Free Bad For You: (An Older Brother's Best Friend Romance) by Charity Ferrell

my
neck. “Shit, that’s too soon. Be careful, man. Please be careful.”
    “You know I will. I’ve got to be here for my
family.” He leans back in his seat and sets his hands behind his head. “How’s
my little sister? Is she going wild out there?”
    I suck down the remainder of my beer and
signal to our waitress for another. “Eh, she hasn’t been too bad. It’s her
freshman year, so you can expect her to get a little crazy, but she’s called me
anytime she needed a ride or anything.” I grab the beer as soon as she hands it
to me and take a drink to swallow down my bullshit. 
    He leans forward and slaps me on the back.
“Thank you. I really appreciate it, bro. I don’t know what I’d do if she was
out there alone. Thank fuck I can trust you with her. You know how college guys
can be. They’ll try to get in her panties and then never talk to her again.”
    He lifts his beer up to cheers with
me. I oblige, and feel like a complete asshole when my beer taps his.
     
    * * *
     
    I find my dad sitting in the kitchen with a drink in his hand
when I get home from dropping Simon off. He holds up an expensive bottle of
whiskey when he notices me standing in the dim light.
    “You want a drink?” he asks. I take a step
forward. His eyes are glossy, letting me know this isn’t his first glass.
    I came in here for some water to help drown
out my buzz, but the taste of liquor sounds more appetizing. Whiskey is just
what the doctor ordered to wash Nautica from my thoughts because the beer is
doing a pretty shitty job. Nothing has changed.
    “Sure,” I answer. I grab a glass from a
cabinet, and he fills it up when I hand it to him.
    I sit down a few stools away from him and sip
on my drink. He plays with the glass in his hand. “It’s nice to have you home,”
he says. “I’ve missed you.”
    He’s still in his work suit. His black hair,
peppered with a little grey, is freshly cut and swept back with gel – the
same hairstyle he’s had for years. The gold, diamond watch I bought him for his
birthday last year is wrapped around his wrist. He’s missing his wedding ring.
    “I’ve missed you, too,” I say.
    “Have you talked to your mother? Has she even
left her bedroom today?”
    I blow out a breath. I don’t want to venture
into this conversation. “She was down here when I got home, but she hasn’t been
out since.”
    He shakes his head in disapproval. “Shit,” he
hisses. “We have a dinner tomorrow.”
    “I’m sure she’ll be back to her old self by
then.” She always is. She can pull herself together in minutes if it’s
for business or money. I don’t know how the hell she does it.
    “Temporarily.” I can see the pain in his
eyes. The subject makes him just as uncomfortable as it does me. “How’s school
going?”
    “Good. I can’t wait to graduate. One more
semester to go.”
    “I can’t wait for you to be back here. You’re
the perfect man to take over the lot when I’m ready to retire.” He downs his
glass and pours another. “We do have some work to do.”
    “Work?”
    He swallows down another drink and nods. “Yes,
work. You need to start settling down. We need to find you a wife.” I almost
drop my glass at his words. That’s not happening. “It looks better,” he goes
on. “Family men get more business. People like to buy shit from people with
stability.”
    I shake my head. “A wife isn’t in the cards
for me anytime soon. I enjoy my freedom too much.” I chuckle. “I haven’t even
graduated college yet.”
    He holds up his hand. “I get it, I get it. It
was hard for me to settle down, but your shit has to be together to run a
successful business. You don’t need money-hungry floozies using you.”
    “Yeah, I’ll think about it,” I lie.
    I stumble up the stairs to my bedroom after
we’ve both passed the line of being tipsy. My dad heads towards the guest
bedroom. I shut my door, strip off my clothes, and fall face first onto my bed.
I eventually gain