub on the nightstand.

“Clyve was here, but he left a while ago when Skip arrived.”

“What do we have for dinner?”

“What do you want?” Arella asked back.

“Do you mind if I stay for a while?” I asked them. I didn’t want to impose, but I hope Kat would agree.

“Of course. You’re the first guy to step into our apartment, aside from Brett. But please don’t let me disinfect the entire apartment and autoclave the utensils.” She walked away to probably her room.

“No promises!” I yelled when her back disappeared.

Her head peeked out, gesturing ‘I’m watching you’.

Arella was already sitting on the couch with a remote in her hand. “Are you sure you don’t have a business to attend to?”

I sat beside her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders as I pulled her closer to me. “I don’t give a fuck,” I whispered, kissing the side of her jaw. She shivered. I wanted to be closer to her, to breathe her scent in, feel her soft and curves, and the heat of her body against mine.

“Didn’t you understand Kat was warning you?” she giggled.

“We are not spreading bacteria, Reigh.” Fuck! My cock started to strain in my trousers, thinking of how am I going to spread something else on this seat.

“Watch a movie with me,” she was requesting, though she didn’t need to because I’d rather spend my sleepless night with her than going to my apartment and sleep alone.

“I’d love to. What do you have?” I dipped my nose into her hair, letting her smell flood my senses.

“Do you like action?”

My brow arched. “Action? Aren’t you supposed to watch movies on Hallmark Channel?”

“Huh. I’m kind of surprise you know what’s on the Hallmark, but I’m not fancy of romance,” she said, pinching my chin.

“Okay. I guess now I know one thing about you, not-so-fancy-of-romance.”

She smiled at me. “Let’s get to know each other then.”

Feeling my heart slice into two, I smiled. Almost bitterly. “I like that. Anyway, before Kat arrived, you’re about to tell me something. What is it, Reigh?” Again. My chest tightened. Why do I feel I was not going to like what she was about to say?

“It’s nothing.” She shrugged.

“Arella.”

“Just drop it. I still can’t believe I don’t have a job.”

“Accept my proposal. I will arrange a meeting with you tomorrow, how about dinner?”

She smiled brightly. Her eyes twinkled with excitement. “A business dinner?” She bit her bottom lip. The urge of letting my teeth sank on it instead was painful to bear.

I had nothing to do than agreed, “A business dinner, it is.”

I dipped my head to kiss her when someone cleared a throat at my back. Closing my eyes, I groaned, “Yes, Kat.”

“You two can make out when we’re done with dinner. I need to eat, guys. I have hypoglycemia, and I’m still young to die. I still want to snuggle someone or make out with a hot Italian.”

I shook my head. “Are all-”

“Asian?” She cut me off.

Had she been treated differently by those pigheads? Racial discrimination wasn’t new either in the UK. I couldn’t quite understand what was the point of people bullying someone because of colors and race? Some of those they discriminate against were far more intelligent than them.

“Kat…”

“I’m not ashamed of my ancestry, Skipper Linton.”

“You shouldn’t be, Kat. You’re a wonderful person. From where we came from doesn’t define who we are. It’s what’s inside our heart.” I felt Arella’s hand gripping my thigh. “I was about to say earlier something different. It was kind of-”

“Annoying?”

I shook my head again. “Jesus! Love, where did she come from?” I asked Arella. I’d not been entertain like this in a long time. And she instantly grew on me. Arella just smiled, certainly enjoyed watching us.

“Your mom is a great doctor, hotbrit. I wonder why none of you followed her path. She’s so passionate about her job, and she loves kids.”

“I don’t think I can see sprogs crying from pain. It breaks me before I can treat them.”

“Aw, hotbrit.” She glanced at Arella, mouthing, “Marry him already.” Then looked at me again. “You should give her more grandchildren.” Her words made Arella stiffen in my arms.

“Planning on it since I lost one.” My chest felt hollow when I realized what I’d just said. What if Arella had trauma and didn’t want to have a kid again? You are so ahead of yourself, mate!

I didn’t think I had planned on impregnating someone else other than her. I definitely wanted to have children. My not-so-successful relationship with my ex had something to do with starting a family. We had a different perspective. She didn’t believe in marriage. She wanted to travel, and not going home to the same place again.

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to-”

“It’s okay, Kat,” Arella mumbled.

“I’m sorry.” Whispering, I rubbed Arella’s arm to loosen her tensed muscles.

“It’s okay.”

“Alright?”

She nodded.

“I should go to the kitchen and stir fry some vegetables before they rot and go to waste.” She stood up, then Kat mouthed, asking if Arella was okay.

I gave her a thumb up, then she walked towards the hallway.

“Are we really good, Arella?” The anticipation of her answer made my stomach flutter.

“We’ll see how this thing goes before you leave.”

I was beyond shocked by her words because I was not expecting her to say them at all.

How does she know?