Part 2 (1/2)

”What? What's he said?”

”Nothing much.” He pauses and picks at the label on his beer. ”I don't mean to be rude, but aren't you a bit young for him?”

”Pardon?”

”Tegan!” calls a familiar voice.

I look over my shoulder at Bryn who strides over. His height and size are intimidating enough; his tattoos and sour look would add to anybody's nervousness around him. Not to me, but Jax studies the bottle he's holding.

”I answered your text, but you didn't reply,” says Bryn. ”Are you okay?”

”Fine.”

”Just buying Tegan a drink while she waited,” offers Jax.

Jax is rewarded with a hard look from Bryn. Oh great. Bryn's eyes widen as he studies my appearance. ”What are you dressed up for? Where are you going?”

”Out. Did you want to come?” I ask.

”Not tonight, not in the mood. Stay and have a drink with me instead. We can discuss whether you're staying or not.” His terse tone is back and riling me that he's using it in front of Jax.

”Whether I'm staying? You know I am!”

”Maybe.”

Jax looks between us and s.h.i.+fts uncomfortably. ”And what have you said to him?” I jab a finger at Jax. ”I told you, I'm not here to jump the nearest guy!”

”I haven't told him anything.”

”Not telling people I'm here won't make me go away!”

”You know how to pick them, Bryn,” says Jax with a laugh.

”What does that mean?” I snap.

Jax holds his hands up in defence. ”Nothing! Just the last girl I saw Bryn with was umm... insistent too.”

What the h.e.l.l? I rub my forehead. ”You saw Bryn with...?” Wait. ”OhmiG.o.d! Bryn! Tell him I'm your sister!”

There's a choking noise as Jax's beer catches in his throat. He coughs, eyes watering as he stares at us. ”Sister?”

”Yeah, my little sister,” says Bryn darkly, and the look they exchange suggests they have spoken about me before.

”Oh, sorry. About earlier. I didn't mean...” Did Jax say something he shouldn't about me? Is it wrong that I'm secretly pleased?

”Yeah.” Bryn crosses his arms, stony faced.

”I guess I should...” Jax waves his bottle in the direction of the nearby table. ”Was meeting the guys.”

As Jax climbs down from the stool, I watch in disbelief as he walks away, then jerk my head around to Bryn.

”What the h.e.l.l was that about?”

”Nothing much. I didn't like the way he talked about you before.” Bryn takes the seat Jax vacated and orders himself a beer.

”What did he say?”

”Doesn't matter.”

I inhale a calming breath. ”Can we get one thing clear, Bryn? I'm twenty years old and my own person. I do not need you treating me like a naive little girl.”

”Jax behaves like me and the guys did when we first got famous. Different girl every night, all that c.r.a.p.”

”So?”

”So, I don't want him s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g around with my sister.”

I'm about to retort when I notice the look on Bryn's face, remembering the guy threatening the kid who lived two doors down because he bullied me. The guy who still walked me to school when he was sixteen. The protective streak in my big brother is a mile wide, and nothing I could do would change that.

I close my slender fingers over his. ”Bryn, I appreciate you looking out for me, but I don't need protecting. I've dealt with a few things you probably wouldn't be happy knowing about, when I was travelling. This is nothing.”

He stiffens. ”Like what?”

”Woman travelling alone things, and I'm fine. So I think I can handle people like Jax.”

Handle Jax. Investigate what lies beneath his clothes. Put my mouth on his. Find out exactly what he has that causes girls to throw themselves at him. How has this man burrowed under my skin this quickly?

”Fine,” he mutters. ”But if you do stay with the tour, you're here on my terms, and if anyone f.u.c.ks around with you, there'll be trouble.”

I bite back a laugh and nod, his serious face preventing me showing my amus.e.m.e.nt. ”So I'm staying?”

”Yeah, but I'll be keeping an eye on you. Don't get involved with anybody on tour. They'll break your heart.”

”Awesome!” I tiptoe and kiss my big brother on the forehead. He wrinkles his nose and wipes his face.

Seven years apart, and Bryn has no hope of understanding the real me. If I was looking to find a guy, I doubt anybody here would fit the bill.

Even if Jax is sitting across the room with his eyes fixed on me in a way that phases out everything and everybody around us.

Almost everybody.

JAX.

Sister.

Bryn's sister.

Holy f.u.c.k. I throw my mind back to the conversation I had with Bryn earlier, cringing at each word I used. I knew I'd stuck my foot in it when I thought she was Bryn's chick, but if she's his sister that's ten times f.u.c.king worse. Oh yeah, I told Bryn his sister wanted to rip my clothes off and I was planning to help Tegan out of hers.