Basketball Rain

Today was cloudy as usual and I found myself at my favorite place; the basketball court. I loved playing against the humans because they just didn't stand a chance. It helped that when they weren't looking I did sneaky things to get myself ahead of the game but it was all in fun. I'd been on the verge of becoming a basketball star when I was attacked and changed into a vampire. I was one of the youngest of our 'family'. Brendan and Blake had actually been the ones to not only show me the way of being a 'vegetarian' but had also been the ones to change me. It was something I was most grateful for.

I'd been on a basketball court like this one in a bad neighborhood when I'd been attacked - but not by a vampire. Two guys that hated me in school had decided to show me that they were the.. alpha males or whatever. With a iron pipe and a tire iron. Both very hard pieces.. and very easy things to use to kill someone with. They'd gotten far into the beating when one of them produced a gun.. I couldn't remember exactly what happened after that but the next time I woke up I was in agonizing pain and then the one after I was different. I didn't care about the details, I was just glad I was still alive - you get what I mean.

As was my usual ritual on nice cloudy days, I met a few of my more 'human' friends and played a little bit of basketball. I played in just my jeans and sneakers and left my shirt laying on a bench on the other end of the court. The game was just finishing when I saw Brendan and Blake heading over to me with a very beautiful woman.. who I knew instantly was a vampire. I was young, not stupid. I gave them a wave and bounced the basketball before tucking it under my arms and heading over to them.

"What brings you out here?"

Yesterday had been one of the most interesting and terrifying first days of school that I'd ever had. Not only was I really attracted to a girl that I actually found pleasing on the eyes and had a good personality, but I wanted to eat her. It was something that only a vampire could get away with saying. It was so bad though that we'd had to go out the night before with Gavin and find some more food just so we could make it through today.

I managed to say hi to Ray again and managed to not almost rip the table in half. I still sat as far away from her as possible but it wasn't quite as mind numbing, knock-you-off-your-seat feeling as I'd had yesterday. It was still there of course but now that I was expecting it I handled it better. I wondered if I'd ever be able to fully have a conversation with her without staring at her neck the entire time.. like I had last night.

Today after class we had asked Sophia if she wanted to meet another one of our 'family' members. Gavin had listened to what happened to us yesterday in school and he decided to enroll himself too but he would be joining us next week instead of this one. It wasn't because he wanted to see what all the fuss was about but it was a way to pay us back for all that we'd done for him - he was going to make sure we controlled ourselves.

So us three vampires headed out to the basketball court and I snorted when I saw Gavin in all his shirtlessness walking towards us, asking what we were doing out here as if he didn't already know. Not only had we told him about Sophia, but he could see into the future when he wanted to. He knew why we were here.

"Brought you a present." I said in a joking way and then nodded my head to Sophia. "The one we told you about last night. Sophia, this is our youngest brother Gavin. He's going to be joining us next week. We thought you'd want the heads up."

Oh it just figured...Bri and I seemed to be having the weirdest luck and neither of us could figure out if it was good or bad. First there was the fact that we'd actually become friends..that was good as long as I didn't get shipped away. Then, we both got lost in town and ran into each other...that had seemed good. But then we'd been attacked by those guys...definitely bad. We got rescued by Blake and Bren..the rescue was good, but not sure if it was good to be rescued by them. That was all just yesterday.

Now there was today and the luck just seemed to keep toying with us. Blake had managed to be a little friendlier with me today...good..but still sat as far away from me as he could get like I smelled bad or something...bad.. Bren had been the same way with Bri. We'd gotten through the school day alright though and thought we'd give the whole friendship thing a go and head to the movies together after classes. The movie had been great and now we were on our way home.

That's when Bri's evil car broke down. I called for a tow truck and then we got out and went to sit down on the sidewalk to wait. That's when I realized our car had broken down in front of a basketball court. I glanced behind me and saw Blake, Bren, Sophia (twinge of discomfort there), and some guy I didn't recognize.

"Well...isn't that our luck?" I snorted to Bri under my breath slightly "Why do bad things have to keep happening to us in front of them?" I sighed

I kept my back to the court and just hoped they wouldn't notice us. After all, it wasn't like I knew they could smell and hear (and in Sophia's case..feel) us from over here.

Like Blake, I'd prepared myself for today. Now that I knew what sort of effect Bri had on me, I braced myself for it and managed to get through the day without breaking anything. I'd even managed to smile and say hi to her. It was the least I could do really after what had happened in town yesterday.

The thought of Gavin joining us at school next week was an amusing one. I couldn't help but wonder how he was going to react to all the hormonal teenagers that would try to win his attention. They'd tried it with me and Blake last year and learned we were a hopeless cause so they left us alone this year. Gavin would be fresh meat to these girls when he arrived.

I made my way onto the court with Blake and Sophia and chuckled at Gavin.

"Playing dumb doesn't suit you, little brother" I teased him

I nodded when Blake introduced them, but suddenly froze when I caught the unexpected whiff of Bri's tempting scent and Ray's cinnamon one coming closer. I twitched slightly as I tried not to go running over to her and suck on the beautiful, tantilizing neck of hers when I saw her get out of the car.

"Crap" I said under my breath "The buffet is here"

Part of me was enjoying being able to speak normal to someone else for a change. Two others actually. Blake still had his reservations about me, I could feel them on the off chance he didn’t realize I was around. Brendan seemed alright with me being around and when they offered to take me to meet some of their other family members I was partly surprised how easily I agreed to it. Apparently I was up for a little change in my life.

I followed along side Blake and Bren as they lead the way to the basketball court where we would be meeting their other brother. That was all they had told me about him. Once the court was within my sights I glanced around at the players. I quickly identified Blake and Bren’s brother. It was obvious he was playing now because of the clouds. Half naked basketball would not go over so well if he was glistening in the sun. Though the thought did bring a smirk to my face.

“I’m the present? Well don’t I feel flattered.” I took a mere millisecond glance over Gavin before nodding to him. “Pleasure meeting you Gavin.” My eyes turned to Blake for a moment. “Does that mean we get to be one big happy vampire family at school? Cause that would be delightful.”

With a role of my eyes I glanced at Brendan just in time to watch his body tighten. I could feel the cravings from him and just as soon followed Blake. Wonderful, the humans were here. My own jaw tightened as the venom filled my mouth and a growl rippled through my lips. I didn’t need to look over my shoulder to see Rayanne and Bri to know it was them. Blake and Bren’s reactions were extremely unique to these two girls.

“Well Gavin, it seems that you will be able to see first hand what they will be going through this entire year at school.”

I couldn't believe our luck. I slammed my fist against the steering wheel of my car. It was so rusty and nearly falling apart that I thought I heard it give a rusty squeal beneath me and the steering wheel shuddered. I sighed and grabbed my wallet out of my purse and got out of the car. I was too wrapped up in my shitty car to notice that anyone else was out here, let alone Brendan. I stuffed my small, moneyless wallet into the front pocket of the red hoodie I was wearing. I wasn't exactly known for my fashion sense which was probably why no one ever noticed me, so I was wearing only my hoodie and a worn pair of light blue jeans.

"What?" I asked curiously and looked over at the basketball court. I spotted Brendan right away and gave a disappointed sigh. He had tried to be nice today but it made me feel like he felt sorry for me or something. Being around Sophia made me feel completely insignificant and.. my eyes traveled to the new guy and over his chest. Well, I couldn't argue with that. He was made more perfect by the fact that he had the same strange skin as the others did, making him even more gorgeous than a normal person.

"Well come on, we need to find somewhere to sit for now." I said as I grabbed Ray's wrist and started to walk with her closer to the court. I didn't want to be near these people but I didn't want to stand by the car and look like an even bigger loser than I was.

"Don't want to be a part of the family then?"

I asked with a smile and looked over Sophia. She was gorgeous I couldn't deny but she seemed a little snobby to me. While we were better than humans, I had to admit myself, I still didn't think that gave any good reason to act harsh with your own kind. But whatever, I honestly didn't care. I just found it strange that Sophia didn't seem to want any part of the family we had. Including my human age, I was only in my late fifties so there were things that I didn't understand of course, but I knew how nice it was being a part of a group. People who were familiar. I honestly hated being alone.

"Are you kidding?" I looked at Bren and joked with a laugh. "Acting stupid is what I'm good at."

I smirked at him. I was the one who joked and had a good laugh. Bren, Blake and the rest of them were far too serious so I was the one who had to lighten them up. They were better when we were at home versus in public like this but someone had to do the job out here.

"So what's your story, why are you here?"

I asked as I looked at Sophia and then noticed the smell of vanilla and cinnamon. I looked over Sophia's shoulder as my mouth watered and I spotted the two girls getting out of the car. Blake and Bren stiffening gave me an idea of who it was.. especially after Bren's comment.

"That's them?" I asked curiously and peeked over Sophia's shoulder again. "They don't look very special to me." I gave a shrug. I was one of them who hadn't noticed anything special in a human either.

"Nah, she's too good for us."

I snorted slightly. I had a lot less of a problem with Sophia than she actually thought. It wasn't that I didn't like or approve of her, it was just that she was showing such resistance to being with us. I knew well enough that some vampires preferred to be alone but they usually didn't attend school of all things, when they wanted to be alone.

"Smart ass."

I snorted and laughed a little at Gavin and then stiffened when I smelled Ray. I swore I could feel her even before I smelled her, it was strange. I turned my head slightly to look back at Ray. I managed to give her a small smirk before looking back at Gavin to give him a nod.

"That would be her." I sniffed the air and snorted. "Smells like something isn't working right in the car." I glanced at Bren. "I don't think they're going anywhere for awhile."

I sighed when Gavin said that he didn't think there was anything special about the girls. I didn't think there was with Bri but I knew how Brendan felt about her because I did with Ray. It was difficult to explain and Gavin wouldn't have even tried to understand. He just wanted us to stay away from the two human girls.

I started to protest, but realized it was hopeless when Bri grabbed my wrist and hauled me to my feet. I sighed and walked with her toward the court. So much for not getting noticed. Blake had just smirked at me, Brendan looked tense, and Sophia didn't look very happy for us to be here; I felt like we were intruding on something. So, I kept my eyes down and tried to avoid eye contact with anyone as Bri dragged me along with her.

"Next time, let's take my car" I muttered to her

We made it over to a small bench and sat down. I pulled my feet up onto the bench in front of me so that my knees were up to my chest and wrapped my arms around my legs.

"I feel like we interrupted a secret society meeting or something" I told Bri quietlyy

I chuckled when Gavin said he was good at playing dumb "Yeah, but you do it so often sometimes I wonder if you're playing" I snickered

I let out a small sigh when Blake said the girls were going to be here for a while. I looked at them again as they came closer to try and find someplace to sit, I assumed. I offered Bri a small smile, but that was about all I could manage. I didn't even have to try to smile at Ray; she was staring at the ground looking like a beaten puppy or something while she walked.

"Seriously?" I asked Gavin when he said he didn't notice anything special "So...we're the only ones that smell it then? Well..I smell it with Bri and Blake with Ray, but still...that's odd." I frowned

“Yes too good for your family.”

I laughed before deciding to explain a bit further. I wasn’t sure why, probably because I knew I’d be around these three for awhile. Either way part of me didn’t want them to hate me completely. Everyone at the school already assumed that I was part of Brendan and Blake’s “group” so to speak. Even after just two days of school, I was already being assumed to be part of a group. That wasn’t something I was use to.

“It’s just complicated. I’ve been alone for 90 years, you get use to it.”

My voice had become slightly more silent as I become aware that the two human girls were starting to walk closer to us. They weren’t near enough to hear too clearly if I had been speaking at a normal volume, but that didn’t mean I was willing to risk it. I kept my eyes focused on Gavin as I spoke, I didn’t need to see the others to know what they were going through at the moment.

“I needed a new place to live for the time being. I just bought a house in Raventree Hollow, then got myself caught up in a lie that lead me to the academy.” I shrugged. “What about you? What brought you to the Varner family?”

As Blake and Brendan started to gain control of their emotions I felt the muscles in my body began to relax slightly. With that, the burning in the back of my throat became so much easier for me to handle. My head turned to watch the two girls for a moment. Clenching my hands in fists I took a deep breath, letting the scent of the two girls fill my lungs. The craving was there, I would have loved to leap to their throats and devour them, but that was the same with every human.

“They are sweet, but nothing extra special to me either. So I believe the correct answer is yes, you two are the only ones.”

"Okay." I laughed a little and was curious about Ray's reaction to everyone.. to hang her head and just walk with me without making eye contact with anyone. I thought, for some reason, that she would have had a little more confidence than me but apparently not. It made me giggle slightly because she wasn't anywhere near a trouble maker like I had stereo-typed her as at first.

"We're not interrupting anything." I shrugged at her and sat down on the bench with her. I wasn't confident either but I was a little more comfortable out here at least. I was use to being ignored and I didn't expect any attention from anyone so it didn't break my heart that no one was going to pay attention to me. So I gave Brendan a small smile back and huddled up next to Ray because with the cloud cover and the small mist of rain that was starting to fall, it was pretty chilly out here.

"Oh fuck off, Bren." I chuckled at him. "I'm not stupid."

My eyebrows both rose when Sophia said that she was too good for our family. I was trying desperately to hold on to any piece of me that would have liked or respected her but the more she acted like she was better than us, the less chance I had of keeping that little respect. Considering none of us had done or said anything to her here I didn't see why she was acting this way. We were vampires, not uncivilized.

"You really think so?"

I asked and forced the glare out of my eyes, then glanced between Bren and Blake for a moment before looking back at Sophia to hear her explanation. I could understand coming here because you'd have to but she still could have just disappeared to somewhere else. It wasn't like she would be found if she didn't want to.

"Heather and Graham were alone for two hundred years and more and they didn't have a problem with our family."

I shrugged and chuckled when she asked how I'd come into the family. I shot Blake and Bren a questioning look because I wasn't sure if they wanted me to tell them just how I'd joined. Blake nodded and I looked back at Sophia.

"I was attacked and nearly killed.. Bren and Blake turned me and I've been with them since."

I nodded to Bren, a serious look now on my face. I could understand finding a human beautiful and enjoying the view but I didn't understand this weird connection they had with them. It worried me.

"They smell like normal humans to me."

I ignored the conversation that was going on around me. I really wasn't interested in why Sophia thought she was better than us. I thought it was best I didn't hear the reason because I really didn't want to become upset with her. I wasn't use to all these human emotions and in the end I kind of preferred not to have them.

I instead busied myself with watching Ray. She looked like she was being shy and Bri was amusing herself by giggling at her. One look into her mind told me that it was me she was being shy of. She felt like she was intruding and there was still remnants from yesterday about her fears of me being interested in Sophia.. no.. when I dug deeper she actually thought that I was here with Sophia. The thought made me chuckle but her next thought, about me not liking her and my smirk being because I thought she was pathetic made me want to reassure her. It was a feeling that I had to push away.. but I did give her one last encouraging smile.

I nodded to Gavin when he gave me a look that was asking if he could tell Sophia how he'd come to be a vampire and with us, since they were both connected.

"Do you have any idea why they have this effect on us?" I asked suddenly as I looked at Sophia. "I've never experienced anything like this. It's beyond just hunger.. you know when you're really hungry and you're ravenous and starving? That's what this is like.. except it's only directed at one person."

I gave a tiny shiver and scooted closer to Bri so that my side was right against hers as the soft mist began to rain down on us. I wished I'd thought to wear a jacket instead of just a sweater.

"So, I never thought to ask, but do you have any siblings or anything? Cousins? Anything like that. Sorry, families make me curious" I smiled at Bri, forcing myself out of the mood that was as cloudy as the weather.

I glanced over at the group in time to see Blake give me a rather more encouraging smile this time. That definitely cheered me up and I gave him a smile in return.

"Sometimes," I confided in Bri "when I was younger, I used to sit and try to imagine what my parents would have been like and what sort of family it would have been if they'd kept me"

I snickered and reached over to pinch Gavin's cheek when he explained.

"He was just too cute to let die" I laughed as he batted my hand away.

I sighed when Sophia and Gavin said the girls just smelled normal to them.

"It's really hard to explain. There's Bri's normal scent and then there's this other smell underneath it that conjures up urges to taste her like I haven't had since I was a newborn vamp" I attempted to explain anyway "I don't understand it"

“No I don’t really think so.”

My head titled to the side for a moment as I watched Gavin. I could feel the dislike for me that emanated off of him. The corner of my lips twitched downward. I had been joking. I had no reason to think I was better than anyone, well occasionally humans. The fact I actually wanted to explain I had no intent to do that confused me. Something about these feelings toward me that weren’t all that great was actually making me upset.

“I was just joking, I didn’t intend to upset you or anything. I have nothing against the families that are sometimes formed. It just for me, I don’t really see that happening. As a human I was a very distrustful person, not exactly a personality trait I can change now.” I paused for a moment as my eyebrow rose slightly. “And why am I telling you this?”

I dragged my eyes away from Gavin for a moment to examine the others. Even when I ran into other vampires I never spoke to them that often, at least never about my life. Apparently opening up was part of regular socialization. I’d need to work on that. Glancing around I could feel Rayanne’s sudden boost in happiness, Bri’s contentment (it was the best word I could think of), and Blake and Brendan’s confusion. Nothing to out of the ordinary it seemed.

The urge to comment on Brendan’s “reason” for changing Gavin was almost too hard to hold in. He already wasn’t too fond of me it seemed, I didn’t want to just throw in a comment about saying it was a good choice of Blake and Brendan to make him dislike me anymore. Instead I just nodded to his reasoning, near death seemed like a better reason to be changed than mine. Blake’s sudden attention toward me caused me to turn my head to face him. I just shrugged.

“I’ve never experienced it before either. You aren’t just feeling the hunger there are more underlining feels. You want her in everywhere possible.” I glanced at Brendan. “You both do. I don’t understand it either. But you two can make me feel it sometimes, I probably wouldn’t have the will power not to attack if I was experiencing it all first hand.”

"No siblings and no cousins. My parents were both the only kids. Go figure, huh?" I chuckled. "I knew my grandparents on my mother's side but they died when I was a kid. I really don't have any family besides my parents and my dad lives a few hours away."

I was trying to talk and keep Ray busy because she seemed upset that, I dunno, maybe because Blake wasn't paying attention to her? I couldn't blame her really. Every girl wanted to compete and be the sparkle of a guy's eye - especially the guy she was attracted to. I'd learned a long time ago that the chances of that actually happening were very slim, which made my attraction to Brendan simple.. it was only attraction and nothing else. Someone like him would never give me the time of day.

"But what if it wouldn't have been? Do you know anything about your real parents?" I smiled. "I like to think that everything happens for a reason. You've been brought up as well as any of us and you've been bounced around." I shrugged. "Family doesn't matter as much as you'd think."

I yelped and swiped Brendan's hand away when he reached over and pinched my cheek. If we'd have been away from the human girls I would have snarled at him, in a playful way, and probably tackled him. Brendan was the one that I goofed around with.

"Now we know you're secretly gay."

I snorted at him and looked at Sophia. I gave her a smile when she said that she'd been joking and I reached out and moved a lock of hair off her face. She didn't need it at all, she was gorgeous even with her hair in her face but she looked like she thought I didn't like her or something.

"You haven't upset me." I smiled. "But I'm curious why you're so distrustful? Especially with your own kind."

I took my hand away from her and waved to Blake and Brendan.

"We don't have any intention of harming you in any way."

I glanced at Bren and Blake again and then over at the two human girls. They both secretly looked like they wanted my brothers to come over and talk to them but neither were admitted it not even to themselves. One quick look into the future told me that Blake was actually going to go over there and I placed a hand on his arm.

"Don't. It's not a good idea to get messed up with them."

One glance into Ray's mind told me that she was curious about.. families? I glanced around at mine that I was with right now and gave a tiny chuckle. Apparently the girls had put two and two together for the family thing, and threw Gavin in there too because he had the same skin as us. It made sense though because we were hanging in a group.

"I'm pretty curious too, about why you're so distrustful." I said as I looked over at Sophia. I think you secretly like our company." I told her with a smirk. "That's why you're telling us."

As Brendan and Gavin joked around with each other, I took a quick peek into Sophia's mind and chuckled when I saw that she had wanted to say that us saving Gavin had been a good choice. I gave her a knowing smirk without outing her and then turned to look back at Ray again. I was so tempted to go over there. I took a few moments to think things through and then made a move to walk over to her when Gavin stopped me.

I turned to him and rose an eyebrow. "Why isn't it a good idea? She's just a human.. what trouble could she possibly cause?"

"What was it like to have grandparents? Do you remember?" I asked her curiously.

The twinge of sadness that Bri was picking up on from me had nothing to do with Blake not giving me attention. I had this tendency to get a bit broody around families. It was a case of what I'd always wanted but never had. But this time, i actually had someone I could ask about it.

"No, I don't know anything about my parents. Just that I was abandoned when I was around five" I shrugged and sighed slightly "I just never could help wondering about them at first. I stopped when I turned around 13 though. Just decided it wasn't worth the heart ache."

I ran a hand through my hair, which was slightly damp now from the light drizzle, and then looked at her again.

"Everything happens for a reason? That's a nice philosophy." I smiled "I might have to try adopting it" I chuckled

I saw movement and glanced over at the group again. I saw Blake take a step like he was going to come over here, but the other guy..his brother I assumed..stopped him. I rose an eyebrow at them and then turned my attention back to Bri.

"So how'd you get that smart?" I giggled

I chuckled at Sophia's explaination. "Blake here is the embodiment of distrust" I patted his shoulder playfully "but even he secretly likes being a part of our little family" I snickered "Distrust goes away with time around the right people." I shrugged

I snorted at Gavin and playfully punched him on the arm, though I held back and did it like a human since the girls were around. "I'm so not gay and you know it. I meant cute like a puppy" I snickered "albeit a slightly rabid one"

I nodded to Sophia "That's a good way of putting it..wanting her in every way. It's weird. I've never felt anything like it and yeah, I haven't had something test my self control like this in a long long time"

I watched as Blake started to head toward the girls and Gavin stopped him. I rose an eyebrow and glanced at the girls in concern.

"He's not gonna snap and bite her is he?" I asked Gavin "Cus other than that..I don't really see how she'd be trouble"

The joking between Gavin and Bren made my smile. Joking around wasn’t exactly something I got to experience first hand. When I was around humans the males at first wanted me then realized I wasn’t interested and just lusted for me in silence. The girls were just jealous. I didn’t make “friends” so I never got to joke around. I wasn’t partaking in it really, but I was still enjoying it. My eyes followed Gavin’s hand as he moved the lock of my hair out of my face. I looked up to lock eyes with him.

“We’re frozen in time basically; suck just as we were when we were human. I was distrustful of everyone when I was human. When I changed that little quirk of mine remained. When everyone is just using you, it’s hard to trust anyone.”

I didn’t want to go into detail, but I was getting to the verge of saying more than I wanted. Actually I already had said more than I wanted to, but at least there were still aspects of my long lived life that would remain a secret. I nodded to Gavin, without responding to his last comment toward me. I didn’t think they would harm me, if that was the case they could have done it a long time ago. A smirk grew on my face as I turned to face Blake.

“Or I could just not be use to company in general.” I nodded to Bren. “The right people could change just about everything.”

The smirk turned into a smile. I suppose part of me could easily get use to these three as company. The true issue was if I wanted that to be the case. I doubted I’d figure out for sure anytime soon.

“Sometimes testing your self control isn’t always the best idea. Sometimes it’s just better to leave it be.”

With a shrugged I turned to see Gavin stop Blake from going to talk to the girls. I could see that him going would probably be a bad idea. With strong cravings like that, it wasn’t a smart to tempt fate. I did however get the impression Gavin knew a bit more than I was aware of.

"Snapping necks and biting is pretty much the worst we can do. Specially in an open place like that. I don't wanna move just yet."

"No, not really." I shrugged. "They lived in Wisconsin so I didn't see them that much. They mostly just sent birthday cards and presents.. came up for Christmas once in awhile or we went down there for the summer. I didn't know them well enough, you know?"

I knew I wasn't being very helpful with the questions that Ray wanted to know. I felt like I wasn't the right friend for her, that she needed someone who knew what a family was like. Even though maybe it was best she didn't get a taste of what she'd been missing. That would have most likely made things worse.

"Are you going to look for them when you're on your own then? Have you ever thought about that?"

I snorted at Ray when she turned around and asked how I'd gotten so smart. I didn't know why people always thought it was such a stretch for me to be smart. Even though I knew Ray was only joking.

"Lots and lots of practice."

I had noticed that Brendan wasn't paying attention to me at all, he was caught up in the conversation that his brothers and Sophia were having so I was trying to do the same; completely ignore him in return. It wasn't to get even or anything but it was making things so much easier. My brain kept trying to skip back to last night when he'd had his hand on my cheek and how that had made me feel.. and to see him over there ignoring me kind of dashed what little hope I'd had of us at least being friends.

I smiled. "Those quirks can be changed though. Takes a lot of work but it can be done."

Sophia might not have thought so, but I did like her. I thought she was pretty and she was smart. Fiesty and stubborn, I liked it. She was something different which I kind of needed. I loved Brendan and Blake but it would be nice to see a female face that wasn't part of the family.

"No he's not going to harm her as far as I can see." I looked at Blake and frowned. "But it's not a good idea.. not today."

I glanced around for a minute and then nodded to the road and my car that sat there.

"I think it's a good idea to leave though. Trust me?" I smiled when Blake said yes and I looked over at Sophia. "I'm sorry we have to rush off like this but it's.. a brother thing."

I snorted at how lame that sounded, but how true it was at the same time. I needed to talk to these two about their troubles they'd been having.

"But it was nice meeting you."

I leaned over and gave her a friendly kiss on her cheek before pulling Blake by his arm down to my car.

Lp