Chapter 22
Adrian
There isno way I am going to allow Skylar to handle everything. I know she’s with Holden right now, and I get it, I do. I’m not even jealous because I know she feels the same for me as I do for her. We connected, and nothing can take that away from either of us.
Hiking my bag up, I see Alex, her brother, sitting. His head is bent, and he’s eating a large burger.
Walking toward him, I take a seat on the opposite side and drop my bag onto the floor.
“What the fuck? Are we friends?” Alex asks. “I know I’ve been drinking a lot lately but I don’t think I’ve gone that far.”
It’s a struggle not to laugh at him. He’s looking really confused.
“We’re not friends, not even close.”
“Then why are you sitting with me?”
“I’m dating your sister.”
Alex continued to stare at me. “Are you trying to piss me off?”
I sigh. “I care about your sister, and what I feel for her is real. I wanted to let you know so you didn’t hear it from someone else.”
“There’s no way you’re dating my sister. No. That is not going to happen. My sister deserves someone a lot better than you.” Alex dumps his burger into the wrapper and glares at me. “You will stay away from her.”
“It’s not going to happen. I told you. I care about her.”
“You don’t even know her, okay? You think you care but right now, why don’t you try to get to know her?”
“I know her, and I know what nearly happened to her as well.” I can’t help but get angry at the thought of some asshole hurting her. As it is, I have to keep my shit together. Losing it in front of Alex won’t exactly help my cause.
“She told you about that?”
“Yeah, she did.”
Alex runs a hand down his face, and I see how angry he is. “I turned my back for a couple of minutes and you’re already there. Holden has a thing for her.”
“Between you and Holden, you’ve pushed her away.” Alex may have turned his back but I now know it was because he was giving Holden the chance to make his move. “You knew about her crush on Holden?”
“You know about that as well?”
“We’re together, Alex. Both of us, and I want us to be able to handle each other right now rather than upset her.” I am doing this for her.
At the moment Skylar is annoyed with her brother, and wants to break away from his stifling protection, but in time she is going to want him around. I know it is what I’d have wanted if I had a brother.
Alex stares at me, and I know he wants to hit me.
“You want to fight me, then I’ll fight you. This is not something I want to do,” I say.
“I know about your reputation. I’ve heard people talking about you being trash and all that crap.”
I shrug. “I’ve been called a great deal, Alex. I love your sister, and even if you hate me, you know I’ll be a good guy to her.”
“How? How do I know that?”
“Have you ever seen a trail of broken hearted girls following me around?”
“I know you’ve screwed around.”