Taking Chances (49 page)

“
W
ell I hear a congratulations
is in order, huh Kid?” Konrad kissed the top of my head as he pulled me in for
a hug.

“Why thank you!
Your turn next, yeah?” I mock glared at Bree when he released me, but smiled
when her jaw dropped.

“I swear I
wasn’t the one that told him!” She said with her hands raised, palms facing me.

“I told him.”
Brandon said as he walked up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist,
“It’s only fair if Bree knew, he got to know too.”

“You guys
didn’t tell Mom though, right?”

Konrad and Bree
shook their heads and Bree said, “No, we know you’re telling everyone at Liam’s
birthday party. I still can’t believe you’re going to have two kids before I
even have one!”

“Hmm…guess you
better get working on that then.” I winked at her.

“No way, we’re
going to have our hands full playing with yours. Just keep popping them out,
and we’ll act like they’re ours.”

“Um, no! I
think two is more than enough for now, I won’t even be twenty-one and Brandon
will be twenty-three when baby number two is born, if we have more I’m sure it
can wait.”

The doorbell
rang and Brandon kissed my cheek before releasing me, “That’s probably Jeremy,
he’s coming with a few cousins, so is it okay if we tone down the baby talk
until they leave?”

“I thought you
told Jeremy?”

“I did, because
I know he won’t say anything. My cousins on the other hand, don’t know how to
shut up. They’d probably call my mom before we could finish telling them.” He
chuckled and jogged off toward the door.

Bree leaned
over the island in the middle of the kitchen and raised her brow, “So Jer knows
too?”

“Yeah,” I grunted
and tried to reach for the stack of bowls on the top shelf, “I don’t know why
we’re making such a big deal about not telling the parents yet, we’ve told
practically everyone else. I guess we just want them all here at once, so they
can find out at the same time.”

I had just
climbed on top of the counter when Konrad reached over me and grabbed the
bowls, smirking when I glared at him. He didn’t even have to go on the balls of
his feet.

“Damn tall
people.” I muttered under my breath.

“Hey sis! Hey
Bree,” Jeremy hugged her quick, and turned to do a “guy hug” with Konrad,
“Konrad, what’s up man?” He stepped over to where I was still sitting on the
counter and I frowned when I realized he was still taller than me even when I
was up here, “Trying to reach the bowls again Harper?” He wrapped his arms
around me and kissed me on the cheek before whispering, “Congrats sis. I’m really
happy for you guys.”

I hugged him
tightly back, “Thanks Jer, and thanks for coming.”

“I brought my
girlfriend, is that okay?”

“Jeremy, you
have a girlfriend?!” His face lit up and he had a huge grin, “Are you even old
enough for one of those yet?” I laughed when he playfully punched my arm.

“I’m seventeen,
not twelve.”

I got all
serious, “Oh yes, of course. How could I ever forget?” I looked around him,
“Well where is she? I want to meet this girl who stole my brother-in-law’s
heart.”

“She’s with
Laura and Kate, but she’s really shy, so Bree” he turned to look at her, “go
easy on her, okay?”

Bree put a hand
to her chest, “Who me? Shy people are my specialty. Just ask Harper.”

We all laughed
and Jeremy eyed me curiously, “Sis, what the fuck are you doing?”

“Language!” I
chastised him but started giggling uncontrollably when I still couldn’t get
down, “I can’t get back down. I usually can’t even jump up here. How the hell
did I get up here Konrad?”

“Language!”
Jeremy tried to mimic my pitch as he scooped me off the counter. “God you’re so
short.”

“No, the rest
of you are just freakishly tall.” I pushed him away from me and went to stand
by Bree, since she was much closer to my height.

“Aww, are they
making fun of you again sweetheart?” Brandon was grinning when he rounded the
corner, “I can’t believe
anyone
would ever make fun of your height.
Because you’re average height, right?”

I glared at him
until he wrapped his arms around me with my favorite smile and his dimple
flashing at me, “Exactly.” I reached up on my tiptoes and kissed him soundly.

“Uh, one, get a
room. Two, Harper I want you to meet Aubrey.”

I peeked around
Brandon’s side and saw a pretty girl with pale skin, raven black hair and wide
brown eyes tucked under Jeremy’s arm. Oh my word they were cute together. “Hi
Aubrey!” I walked over to them and hugged her quickly, dropping my arms and
stepping back when I remembered how much I hated being hugged before Bree
socialized me.

“Aubrey, this
is my sister-in-law, Harper.”

She gave a
small wave and blushed when she smiled, oh yeah, we were going to get along
just fine. “Nice to meet you Harper, you have a beautiful home.”

“Thank you!
Aubrey, this is my best friend Breanna and her fiancé Konrad.” I waited until
they said their
hellos
and stepped back into Brandon’s arms, “And I’m
guessing you just met Brandon?”

She nodded and
bit her lower lip, trying to curl further into Jeremy’s arm.

“Um, no! Where
is the little munchkin?” One of the twins called from the dining room.

I laughed and
when Kate and Laura walked into the kitchen, I went to hug them both. “He’s at
Mom and Dad’s for the night, figured this would be a little much for him. You
girls remember Konrad and Bree?”

Laura jumped
over to Bree’s side for a hug and Kate crossed her arms and failed at glaring
at me, “I wanted to see my little Liam though.” She pouted and drug her feet to
hug Bree.

“Next time,” I
promised them, “besides, we have four or five single guys fresh out of the
Marine Corps coming today, you really want to be playing with a baby that whole
time?”

“Oh my God,
really?!” They both said at the same time.

I laughed and
nodded. The twins were Brandon and Jeremy’s cousins, only a year younger than
myself and insanely beautiful. They had a good half foot on me, had blue eyes
and unnatural blonde hair, but they rocked it pretty well. Other than their
eyes, I still hadn’t found a way to tell them apart, thank God Kate had one eye
that was half blue and half brown, or I’d always wonder who I was talking to.

“Well then!”
Kate said and grabbed her sister’s hand, “We’re going to go change into our
bikinis!”

“You do realize
we don’t have a pool, right?” I called to their retreating forms.

“Don’t care!”

“I’m going to
end up punching someone, aren’t I?” Brandon grumbled from behind me.

“Probably.” I
sighed and looked up at him, glad to see he was smiling. “When are you going to
start the grill?”

“Already did
after I let them in. I’ll put the burgers on a bit after everyone else gets
here.”

“Thank you.” I
kissed his soft lips and relaxed further into his chest, “And thank you for
this, I think it’ll be a good day.”

“I think you’re
right.” He lifted me up and sat me on the counter, gave me another kiss that
almost reduced me to a puddle and walked over to Jeremy, “Come help me with the
ice chests.”

“Brandon! I
just barely got down from the counter, and Jeremy had to help me!”

“I know.” He
smiled wickedly and walked out to the garage.

I turned to
Konrad, “Care to help?”

“Ya know, I
forgot to get the ice from the store…wanna go with me baby?” He grabbed Bree’s
hand and led her quickly out of the kitchen.

Jerks.

Looking to the
only person left in the room I added dryly, “Want to join?”

Aubrey walked
up next to me and had to jump three times before she got enough leverage to
lift herself all the way up.

“They’re really
high up, right? It’s not just me?”

“No, it’s
definitely not just you.” She said softly and tucked her hair behind her ears,
“Thank you so much for having us, this is really sweet of you.”

“Of course!
It’s fun to do. I apologize in advance if it gets rowdy. I don’t know much
about the guys coming.”

She laughed and
swung her legs back and forth, “That’s fine.”

Man, did I talk
this soft too? “So tell me, how did you meet Jeremy?”

“Um, school.”

“Oh yeah? How
long have you been dating?”

Aubrey blushed
fiercely and looked over to the door leading to the garage, “Only a week. He
asked me out a few times last year, we were Chemistry partners, but I don’t
know…he scared me.”

“What? Why?”

“Well I mean,
besides his size, he’s really popular and outgoing. He was already popular
after his first week at the school, and I knew a lot of girls liked him. I
don’t know. Guys like him don’t date girls like me, I thought it was a joke.”

The first half
of that didn’t surprise me one bit. He’d really filled out in the last year, was
built just like Brandon, and looked exactly like him. Their size was intimidating,
and they were incredibly handsome. But what the hell? “I’m sorry, I must be
missing something, girls like you?”

“He plays
football and is the captain of the soccer team, I’m not into sports or anything
school related really.”

“If he’s dating
you, then I’m pretty sure that doesn’t matter at all to him. You’re gorgeous
Aubrey, and you seem really sweet, it’s not hard to see why he likes you. Jeremy
doesn’t just date girls…actually, he hasn’t had a girlfriend in the two years
that I’ve been with Brandon. So for him to ask you out is a big thing for him.
And those boys don’t have a cruel bone in their body, he would never date you
as a joke. He’s just like his brother, they’re extremely protective and devoted
to the girls in their life. Nothing less.”

She blushed
again, “You and Brandon are so perfect together. Jeremy’s told me so much about
you both, and seeing you together is cute. It’s obvious how much you love each
other.”

I smiled and
leaned back on my hands, “We are definitely in love.”

Brandon and
Jeremy walked through carrying two ice chests and smiled widely upon seeing us
on the counter. Jeremy couldn’t tear his eyes from Aubrey. Oh he was such a
goner.

“So then,
you’re not into sports, what
are
you into?”

Aubrey was
looking at Jeremy’s back and biting the corner of her bottom lip, “Um, what?”
She blinked her doe-like eyes at me.

“Interests,” I
laughed and nudged her side, “what are your interests? Besides Jeremy.”

“Oh,” there
goes that blush again, I think I’ve met my match in the blushing department,
“well I like photography, and I read a lot.”

“What do you
read?” I never got into reading, the only books in my house growing up were by Stephen
E. Ambrose, R. Lee Ermey or Tom Clancy and those didn’t exactly pique my
interest.

“Anything with
a love story. I
love
love triangles.”

How is that
exciting? I was in the middle of a love triangle not long ago. It wasn’t
exactly fun. I just nodded my head, “And photography?”

She touched the
large bag at her side, I’m guessing she had her camera in there, “Anything
really. Scenery, people, flowers…” She trailed off.

“I’d like to
see them sometime, if that’s okay with you.”

“See what?”
Jeremy asked as he jogged back into the kitchen, planting himself between
Aubrey’s legs, his hands resting lightly on her waist.

“She said she
likes photography.”

Jeremy glanced
up at me briefly, “Oh man sis, you should see her stuff, she’s really good. She
has her camera with her, why don’t you show her what you have on there Aubrey?”

Kate and Laura
chose that moment to come back in and Aubrey’s blush instantly left her face as
she took her hand back out of her bag.

“Later.” I
whispered and she nodded her head in relief.

Brandon walked
into the kitchen talking on my phone, even though I saw it in his hands, I
still patted my shorts to make sure I didn’t have it on me, “Yeah, you’ll see a
white truck and black Jeep out front, just walk on in. We’re in the kitchen.
See ya.” He tapped the screen and handed it to me.

“Carter?”

“Yep, they just
pulled onto the street. Where’d Konrad go?”

I rolled my
eyes, “Jerk said he forgot to get ice and left me on the counter. Thankfully
someone
is nice enough and agreed to join me up here after everyone ditched me.”

Brandon looked
at Jeremy and started laughing, “Sweetheart, he didn’t forget the ice, we just
dumped it all in the ice chests with the drinks.”

Konrad and Bree
walked back in the kitchen, Bree looked completely ravished. I narrowed my eyes
at him and pointed at his chest, “Ice, huh? Asshole.”

He gave a
sheepish grin and shrugged, “I’m sorry, but it’s too funny that you can’t get
down.”

“You’re on my
list Konrad Anderson. You are on. My. List.” Everyone was laughing loudly when
we heard a voice from somewhere in the front.

“Hello?”

“In here.”
Brandon called and the twins started smiling.

Carter rounded
the corner, closely followed by a few guys, “What’s up man?” He shook Konrad
and Brandon’s hands and looked at me awkwardly as he came in for a hug, “What’s
wrong with you?”

“Nothing.” I
grumbled.

“She’s mad
because Brandon put her up there, and no one would help her off.” Konrad
smirked and leaned up against another counter, with Bree in his arms.

“Well duh
Blaze. That way they don’t have to worry about you getting into trouble.”

I glared at him
and scooted toward the edge, but quickly went back. Aubrey did the same and
Jeremy eventually helped her down. She was at least three inches taller than
me, and even she wouldn’t jump down.

Carter walked
back into the dining room when he heard more of his friends come into the house
and Brandon sauntered over to me, “It’s just because you’re so damn cute up
there.” He kissed me and pulled me down, making it so my chest was pressed hard
against his as I slowly slid down his body. His gray eyes heated and my body
instantly responded. Stupid barbecue.