Page 9 of Actually Yours

Jake laughs, his deep chuckle warming my belly. “No, don’t be ridiculous. You’ve heard them. They’re awful!”

A memory of exactly how awful surfaces and I wince. Like a fool in love, I’d attended several of their ‘jamming’ sessions and, after the first time, had smartly taken to wearing earplugs.

“So, they’re just playing for free?”

Jake runs his hand over his stubbled jaw, a rueful gesture. “I tried to talk him out of it, but you know Robby. He thinks it will be his big break.”

“But…what?”The whole thing makes no sense. Maybe my tired brain is just not processing it all properly?“You’re telling me the band is going to play gigs for free and Robby thinks this will lead to something…more?”

Jake’s lips tip up at one side, giving me that lopsided grin that I’d tried to avoid looking at when I was dating his brother. “And get this…” He pauses to build the anticipation.

“What?!” I demand.

“Robby is the back-up drummer! He’s only going to play if something happens to the actual drummer.”

A gleeful laugh bursts out of me and I’m filled with the kind of joy that comes only when bad things happen to bad people.

“He’s not even the real drummer?” I gasp out between chuckles. “And he’s gone with them, anyway?”

He sighs and runs his hand through that thick mop of black hair. “You know Robby…always chasing a dream.”

My laughter abruptly stops. Again. This impulsive behaviour, the ‘always chasing the impossible dream’ mentality is what had drawn me to Robby in the first place. To all my boyfriends, now that I think about it. They all seem to have a boyish enthusiasm for life, but it’s really just masking an inability to actually grow up and get a proper job. It’s a pattern that I’ve identified and am determined to break. If I ever decide to give dating another go. Which, let’s face it, seems pretty doubtful.

“How are the two of you even related? You’re so different.” When I’d first met Robby, I’d thought that maybe this was an insult to Jake, that he was merely stuffy and boring, but once again, my terrible judgement had led me down the wrong path. Straight to the guy who’d ultimately be careless with my heart.

“I’m the older brother,” he shrugs. “My parents expected more from me. And they spoilt Robby. We all did.”

That had been very clear since the early days of our relationship. Robby was always a child in the body of a man. And treated as such by his family, who adored him.

“Well, good luck to him.” I run my hands over my satin-covered thighs, summoning the energy to get up off this marshmallow-soft couch and find my way home.

“What are you going to do about this?” He holds up the crumpled note, his eyebrows drawn down into a frown.

“Nothing. Robby’s had six months to contact me. That note is just part of some twisted game to him.”

He squashes the paper in his hand, flattening it like a pancake. “You just came here to tell him to get lost?”

There’s a hint of something in this question that I can’t quite place. It sounds like hope, but that makes no sense. Why would he want me to reject his brother?

“I actually came to kick his butt.” This earns me another lopsided smile and I look away. “But essentially, yes, I came to reject him. And I’m bummed to have missed the chance.”

“I’m more than happy to pass on the message,” he says, his voice serious and gravelly. Like he’d relish the chance to tell his brother that I was rejecting him. “He shouldn’t have done this to you. Any of it.”

I agree and am grateful he’s taking my side on this. Come to think of it, although our paths barely crossed during the months I was with Robby, he always managed to have my back. “I just feel sorry for his new girlfriend.”

Jake rolls his eyes. “Don’t. She knows exactly who he is, and she’s with him, anyway.”

My hackles rise, and I huff out a breath. “Do you think I should have seen Robby and known he’d hurt me? That I deserved what I got?”

The blood drains from his face. “Amelia, of course I don’t.” He sounds so sincere, so tortured I believe him. “I could have killed Robby for the way he treated you.”

These words echo between us, and the air fills with tension.Time to go, Amelia. You do not want to get caught up in any of the warm and fuzzy feelings this man evokes in you.

“Good. I’m glad we’re on the same page. Your brother is the jerk in this story.” My words are snarky, but my tone is not. Jake doesn’t deserve my anger. He’s not the bad guy here. He never could be. He’s just not built that way.

“He is.”

Again, the complete sincerity in his voice has me longing to lay my head on his broad shoulder and have him tell me that everything is going to be OK. And this has me jumping to my feet.

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