Stronger with You (With You Trilogy) (16 page)

“Clown,” Ian mumbled, accelerating quickly to match Danny’s speed.

“Jeremy Clarkson’s right about BMW drivers,” Karl laughed, glancing nervously at Ian.

I’d imagine he was a little uneasy about Ian driving his car like a formula one driver but he would never call him on it.

“Actually, I think he recanted that statement and changed it to Audi drivers,” Matt grinned.

“What you saying, Matt?” Ian asked coolly as he pulled into the middle lane, in front of the BMW.

“Wasn’t me, it was Clarkson, E,” Matt smirked.

“Mhm,” Ian mumbled disapprovingly.

“I don’t think I’d want to drive any of you lot’s cars,” I said pensively.

“Like we’d let you,” Karl scoffed.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I pouted.

“You haven’t got a license yet, Jelly,” Matt pointed out.

“I know. I just meant that they’re a bit big and boisterous,” I shrugged.

“You don’t think you’d suit a big and boisterous car, Jelly?” Ian asked.

I shook my head, looking up at him through the rear view mirror.

“You saying the rest of us do?”

I walked into that one. “The big part maybe,” I grinned. “I sometimes feel like I have my own personal rugby team.”

They chuckled and I congratulated myself on successfully navigating what could have become a loaded situation.

I must have drifted off at some point because I woke up when Ian pulled the car into Scotch Corner Services.

“Where are we?” I asked sleepily.

“About forty-five minutes away,” Ian answered, parking the car swiftly, bang smack in the middle of the bay.

I unbelted and stepped out of the car, stretching my arms above my head. I spotted the BMW and bounced over to give Jason a hug.

“Miss me?” He grinned, opening his arms to me.

“Always,” I beamed up at him.

“Did you know Craig cheats at the yellow car game?” He pouted, pointing at the offending brother and rubbing his arm with his other.

“Like fuck I do. I don’t need to cheat to beat you inside the cage or out of it.”

“We’ll see,” Jason grinned.

“That reminds me, Jelly,” Matt grinned. “I saw shit loads of yellow cars while you were asleep.”

I squealed and made a dash for the doors to the services. I got there before Matt and made for the ladies room, shooting him a victorious grin as I disappeared around the door.

We’d been playing the yellow car game since I was a kid. Every time you saw a yellow car, you got to hit whoever was next to you on the arm, as long as you saw the yellow car first. If the car was a mini or a beetle you got to hit them twice. Since I’d been asleep, I obviously hadn’t seen any of them first and I didn’t fancy sitting with a dead arm for the next forty-odd miles.

I stuck my head out the door and checked that Matt wasn’t waiting for me. I didn’t see him so I made for the food court, assuming that’s where my brothers would be.

“There you are,” Matt grabbed me around the waist from behind.

“Put me down,” I squealed, drawing the attention of a shocked looking elderly couple.

“You didn’t think you’d get away that easily, did you?” He teased.

“It was worth a try,” I grumbled, squirming until he put me down.

“Know how many yellow cars I saw?” He asked, keeping my shoulder in a firm grip.

“Two?” I asked hopefully.

“Times ten,” he grinned.

“Don’t even fucking think about it, Matt,” Jason warned, appearing at my side.

“Fuck off, Jason,” Matt groaned.

“You lay one finger on her-”

“I said. Fuck. Off,” Matt snarled.

“Matt!” I scowled, pushing his hands off my shoulders. “Don’t talk to him like that.”

Matt shot me his best angry teacher face and I almost faltered in my resolve.

“It’s a fucking game, Reed. Take it easy,” Matt clapped Jason on the shoulder in what I’m sure was meant to seem like a friendly gesture but his face was still angry.

“Game or not, you don’t hit a woman.”

“It’s only yellow car, Jason,” I said gently, taking his hand.

“You don’t hit a woman,” he repeated.

“She was sleeping, Matt,” Ian intervened, resting his arm on Matt’s shoulder. “It doesn’t count.”

Matt looked like he might protest but he shot Jason a final pissed off glare and followed Ian to get a coffee.

“Looking after me as always?” I grinned up at Jason.

“Someone has to,” he frowned.

I leaned up to kiss him chastely on the lips. “Do you think you could do it a little more diplomatically?” I teased, squeezing his hands gently.

“I don’t really do diplomatic,” he grinned, relaxing a little.

“One of the things you’re not good at?” I goaded him.

“Made up for by the things that I am good at,” he smirked with a gleam in his eye.

“Very true,” I nodded.

We joined my brothers at the coffee shop and Ian called Jake to let him know when we’d arrive as the others ordered coffee.

“I got it,” Jason nodded, putting his card into the slot.

“Damn straight,” Karl nodded.

“You owe us a lifetime supply of coffee,” Danny added.

“Oh?” Jason said, cocking his head at Danny. “And why’s that?”

“We’re letting you have Jelly,” Rick shrugged, as if it was obvious.

“Letting me?” Jason scowled. “That choice is Jamie’s and Jamie’s alone.”

The twins laughed and shook their heads, retreating to the end of the coffee bar to fetch their drinks.

“It was the best choice I ever made,” I grinned at him, hoping to ease the tension in his shoulders. “You’re going to die of stress if you don’t stop taking everything they say so seriously, Jason.”

He smirked at me as he collected his coffee and handed me mine. We sat on the last two chairs at the table, the twins on my left and Craig on Jason’s right.

“What did Jake say?” Karl asked Ian.

“That if he wakes up tied to a tree tomorrow he won’t be impressed,” Ian grinned.

“Not a bad idea,” Karl laughed.

“I was going to suggest a lamppost,” Danny smirked.

“I thought trees and lamp posts were for twenty-fifth birthdays?” I chuckled at them.

“Nope, twenty-fifth is the mysterious bus trip,” Rick said, grinning maliciously at Craig.

“Bus trip?” Jason asked.

“Yep,” Danny nodded. “I woke up in Dover,” he scowled, looking thunderous at the memory.

“Aberdeen,” Rick grimaced when Jason looked in his direction.

“If I end up in Skegness you’ll regret it,” Craig scowled at the twins. He’d be turning twenty-five in September.

“What about thirty?” Jason asked.

I looked up at Ian expectantly. He was the only one that had reached that milestone. He was also the one that thought up the stupid pranks they put each other through.

“It’s a surprise,” he smirked wickedly at Matt and Karl. They did not look happy.

“What was eighteen?” Jason asked.

“I don’t remember,” Rick said, looking thoughtful.

“How can you not remember?” Danny scoffed.

“We’d be happy to give you a reminder tonight,” Ian offered.

“Oh, shit. I remember now,” Rick grimaced.

“What?” Jason asked, grinning from ear to ear.

“The naked one-nighter,” Ian answered.

“Do I want to know?” Jason asked, his eyebrow raised.

“It involves waking up with a fugly-ass girl and finding that your clothes have disappeared,” Craig shook his head. “I’m pretty sure that girl Jake ended up with was a dude though.”

My brothers all laughed evilly. I shook my head at them. Sometimes it felt like they went out of their way to humiliate each other. It almost made me glad we didn’t celebrate my birthday.

“At least you all woke up in a hotel room,” Karl scowled.

“Would you rather I left you with another woman?” Ian grinned.

“No, but the car park was a bit extreme. Brought a new definition to the term blue balls,” Karl grumbled.

“You guys are evil,” Jason grinned.

We finished off our coffees during the birthday prank banter and returned to the cars. I kissed Jason before he got into the car and held my arms around him tightly, even when someone tried to pull us apart.

“I love you,” I grinned up at him.

“I love you too,” he answered, kissing my nose.

“Cut it out,” Matt warned, successfully pulling me away this time.

I rolled my eyes at him and ducked into the car before he could get me back. The moment he got into the car he reached over and pinched my arm twice.

“Once for the eye roll, once for trying to get away,” he grinned.

“If I pinched you guys every time you rolled your eyes, how would you feel?” I frowned.

“Like I wanted payback,” Matt warned. “It’s disrespectful, Jelly.”

“Then how come you all get to do it?” I asked. I knew I was pushing my luck but I was trying to make a point.

“Because we’re older,” Matt shrugged as though it was a sufficient answer.

I sighed inwardly and clamped my mouth shut. I’d been lucky to get away with challenging him on it in the first place, I wasn’t about to test my luck further.

“Are you really going to tie Jake to a lamppost?” I asked Ian as we pulled back onto the motorway.

“We’ll see,” he shrugged. “I’m thinking Grey’s monument.”

“There’ll be a lot of CCTV cameras there,” Karl said, shaking his head gently.

“True,” Ian shrugged. “I’m sure we’ll think of something.”

I shook my head at them. I definitely wouldn’t choose to spend a birthday tied to a statue.

I listened to the three of them talking as I idly watched the cars go by. I spotted four yellow cars before Matt but he spotted a mini and two others. He hit harder so I’m pretty sure that counted as a win for him.

My eyebrows rose as we pulled into the car park of the hotel. It was a very modern, white brick construction with impressive long glass panels defining the façade. It was stoic, looming, and totally dominated its surroundings.
It fits my brothers perfectly
, I mused to myself, watching the BMW pull into the bay next to us.

I hopped out of the car and walked over to Jason, pulling him away from my brothers so that we could talk without them sticking their noses in.

“The drive okay?” I asked, wincing a little and hoping my brothers hadn’t give him a hard time

“It was fine,” he chuckled. “Were you worried about me?” He cocked his head with an amused grin.

“A little,” I admitted, my cheeks heating up.

“I can handle myself, Jamie. You don’t need to worry about me,” he smiled, brushing my cheek with his finger.

“So you keep saying, but it’s two-nil to them so far,” I frowned.

“I haven’t fought back so far,” he reminded me.

I sighed and leaned into his chest, breathing him in and relaxing a little. I didn’t really want to think about that.

“The trip was fine, Jamie. I chatted with Craig most of the way,” he reassured me.

“Good. I’m glad you two get along okay,” I smiled.

“He’s alright,” Jason smiled back and leaned down to kiss me. A soft, gentle kiss which was probably intended not to affront my brothers too much.

“You need a reminder of the rules, Reed?” Craig shouted over at us.

Jason pulled away from the kiss and sighed deeply, resting his forehead against mine. “Can I retract that last statement,” he smirked, pulling back away from me.

“Nope, too late,” I grinned. “I wish you could be with me today,” I added, my shoulders sagging.

“Me too,” Jason frowned. “I won’t be far if you need me though.”

“I’ll be with my brothers, I’ll be fine. You don’t need to worry about me,” I smiled.

Jason raised his eyebrow and gave me a look that told me he didn’t believe that one little bit, but he wisely kept quiet.

“Jelly!” Ian called. “Get your ass here.”

I sighed inwardly and gave Jason another kiss, a little more intimate this time to compensate for its brevity. “I love you,” I breathed against his lips as we broke it off.

“I love you too, little squirrel,” he smiled, taking my hand and walking me to where Ian and the others were waiting. “Have fun, say happy birthday to Jake from me.” He nodded to my brothers before hugging me one last time, his warm breath against my hair.

“Later, Reed,” Craig grinned, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the hotel.

“Jesus, Jelly,” Matt rolled his eyes. “Anyone’d think you weren’t going to see each other again for a year.”

Chapter 13

Saturday, 26th January 2013

I followed my brothers to reception, admiring the modern décor. Ian shot the orange-tinted, perfectly made-up receptionist his winning grin as he handed her a printout of our reservation.

I barely resisted rolling my eyes when Miss Orange fell over herself trying to be helpful to Ian. I scanned the foyer, taking in the clean space with it’s bold but sympathetic photography and artwork.

I spotted Jake coming through the main doors with his duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He looked great in worn denim wash jeans, a white, V-neck t-shirt, and a smart, black blazer. I nudged Craig and nodded in Jake’s direction.

“Jake’s here,” Craig announced, already grinning with a glimmer of mischief in his eye.

“Jakey-poo!” Danny called.

Jake’s cheeks were already burning and I saw his eyes dart to the door. He was no doubt contemplating whether it was worth making a break for it.

“Alright,” Jake nodded at them awkwardly, standing a few feet away.

The twins circled round so that he was trapped between them and my other brothers. I avoided his eyes. He was probably worried enough about what the others were planning, having me here must really have been putting salt on the wound

“What time is it?” Karl asked, looking at Matt conspiratorially.

Matt cottoned on quickly and smirked. “I’d say it was time for birthday bumps.”

Jake shook his head emphatically, his eyes darting around looking for a means of escape but the others had him surrounded.

When we were kids, birthday bumps were done the traditional way but as they’d gotten older and heavier, they’d turned it into an excuse to give each other a dead arm.

Jake made a break for it; he obviously thought his chances were highest with Karl because he darted in his direction. Karl was the biggest of my brothers, but a little slower for it, and Jake was his exact opposite. He was usually very quick. Today, though, he wasn’t quick enough. Matt caught him as he tried to bolt between them.