Always Sometimes Never: Sometimes Brooke Part 7

Both Raven and Xander stare at me as if I'm intruding. The three of us have been sleeping together for over a decade and suddenly I'm an intruder. In my own f.u.c.king bed.

"Where am I supposed to sleep?"

They both look at the ceiling, the floor, the wall, anywhere but directly at me.

"Forget it," I turn my back on the two of them before I say something I'll really regret.

Then I hear the door close without so much as a goodnight.

I know I shouldn't, but I put my ear to the door and listen for a few seconds. My heart sinks when they start laughing again. Obviously they're having a great time without me.

As much as I hate to do it I don't have much of a choice. I make my way to the main house and knock on Rayne and Harper's bedroom door.

I'm not surprised when Rayne opens the door and he's in nothing but his boxer briefs. I am surprised when he wipes sleep from his eyes.

"Dude, it's not even ten thirty."

"Harper likes to go to sleep early."

I pantomime a whip and make an exaggerated whipping sound.

He rolls his eyes at me. "I know. I'm whipped." Then he stares at me for a long moment as if he's trying to figure out why I'm standing at his bedroom door in the middle of the night.

"I need someplace to sleep."

His eyes narrow. "You sleep with Xander and Raven."

"I used to sleep with them. Apparently I don't anymore."

He rubs his forehead for a few seconds. "And you're not sleeping with Brooke."

"Not yet," I correct.

"Give me a sec, okay?"

"I'm not going anywhere."

He shuts to door. A few seconds pa.s.s before the door opens again. I'm surprised to see it's Harper in fuzzy bunny slippers and a gigantic robe that looks about five sizes too big. She looks like she belongs in a cartoon.

"The guest room next to Brooke's is clean and ready." She's much too perky for just waking up. Not that she isn't too perky most of the time. It just seems to grate on my nerves this late at night.

Or maybe I'm just p.i.s.sed that everyone has a bed buddy but me.

"Thanks," I mutter.

"Where's your stuff?"

I'm not sure why I'm suddenly embarra.s.sed. Not much embarra.s.s me. But I feel like a man without a home.

When she glances down at my empty hands I realize the few belongings I own are still in Xander and Raven's bedroom. What a friggen weird concept to think of Xander and Raven having a bedroom that doesn't include me.

"I'll get it tomorrow," I try to sound as laid-back as possible, even though it's still killing me inside.

She bites her bottom lip like she wants to say more, but doesn't want to at the same time.

"Just say it," I urge.

"Do you need something to sleep in? Pajamas?"

"Rayne has some I can borrow?" I laugh. The Rayne I've known my whole life used to sleep in the nude. I've never seen the guy wear pajamas. Of course that was before Harper.

As her face reddens I realize I may have crossed the line just a bit. At least Rayne's not here at the moment. I don't want him to punch me for saying something inappropriate to his girl. He's extremely protective of Harper.

She shakes her head. "No-um-Nic doesn't..."

"It's okay. I don't need pajamas."

She exhales and then I follow her as she leads me toward the guest bedroom, which is right next to Brooke's room. My entire body heats when I think about the two of us making out against her bedroom door less than an hour ago.

"There's one thing I need to tell you," Harper says as she opens the door and I follow her into the room.

"What's that?" The place is really decked out. It's a lot nicer than the room I shared with Xander and Raven in the guest house, and I thought that room was great.

"You share a bathroom with Brooke."

I do my best to bite back a grin. Talk about being dealt a winning hand. My mind fills with all the ways I can accidently run into Brooke in the bathroom.

Harper wrings her hands. "I just thought you should know. About the bathroom." She clears her throat. "If you're not going to wear pajamas."

I laugh. "Brooke's already seen me naked. I spent an entire night inside of her." And oh, what a night it was. I'm already at half-mast just thinking about it.

When I see she's frowning I try to be a little more of a gentleman. "I'll knock on the bathroom door. I won't just barge in."

"Good idea." She glances around the big a.s.s room. It's as large as the finest luxury suites we've stayed in on tour. "If you need anything else, just let me know."

"I'm good," I a.s.sure her.

"Good night then." She obviously wants to say more because she's made no move to actually leave.

"You're marrying my cousin," I tell her. "You're family. You can say whatever you want."

She gulps. Harper is definitely not like anyone I've ever known. In high school good girls like Harper wouldn't give bad boys like me a second look. And girls like Harper definitely don't f.u.c.k rock stars.

Except for Rayne.

But he's different.

If he had a family that gave a s.h.i.t about him he could have gone to college. Probably even Harvard. But then he probably wouldn't have been a celebrity. Life is weird that way.

Harper rubs the side of her nose then says, "About Brooke..."

I don't say anything. I wait for her to talk. I want to see where this conversation is going first. I know she and Brooke have been best friends their whole lives, and I imagine she's protective of her.

"She's in a vulnerable place right now."

I nod. "I know."

"I just don't want to see you get hurt."

It takes me a moment to process what she just said. She doesn't want to see me get hurt? What the f.u.c.k? I swear I thought she was going to say she didn't want to see Brooke get hurt.

"I don't think you have to worry about that." I laugh to reinforce my point.

But she's not laughing. She doesn't even crack a smile. "I know Brooke. I know how she is with men. I can't even count the number of times I've seen guys fall for her and fall hard. She uses them and spits them back out again."

"That's other guys," I a.s.sure her. "That's not me. I can handle it."

When she furrows her brow I can see that she clearly doesn't believe me. "I know you act tough, Leo, but I think you've got a big heart. I don't want to see it get broken."

"It's not like that," I a.s.sure her. "We're just hanging out. It's casual."

"I would suggest keeping it that way."

"I hear you."

When she finally moves toward the door I breathe a sigh of relief. Having a heart-to-heart with Harper does not top the list of things I've longed to do. Besides the fact that in about three seconds I imagine Rayne will be pounding on the door wondering what I'm doing with Harper because she's not back yet.

"Good night," she says again as she closes the door.

"Night," I yell back.

I've got to pee in the worst way and when I roll over I see it's only three in the morning. There's no way I can hold it for a few more hours until I need to get up. It takes me a few seconds to realize I'm in the bed alone. Raven's not lying on top of me and Xander's not kicking my shin.

I don't really want to get up. The bed's comfortable as h.e.l.l. And it smells so clean and fresh. Not like s.e.x.

I realize I'm always in a bed that smells like s.e.x, because I'm always engaging in the act with one or more partners.

Not tonight. I'm alone in a bed that smells like lavender and laundry soap.

But I've still got to pee. So I roll out of bed and stumble still groggy with sleep toward the bathroom. There's a tiny nightlight in one of the outlets on the counter, so I don't bother to turn on the light. I can make out where the toilet is without the glare of the overhead bulbs.

Just as I push up the toilet seat and start to go the overhead light snaps on.

"What the f.u.c.k?" I yell, wondering how the light flipped on when I've got both of my hands on my d.i.c.k.

"What the f.u.c.k?" I hear Brooke say practically at the same time. "What are you doing in my bathroom?"

"Our bathroom," I correct as I jiggle the last few drops of pee into the toilet.

As she looks me up and down I do the same. Brooke likes to sleep in the nude too and her body is more amazing than I remember.

I'm at full-mast in a matter of seconds.

"How is this our bathroom?" When she crosses her arms over those amazing t.i.ts of hers I'm actually disappointed.

"I'm using the bedroom next door and we share this bathroom."

She frowns. "Why aren't you sleeping with Raven and Xander?"

"That's a good question. You'll have to ask them the next time you see them."

The crease in her brow deepens. "You're telling me you're sleeping alone? In the bedroom next door?"

"I am."

She gnaws on her bottom lip for a few seconds then she announces, "I need to pee."

I wave a hand toward the toilet. "I'm not stopping you."

"Are you just going to stand there and watch me pee?"

"You watched me pee," I remind her.

"Not on purpose. You were peeing when I walked in. How was I supposed to know you were in the bathroom? You didn't even have the light on."

"Has anyone ever watched you pee before?" I narrow my gaze at her.

"My mother."

I laugh. "A guy."

She shakes her head.

"Good. I like being your first."

She harrumphs. "I'm not going to pee in front of you."

I shrug. "Then I guess you don't have to pee that bad."

"You're seriously going to stand there until I pee?"

"I am." Now I cross my arms over my chest to make the point.

"f.u.c.k me," she grumbles.

"I wish you'd let me."