Chapter 7: If I want her, I'll get her

NICK

~~~

"Stay away from Adriana if you know what's best for you."

I stand silently in front of our home, staring at my little brother, Ryan. He's not so little anymore. He has grown a bit taller, more mature, even though his beards are yet to grow in.

He will always be little to me.

"Is that a threat?" I throw back, my voice mocking as I walk towards the front door. "You can do better."

He grabs me suddenly by the collar and pins me against the wall. I calmly stare at him, my eyebrows raised slightly.

"I'm warning you, Nick." He growls in my face, his face twisted into a scowl. "She's mine. I won't let you take her away from me."

"You sound scared." I retort calmly. "You should be. Does she know how much of a bloody cheat you are?"

"What I do with my relationship is none of your fucking business." Ryan snarls. "If you dare come between us like you did with the others, I'll kill you Nick. I swear!"

"Yeah. When pigs fly." I smile smugly at the enraged look on his face.

I slowly pry his fingers away from my collar and twist his hand behind him. He yelps, trying to break free, but his feeble strength is nothing compared to mine.

I wring his hand behind his back and switch our position, slamming him face first into the wall.

"Now listen to me, little brother." I growl in his ear. "You don't get to tell me what to do. You're nothing but a backstabbing, cheating bastard who thinks the world revolves around him. Does your little girlfriend know you've been fucking every single girl in her class?"

"Fuck you, Nick." Ryan's snarls. He's breathing heavily, and his entire body is beginning to tremble with pain.

"You act like such a saint." I spit, my voice filled with disgust. "But let me remind you, I'm not to be messed with. Protect your little girlfriend all you want. If I want her, I'll get her."

"I curse the day you became my brother." He mutters.

The words don't make an impact on me. I've heard worse, from him and from the man who calls himself my father.

Before I can retort, the door opens.

I release him immediately and turn away, just in time to see my mom step out.

She stands at the porch, staring at me, then at Ryan. A look of suspicion crosses her face as she looks between us.

"Did I interrupt something?" She asks.

Ryan shoves past me and storms into the apartment, slamming the door behind him.

I stare up at mom.

"Nick, honey, what happened?" She asks worriedly.

I smile and shake my head. "Just Ryan being Ryan." I mutter.

"Did you two have a fight?" She asks next.

I walk up to her and kiss her cheek. She's staring at me worriedly, searching my eyes for answers. But the unreadable mask has slipped into place.

"Don't worry yourself about it." I assure her. "We just had a little argument. That's all."

"Does it have to do with his girlfriend?"

I go still, and my calm expression cracks. Mom knows what I do to Ryan. She found out after his last girlfriend dumped him.

Ryan was a chronic cheat, and he did it without the fear of getting caught. He had it all, good looks, an athletic body, blonde hair, the typical boy of every girls dream.

He knew this, and it turned him into a pompous bastard. He was good at being manipulative. My mom wasn't an exception.

When he wanted something and didn't get it, he would twist it around and play the victim until mom felt guilty and gave in. I've tried countless times to stop her from falling for his manipulative tricks, but Mom loved Ryan too much. She never refused him anything, especially after she lost Amelia, my little sister.

The thought of Amelia opens old wounds and bitter memories and I shove it away. That is the last thing I want to think about.

Whenever one of Ryan's girlfriends caught him being unfaithful and threatened to leave him, he would manipulate them, twist the story around and make himself the victim. The naive girl would end up apologizing instead.

It became a habit, a bloody habit which made me sick. That was when I decided to show him I was better at the game.

I would find out everything I had to know about Ryan's girlfriend, then approach her. It wasn't hard turning her against him. Ryan didn't hold a candle to me when it boiled down to charm, good looks and physique.

I would sweep her off her feet, make her hate Ryan completely and take her to bed. Afterwards, I would convince her to discard Ryan. I did it to all his girlfriends.

It was manipulative of me and I was a bloody hypocrite for doing the exact thing I condemned my brother for. But it was better than constantly cheating on them.

Now Ryan has a new girlfriend, one he never shuts up about. Honestly, I expected a nerdy weirdo with glasses and buckteeth. His past girlfriends are no different.

I just didn't expect Adriana to be a hot ball of sexiness.

I smile at my mom and wrap my arm around her shoulder.

"Come on." I murmur, ignoring her initial question. "Let's go inside."

Mom takes the hint and doesn't question me again. We step inside the house, and the smell of chicken soup assail my nostrils.

"I'll go get ready for dinner." I move away from her and make my way up the stairs, but she stops me halfway.

"Will you be staying for long? You hardly come for visits."

I pause at the middle of the stairs, wondering what answer to give her.

Since my dad kicked me out of this house twelve years ago, I stayed away completely. I came for visits once or twice a year, and never stayed more than a night.

But this time was different. I was back for a reason.

"We'll see." I answer finally and continue up the stairs.

At the hallway that leads to my former bedroom, I spot my dad walking towards me. He's holding a folded copy of today's paper, glaring at his cellphone.

He's a tall man, with thinning grey hair and vibrant blue eyes. Ryan takes after him completely. He's his exact copy.

But not me. I look nothing like my dad.

"Hello, father." I mutter.

He looks up and sees me, but the expression on his face doesn't change. He looks away, like I'm not of any significance.

He doesn't respond to my greeting. He just walks past me and heads down the stairs.

It's just like every other time he ignores me. The moment he kicked me out of his house, he stopped acknowledging me as his son.

There was a time I used to care. I would lock myself up and cry from the pain of his rejection, wondering why he hated me so much.

But not anymore. I'm not the insecure kid I used to be. I'm a man now, and I don't need his validation. The only person I care about is my mom.

I step into my room and shut the door. It's exactly the same way I left it the last time I was here, about ten months ago.

I stretch out on the bed and exhale softly. A lot of things are about to change.

Then, out of the blue, Adriana drifts into my thoughts. The dark haired, curvy beauty. How Ryan managed to rizz someone like her is beyond me.

The girl is fucking beautiful. When she collided with me, when that soft body pressed into mine, I felt an instant surge of arousal.

And when we walked back to her home, I saw something come alive deep within her eyes.

Desire. Passion. A longing for something forbidden.

I will be keeping an eye on her because she has definitely snagged my attention.

And I swear on all the gods there is. I will make her mine.