Back To The Start Box Set: Five Full-Length Novels by Aly Martinez
“Well, not personally I’m not, but he is definitely going.”
“No, he isn’t!” I scream at how ludicrous the entire situation has become.
My mind is spinning. Everything has happened so fast. Thirty seconds ago, I was having a little-worse-than-normal argument with my brother. Now, I’m arguing with Brett about whether or not Eric is going to jail. My mind can’t keep up.
“Gorgeous, I saw him put his hands on you. He’s lucky he still has both arms connected to his body. If there weren’t a hundred witnesses, I would have laid him out—and I’m not just talking about restraining him on the ground. So I’ll repeat, that asshole is sleeping in a cell.” He leans in close, and it ticks me off.
“Have you lost your mind? That’s my brother!” I poke his chest. Nothing proves you are seriously mad like poking someone in the chest.
“And?”
“Oh my God, you really have lost it!” I scream, walking over to Eric, who is sitting on the floor.
I turn in a circle trying to locate Caleb. Hopefully he is a little more rational about this crazy mess. I give up and shout his name to find him in the crowd that has now surrounded us.
“Over here, baby girl!” I hear him yell from behind me while talking to the bouncer.
“You know these jerk-offs?” I hear Eric ask, but I ignore his stupid question and return my attention to Caleb. The sooner I can get him to un-cuff Eric, the sooner we can put this all behind us.
“Un-cuff him. That’s my brother.”
His eyes go wide as he looks over at Brett, who is standing where I left him with his hands on his hips. He is clearly not pleased with this turn of events.
“Your brother?” Caleb asks.
“Yes, my brother. Am I speaking a foreign language? Get over here and freaking let him go!”
“Watch your mouth!” My brother tries to correct me from the floor, but he looks ridiculous telling me to watch my mouth while sitting in handcuffs.
“Freaking is not a bad word, and you should know after the filth that just came out of your mouth!” I yell at Eric.
“Well if your friends here hadn’t brutally assaulted me while hiding behind a badge, I imagine I’d be able to keep my language locked up a little tighter,” he answers sarcastically. “Just go home, Jesse. You look like a hooker.”
I start to get mad. Really, I do. My brother is a real butt sometimes, but this isn’t new information. He loves me and tries to protect me. It just doesn’t always seem that way. I feel a cool breeze beside me, and I swear I’m in the middle of a Twilight movie because Brett just appears in front of me.
“You son of a bitch.” He grabs my brother by the collar, pulling him close. “I don’t give two shits who you are to her. You are going to watch your fucking mouth,” Brett says calmly even though the look on his face is murderous. “Apologize. Now.”
“Who the hell do you think you are telling me how to talk to my sister?” Eric, still handcuffed, steps up to Brett, bumping him with his chest.
This is not exactly the way I hoped Brett and Eric would meet. It’s actually the worst-case scenario, but seeing Brett stand up for me like this is hot, and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
“I’m her fucking man, so you better start apologizing before you become her dead brother.”
Yep, definitely hot. His words make my heart swell and my panties wet. Does that make me his woman? Oh my God, I’m Brett Sharp’s woman!
Forgetting about the crap show that is going down in front of me, I feel a huge smile spread across my face. I mentally begin a victory dance and vow to myself to give it to Brett any way he wants it tonight. Her man. Eek!
I see Caleb move between the two angry guys, which breaks me out of my inner celebration. “You sit down,” he says to Eric, “and you back the fuck up before you do something stupid. For Christ’s sake, he’s her brother. You just cuffed him. Somehow I don’t think brawling with him is going to win you any promotions. So back it up. Both of you.” Who knew Caleb would be the rational one in this testosterone trio?
“You’re dating this asshole? What the fuck, Jesse?” Eric leans around Brett, looking at me with crazed eyes. “Is this the dumbass who has you dressing like that and coming into bars alone?” Brett doesn’t even let his words hit me before shoving Caleb out of the way and gripping Eric around the throat, pushing him hard against the wall.
“Are you dumb or just a prick? What the fuck did I just tell you? Watch you’re fucking mouth when speaking to her.”
I surge forward to where he has Eric pinned. Brett must know the security here somehow, because they are all just standing back watching this play out in front of them.
“Stop, you’re choking him!” I yell, smacking Brett’s hand, trying to get him to release my brother, who is slowly turning blue.
He drags his eyes away from Eric long enough to glance at me for a beat. Then, one finger at a time, he removes his hand. I squeeze between them and feel Brett wrap a protective arm around my waist from behind. I’ll deal with him in a minute, but right now, my jerk-face of a brother deserves my attention. Repeating Brett’s words from earlier, I lay into him.
“You are going to watch you’re freaking mouth when you talk about him. I’m not going to listen to you say one bad thing about him.” Okay, so maybe I cleaned it up a little bit. I didn’t want to break every rule I have just seconds before doing the one thing I have wanted to do for years.
Pulling my knee back, I slam it directly into Eric’s crotch. I didn’t want Brett to hurt him, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to do it myself. It wasn’t as hard as I would have liked for it to be, but I would like to have nieces and nephews one day, so I guess it will have to do.
I love Eric, and tomorrow I’ll feel horrible for doing it, but I’ve had enough of his crap. There is never going to be a better opportunity either. He was standing helplessly handcuffed against a wall. I’m sure he will run home and tell Mom, but I don’t give a rat’s tail about the repercussions tonight.
Brett sucks in a breath behind me, lifting me off my feet and spinning me around so I can’t reach Eric again. I’m not going to do anything else though. I figure one knee to the groin is enough retaliation towards my overprotective brother for one night. Suddenly, I remember that, even though I’m ridiculously turned on by Brett’s little macho showdown, I’m still annoyed at him for trying to arrest my brother.
“You!” I lean forward, poking him again. It worked so well the first time that I figured I’d give it another shot. “You are not arresting him. He didn’t do anything wrong. Well, maybe he did, but it was nothing more than a sibling argument. His heart was in the right place even if he was being a butthead about it. So un-cuff him and let him go. Be quick about it too, because we are going home.”
“Gorgeous—” he starts, but I wave my hand to silence him. I’m done listening tonight. I just want to get him home and rip his clothes off piece by piece. Crap, Kara was right. He has turned me into a sex fiend.
“That’s my brother and he’s a lawyer, Brett. You are not arresting him. I’m annoyed and ready to leave. I spent two hours getting dressed up tonight. Now I’m wasting it all by going home, so you better make it worth my while when we get there.”
His eyebrows pop up as an amazing white smile slowly spreads across his face.
I turn and head towards the door, catching Caleb out of the corner of my eye. He’s shocked, standing with his mouth hanging open. I hear him whisper, “Fuck. Me,” as I pass. Clearly my behavior shocked him, and it makes me bust out giggling as I walk outside.
I find Brett’s BMW parked out back and lean against the door, waiting for him. I’m not left waiting for more than a minute when I feel a coat drape around my shoulders.
“You’re going to freeze out here without a jacket.” I smile to myself as he wraps his arms around my neck, leaning his cheek on my head. “I’m sorry about all that. Jesse, I saw him grab you, and I saw red. I wanted to murder him. The idea o
“Hey, I’m okay. He was being stupid, and now he’ll have to sleep with an ice pack between his legs.” I shrug.
“That was sexy, by the way. Watching you take charge like that. Stand up for yourself. God, Jesse, I was so pissed off. Then you kneed him and I swear I’ve never gotten hard so fast.” He rubs his growing hard-on against my butt to prove his point.
“Take me home. That whole badass thing you had going on in there really turned me on too. I need to appropriately thank you for defending my honor.”
“That’s my favorite way to be thanked.” He leans forward, kissing me breathless.
We make the short drive back to his apartment. Once we get there, I thank Brett twice. He thanks me four times.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jesse
“WE’RE LATE!” I yell at my oven. I told my mom that Brett and I would be there at noon to help her cook dinner. I also told her that I’d show up with an apple pie. Dang it!
“Calm down, gorgeous. I don’t think screaming is going to make it cook any faster.” Brett sneaks up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and nuzzling into my hair. “You look beautiful,” he whispers against my skin, trailing kisses down my neck. All thoughts about the pie are forgotten. Heck, it’s Thanksgiving, but I’d be lucky to tell you what month it is when he’s touching me like this.
“You can’t be sure of that. You’ve only seen my back. I could be wearing an ‘I’m with stupid’ T-shirt and KISS makeup right now,” I tease, and he works his way down to my shoulder, pulling my T-shirt aside to gain better access.
“You’d still be beautiful, but I’m not a KISS fan, so you’ll have to let me fuck you from behind,” he says, grinding against me.
“Brett!” Great, we’re going to be even later because I need a cold shower and dry panties now. I feel his body begin to shake as he starts laughing and steps in front of me.
“Hey, babe.” He stares down at me with a sexy smirk.
“Hi.”
“No KISS makeup, huh? I’m not going to lie, I’m a little disappointed. I had such high hopes for taking you from behind tonight.” He rubs his thumbs across my cheeks, knowing they are about to flame red. I can tell they don’t disappoint him when his smile widens.
“Is the makeup a requirement to make that, um…happen?” I have no idea why I still get nervous with Brett. There isn’t an inch of my body that he hasn’t touched. It may have something to do with his lack of commitment.
It’s been almost two months, and since that first night in the beginning, we have never had a single conversation about our relationship. It weighs on my mind, and as the weeks go by, it’s starting to invade my dreams too. Last week, I woke up twice in a cold sweat. They start off hot enough—it’s always Brett making love to me—but then it all goes wrong. Every time, Sarah swings open the door at the most inopportune time and starts screaming at me to get off her husband. Okay, maybe I have a few issues with Brett still being married, even if it isn’t a real marriage.
“Why, gorgeous, what are you trying to suggest? Would you like it if we tried a little something new tonight? Don’t be shy with me. Tell me what you want, babe. I’m open to anything with you. Well, almost anything. You’re not a closet kinkster, are you? I’m not sure I can get down with whips and chains. Although, now that I’m thinking about it, the idea of you in a leather getup is doing wicked things to my imagination. Perhaps we should try something new right now? You know, save us both the torture of having to wait until tonight.” He lifts a sexy eyebrow questioningly.
Just when I’m tempted to take him up on his offer, the oven timer goes off, reminding me that we need to get to my mom’s ASAP.
“Sorry, big boy. You’re just going to have to wait.” In a random moment of boldness, I spin around in his arms, leaning over to pull the pie out of the oven, and rub my butt against the zipper of his pants. I hear him groan as I step out of his grasp. “Don’t just stand there. Let’s go,” I say, heading to the door.
“Fuck.” He adjusts his pants and follows behind me. Steps before we hit the door, he pulls the pie from my hands and pushes me into the wall. Using his long arms to hold my famous apple pie away from us, he says, “Gorgeous, I hope you know what that little stunt back there bought you. It’s going to be a long night for you, so I suggest you drink a few beers after dinner. You know, loosen up a bit.” He winks before pulling open the door and guiding me out.
It’s a miracle I can even walk after that.
* * *
WHEN WE arrive at my mom’s, I’m thrilled to see that Eric isn’t there yet. After the incident between him and Brett at the bar, I know today is going to be a little tense. The day after Brett tried to have Eric arrested, I got a call from my mom asking a million questions. Apparently Eric really is a twelve-year-old, because he called my mom first thing the next morning to tattle. Mom was more concerned with who I was dating than anything that happened at the bar. When I told her Brett would be coming to Thanksgiving, she got all excited and rushed off the phone to order a bigger turkey.
I’ve never brought anyone home before, so telling my mom makes this is a really big deal. I need to get to her though and make sure she understands that Brett and I are not all that serious yet before she starts asking him about kids and picking out china patterns. That is a conversation that would be much easier without Eric adding his stupid two cents.
When we get to the front door, I don’t bother knocking and just head inside.
“Mom?”
“In here, JJ!” I hear my mom call from the kitchen. I peek around the corner to see her holding a huge turkey in the sink, stuffing it with spices. “Little help here?”
“Holy crap, Mom! That turkey is huge.”
“I know. We need to hurry and get this thing in the oven or it won’t be ready until Christmas.”
I leave Brett standing by the counter and rush over to help before my mom drops the giant bird on the kitchen floor. “Why did you buy one this big?” I grunt while trying to pull the slippery turkey into the roasting pan.
“I heard your man was a big one, so I figured I needed a big turkey to feed him,” she says, washing her hands and wiping them dry on her old-school apron.
I roll my eyes and glance over my shoulder to see Brett chuckling to himself.
“Mom, this is Brett Sharp. Brett, this is my mom, Rachel Clay.”
“Ms. Clay.” Brett steps forward, offering a hand, but I know my mom, and a handshake isn’t going to cut it.
“Brett, please call me Rachel, and get that hand out of my way. I’m a hugger.” She reaches up on her tiptoes and slings an arm around his neck.
This time, I’m the one laughing as Brett’s eyes go wide in surprise. I might be shy, but that was one of the few things I didn’t get from my mother. She has no problem speaking her mind and hugging anything that happens to walk past her.
“Now, I’ve heard a few things about you from Eric. Most of them are not so great. So tell me about yourself. Prove to me that what my arrogant son said was all wrong.”
“Mom!” I scream, embarrassed. This is worse than when I thought Eric would be here. She didn’t beat around the bush at all.
“Did you just call me arrogant?” I hear Eric walk into the kitchen. Fantastic!
Brett wastes no time closing the distance between us and sliding a possessive arm around my hips.
“I like it,” my mom whispers, smiling approvingly at Brett’s protective gesture. “Oh, Eric, everyone here knows you’re arrogant, including you. So give up the surprised act and get over here and show your old mom some love.”
Never taking his eyes off Brett, he walks over to my mom, giving her the same kiss on the top of her head that he has since he was twelve and had grown taller than her.
“Go ahead, Brett. Tell us about yourself,” she asks, curling an arm around Eric’s hips.
“Well,
“I think you forgot to include the little part about you being married—and not to Jesse,” Eric sneers, dropping the bomb.
I feel the temperature drop in the room as the ice rolls off Brett. Besides a single flinch in his hand against my waist at the initial blow, he doesn’t move a muscle.
“What the hell, Eric!” I scream across the room. I’m going to have to knee him again for pulling this crap.
“Language, Jesse,” my mom scolds.
“What is wrong with you?” I ignore her, and Brett remains frozen at my side.
“Sorry, JJ. I know this must be a shock for you. I had a buddy do a little background research on the good Detective Sharp,” my brother says, smiling with pride. “He finally got back to me last night. Brett has been married since 2002. Where’s Mrs. Sharp today? You should have brought her with you. We could have had one big party.”
I have no idea how Brett is controlling himself, because my brother is acting like a grade-A jerk right now.
“You are an idiot, Eric. Yes, I know he’s—”
Brett interrupts me before I have the chance to finish. “I’ll handle this, gorgeous,” he says calmly, taking a single step forward. “I appreciate what you were trying to do. I like that you are man enough to look out for your little sister. However, this show is a classless low. If you have something to say to me, be a man and speak with me in private. There is no reason to make an ignorant, snide comment, upsetting your mother and sister on Thanksgiving. You are doing nothing but stirring up drama, and I assure you, Jesse and I have enough of that in our life without you pulling bullshit like this.
“Eric, if your buddy,” he says with an overstated sarcasm, “had done more research, you would have learned that I have been living separately from my wife for over four years. I’m not hiding anything from your sister. Jesse has had the unfortunate experience of meeting Sarah in person. It wasn’t pleasant, and it’s not something we like to discuss. However, you have made this little accusation in front of your mother, and I do respect her enough to give her a full explanation. For the record, I don’t respect you or give a damn what you think about me or my relationship with Jesse. But then again, you probably figured that out last week when I had you cuffed, laying on a dirty bar floor.” He pauses long enough to aim one last murderous glare at Eric before turning to face my mom.