Stronger with You (With You Trilogy) (46 page)

I scanned the twins quickly. Neither of them appeared to be bleeding. None of my brothers looked even the least bit injured. I breathed a sigh of relief.
That could have gone so much worse.

“What the fuck are you doing letting knives in here, Rob?” Matt scowled, his chest still heaving. He looked more than pissed.
I’d hate to be on the receiving end
.

“Good question,” Rob frowned. “They should have been checked. I don’t even know how the fuck they got in here. They’re not the usual clientele. I’ll look into it. In the meantime, I’ll have some beer sent over. You should go enjoy your birthday.”

Matt scowled but didn’t comment. Rob motioned for Ian to follow him and the rest of us returned to the table.

“You okay?” Craig asked, his hand on my shoulder.

I nodded and smiled. “Is that why you disappeared?”

He nodded. “I recognised some of the Normanton lads. I knew some of them from school.”

Normanton was one of the rougher areas of Derby. It was also where Matt lived before he moved in with my family.

“What took you so long?” I frowned.

“Sorry,” he laughed. “I had to find Ian. He went to find Rob and I went to fetch the guys from the door.”

I felt pain surge in my arm as Matt grabbed it and span me around to look at him. I could still see the fury in his eyes and wasn’t happy that it was all directed at me. I lowered my eyes and relaxed my arm, hoping he’d loosen his grip.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” He growled, pinning me against the table.

My fingers tingled from the pressure on my arm, sharp pains pulsing into my wrist.

“I’m sorry,” I apologised automatically but I wasn’t really sure what I’d done.

“You had no right to stick your fucking nose in my business,” he scowled.

I watched him pull back his other hand and knew he was about to hit me but I didn’t fight back, I’d already seen Craig jump up and I knew he’d given Jason his word. I knew he wouldn’t let him hit me.

To my surprise, Karl grabbed Matt off me before he could hit me, not Craig. He twisted his arm behind his back, holding onto his thumb and nothing else.

“She was saving our asses, Matt,” Karl said, his voice low and calm. “Didn’t you see her signing?”

Matt blinked twice and stared at me, obviously not understanding.

“If she hadn’t told us they had knives then that might have gone a lot differently,” Danny nodded, smiling at me appreciatively.

“I didn’t see,” Matt said, his shoulders relaxing immediately. “Shit.”

He ran his fingers through his hair and looked at me guiltily. “Sorry, Jelly,” he grimaced.

“It’s okay,” I smiled meekly, holding my arm against me because it was still hurting quite a bit.

“Snap out of it, bro,” Karl clapped Matt on the shoulder. “Don’t let this fuck up your night.”

“Stupid fucking bitch is still causing problems,” Matt sighed, dragging his hands over his face.

“Forget about her,” Karl dismissed. “Let’s get wasted.” He grinned and handed Matt a shot and took one for himself. They clinked glasses and knocked their shots back.

“Now,” Karl announced. “The next task!”

I sank down into the bench next to Craig and relaxed, glad Matt had diverted his attentions elsewhere. I didn’t like him being pissed. I definitely didn’t like him being pissed at me. For the first time for as long as I could remember, I was actually angry that he’d been about to hit me. I hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Thanks,” I said to Craig, wrapping my arm around him and giving him a small hug.

“What for?” He frowned, returning my hug.

“You were going to stop him,” I smiled.

“Yeah, well,” he shrugged, trying to brush it off. “Jason hits harder than Matt.”

He grinned and I grinned back. I knew that wasn’t the real reason. If that were true he would have fought back against Matt more often. He’d given Jason his word and that was not something he took lightly.

Ian returned with a few waitresses and a lot of beer. The alcohol distraction tactic seemed to be working well. Matt was back to laughing and drinking. I wondered idly what Ian was planning for the grand finale he’d mentioned on the phone. I was getting sleepy though and didn’t waste much of my remaining energy thinking about it. Instead, I rested my head on Craig’s shoulder as I smiled and watched the others getting drunker and drunker.

Ian signed across the table to ask if I was sleepy.

I nodded and stifled a yawn. He smiled and signed back that I should message Jason to take me home.

I thought it was pretty strange of him to let me go home before all the others. I also thought it was telling of the fact that he was starting to trust Jason, which made me smile. I text Jason, telling him where I was and asking if he could come and pick me up.

Sure :) I’ll get a taxi

and text you when

I’m there.

Love you xxx

Ian motioned for me to follow and took me to fetch my coat from the coatroom.

“You text me as soon as you get home, understood?” He asked with a small smile.

“I promise,” I nodded. “Thank you for letting me go home early, I’m exhausted.”

“It’s not for your benefit,” he grinned. “The rest of the night is not suitable for your eyes.”

I frowned at him curiously, not sure if I wanted to know what that meant.

“You’ll find out in the morning,” he grinned. He kissed me on the head and gave me a hug before handing me over to Jason. I grinned at him and he hugged me before helping me into the taxi.

“I missed you!” I grinned, squeezing his hand in mine.

“I missed you too,” he beamed back. “My day was boring as hell. Tell me about yours.”

I regaled him with the events of the day, leaving out nothing. I even filled him in about the knife fight, which had him clenching his fists and looking at me like I’d killed a puppy.

“You could have been hurt!” Jason frowned.

“But I wasn’t,” I smiled. “None of my brothers would have let them hurt me, Jason. Even Matt would have rather taken a knifing himself than let me get hurt. They may be overprotective but sometimes it pays off.” Every word was true. My relationship with Matt was shaky at best but I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would give his life to save mine.

“They do have redeeming qualities,” he admitted. “Are you sleepy?”

I nodded and pulled his arm around my shoulders.

“Let’s get you home then,” he smiled, stroking my arm through the fabric of my shirt. “And naked.”

“Reciprocal,” I mumbled sleepily.

Chapter 33

Sunday, 3rd March 2013

Jason gave me the compulsory disapproving look as I snuck out of bed to put some clothes on.

“They won’t be up for ages, Jamie,” he sighed. “I heard them get back at around four this morning.”

“Ian will be up before seven, I’d bet my life on it. It’s not worth risking an argument if he comes in here,” I said, slipping back into bed once I had knickers and a t-shirt on.

“But I want skin on skin,” he pouted.

“Me too,” I reassured him. “But it’s Ian’s house, Ian’s rules.”

“Does Ian own the house?” He asked, lifting my t-shirt up to reveal my stomach and breasts before pulling me into him and drawing the cover over us.

“I think so, never really asked to be honest. They all pay the same rent though,” I shrugged, placing gentle kisses to his chest.

“Bit harsh making your own brothers pay rent,” Jason frowned.

“They pay like £250 a month. That’s peanuts. They put all the money in the same account and use it to pay for all the bills, food, and other stuff. Works out pretty well as far as I know,” I explained.

“Pretty sweet deal,” Jason said. He sounded both shocked and impressed. “I get why they still live here.”

“Why wouldn’t they?” I frowned. “Karl’s the only one in a long term relationship. It’s better than them arguing over who get’s the house. None of us would want it to get sold off to anyone else. There’s too much of our family here.”

“Makes sense,” he nodded.

I snuggled closer into him and let him roll me on top of him. I couldn’t have been happier than I was in that moment. My brothers were all okay. Karl was going to be a Dad. Matt had told me I was his sister, the sister he liked. The twins were their usual goofy selves and had opened their fourth gym. Craig had Isabella and seemed happier with her than I’d ever seen him. Jake and me were friends again. And I had Jason. Jason was my everything. I could never have imagined feeling the way I did around him.

It felt cliché to admit but Jason completed me. I felt safer and stronger when Jason was around but that strength and security wasn’t dependant on his presence. To some degree, it stayed with me wherever I went. He’d given me a new sense of inner strength.

The door opening drew my attention and I rolled my eyes at Jason before rolling off of him to see who it was. Ian, as I suspected.

“Morning,” he greeted us, standing in the doorway with his hands on the top of the frame.

“Morning,” I grumbled.

“Come have coffee with me, Jelly,” he said.

“Now?” I frowned.

“Now,” he nodded.

I could tell from his tone that he wasn’t messing about, but I was quite enjoying my morning cuddles. I sighed inwardly as I pulled myself away from Jason, making sure I didn’t pull the covers down and reveal the fact that he was in his birthday suit.

“Where are your shorts?” Ian frowned.

“There,” I pointed to the floor.

“Why aren’t you wearing them?” He scowled.

“I don’t like sleeping in them,” I pouted. “But I’ve got knickers on.”

Ian sighed and looked like he was about to give me a lecture but instead he shook his head and turned around and left us alone together. “Five minutes,” he called as he went down the stairs.

“See, he’s learning,” I grinned, relieved that Ian hadn’t gone nuts over the shorts.

“Yup,” Jason grinned. “Now we just need to teach him to knock.”

“Worried he might see your junk?” I grinned.

“Worried he might remove it if he did,” Jason smirked.

I giggled and pressed a kiss to his lips before hopping up to pull my shorts on.

“I’m gonna grab a shower, I’ll be down in a bit,” Jason smiled, standing up from the bed and letting the cover fall away from him.

I loved his silent confidence as he stood stark naked in front of me, stretching his arms above his head as he yawned. The clenching deep inside me had me contemplating joining him and his delicious body in the shower but I didn’t want to keep Ian waiting. We’d just have to have another shower once we got back to Leeds.

“Tea or coffee?” Ian asked as I came into the kitchen. He didn’t even turn his head but I wasn’t surprised. I figured I was the only one up and he must have heard me coming.

“Tea, please,” I smiled.

I sat down on the stool at the island whilst he poured me a cup of tea. I thanked him and reached out to accept the mug he was offering.

“What’s that?” Ian frowned, grabbing my hand and pulling it towards him.

I didn’t answer because I wasn’t sure what he was on about. He twisted my arm gently and I saw what he was looking at. A bruise was forming on my forearm.

I walked him through what had happened whilst he and Craig had been fetching Rob and the bouncers the night before and he swore as he let my arm go.

“I take it Jason hasn’t clocked it yet?” He asked, fetching coffee for himself.

“No,” I shook my head, cringing as I realised he would soon. “I hadn’t noticed it either.”

“Matt’s always too rough with you,” he sighed.

“No more so than the rest of you,” I shrugged.

Ian frowned, studying my face intently as though he wasn’t sure how serious I was.

“I had worse bruises from you after laser tag,” I murmured, not comfortable with the conversation.

“You did?” He asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise. “Where?”

I gestured to my wrists and back and he scowled.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you, Jelly,” he shook his head.

“I know,” I shrugged. “None of you ever
mean
to.” I knew they didn’t really want to hurt me, but I forced their hands all too often.

“Jelly, we…” Ian started, but broke off and ran his hand over his face.

“I know I mess up a lot,” I said quietly, watching my tea swirl around in my cup as I stirred it with the spoon. “I know I cause a lot of problems. I know that I usually deserve it,” I sighed. “I just wish you would give me a chance to explain sometimes.” A few tears rolled down my cheek because I felt ungrateful voicing these thoughts.

“Jelly,” Ian groaned. “Just shut up a sec, will you.” He stalked around the island and wrapped his arms around me, holding me really tight and making me feel like a little girl again. I still felt safe with Ian when he hugged me. It wasn’t the same feeling I had when Jason embraced me, but it was security none the less. It was a non-verbal promise that he would give anything, do anything, to keep me safe.

“Look, Jelly. Jason’s right. We fucked up,” he sighed. “We’ve let you down, in many ways.”

“Ian, you haven’t, you’ve always been there for-”

“No, Jelly,” he cut me off. He raised his hand up in a quick movement and I flinched and withdrew, certain he was about to hurt me. “See my point?” He said wryly.

I opened my eyes and saw that he was simply holding his hand in mid-air.

“Jason’s right, you’re scared of me. Of us,” he said quietly, his voice a shadow of the big brother I knew and loved. “Fear does not equal respect.”

“I do respect you, Ian. All of you,” I insisted.

“Maybe, but you’re scared of us as well, and that’s wrong. You’re our sister, Jellybean. You shouldn’t be scared of us,” he sighed.

“The others are scared of you as well, Ian,” I frowned.

“Maybe that’s true,” he shrugged. “But not in the same way. They definitely lean more towards respect than fear. With them, I know that if we push them too hard, they’ll fight back.” He took his arms away from around me, and tilted my face up to look me in the eyes. “Dad always insisted men and women should be treated the same,” he sighed. “I tried to treat you the same as the others but I fucked up. I know I did.”