Being With the Brothers Next Door Read Online Free PDF Page A

will hit up Shake’s, and I’ll buy you a burger and cherry limeade.”
    “Okay, sounds good.” She smiled once more before shutting the door. It really did feel good to be back home.
    ****
    Shake’s was packed when Sasha and Rian stepped inside the next night. Back in the day it used to be a family restaurant, but over the years they had slowly changed it until it was now a sports bar where most of the younger generation hung out. The music was annoyingly loud, and scantily clad girls ground their crotches against the men on the center of the dance floor. Right off the bat she could see many of the guys who filled the bar were part of the construction crew. They seemed to be an entirely different breed of men from the average denizens of Hayven Hill. Their bulging muscles, tanned flesh, and hardened expressions spoke of hard labor. She followed Rian as he wove through the people. Many of them stopped to talk with her brother or slap him on the back. He found an empty table in the corner, and they sat.
    The waitress, a girl Sasha thought she had gone to high school with, sashayed over to their table and smirked at Rian. She cocked her hip out and puckered her lips, and Sasha couldn’t help but feel embarrassed for her. The way she looked at her brother, though, told Sasha enough to know they were very well acquainted.
    Bleh .
    “Hey, Rian.” The waitress, Michelle according to her nametag, dragged her tongue over her bottom lip. Her breasts were all but in Rian’s face, and by the look her brother gave Michelle, he liked it a little too much.
    “I’m going to the bathroom.”
    Rian nodded, but his gaze was otherwise too preoccupied to spare her a passing glance.
    Once inside the bathroom she leaned on the counter and looked at herself in the mirror. She had cut her hair last year to a stylish bob, and found the short length far more accommodating to her hectic schedule. The dark strands were a hell of a lot more manageable now. Her blue eyes were dark, and the exact same shade as Rian’s and their father’s.   She adjusted her t-shirt and smoothed her hand over her jeans. Maybe she should have dressed up a little bit? What was the point, though? Like Rian gave a shit what she wore, and it wasn’t like she was trying to impress anyone. That thought was immediately followed by the image of Tanner and Jonas. It had been two years since she had seen them, and the last time had been awkward enough. Two years ago, they had come over for Thanksgiving for a quick hello, and when she had seen them she’d hid like a coward. The fact she knew Tanner had told his twin what they had done was just too humiliating. So really, she had seen them since leaving for college, but they hadn’t seen her. Rian had tried to ask what her problem was and why she was avoiding the twins on several occasions, but there was no way she would tell him why she felt the need to stay away. Even after all these years her brother was liable to break something—like Tanner Ashbury. Why was she avoiding Jonas, though? She supposed it was just the way it worked out since the brothers were close and always hung out together. In any event, she had no doubt Tanner had told Jonas what had happened between them, and every time she thought about them having that conversation humiliation filled her.
    Four years of successful avoidance didn’t stop her from missing them something fierce though. But now she was back in Hayven Hill, and she couldn’t avoid them. She’d have to put her big girl panties on and face the music. The incident in question might have happened years ago, but it still felt so fresh in her mind.
    She looked at herself one last time the mirror and headed back out. Sasha grabbed her cell and looked down at the screen. The air left her when she slammed right into a wall, or at least it felt like a wall given how hard and wide it was. She stumbled back and reached out to steady herself on instinct. The firm, muscular forearm she