Ultimate Game Changer

  ***

  Since we packed up and drove straight through to Sacramento, we made great time and were able to check into a hotel by one in the morning.

  Cade asked Emerson if she was alright for him to stay with Breigh and she was more than taken aback. Although they are twins, and I know he loves her more than anything, he rarely takes anyone else’s feelings into consideration. I know it’s completely hypocritical what he is doing with Breigh and how he won’t let me anywhere near Emerson, but he’s just a concerned sibling.

  The problem is I’m too scared to try anything now. I know Emerson thinks tonight is the night, but it can’t be. Not when Cade will literally break me in half for lying to him or coming near her.

  Somehow though, Cade makes sure to get an extra room for me to stay in so Emerson can be alone. This takes the pressure off me. Maybe now I can lock myself inside my room and pretend like I dozed off when she comes looking for me.

  Once secure inside my room, I turn off all the lights, turn on the tv with the volume low, and lock the deadbolt. I’m not exactly tired, but this will hopefully get the point across to Emerson.

  Less than ten minutes later, there is a knock on my door. Although I am pretending to be asleep, I tiptoe to the door and glance out the peephole. It’s Emerson. She’s waiting for me to open it up and she keeps looking up toward the top of the door, expecting something to happen. My phone begins going off loudly, something I didn’t anticipate, and the screen lights up with Emerson’s name across the top.

  Dammit.

  I lunge for my phone to turn off the ringer, but then I think better of it. If I silence it, she will know I’m awake. Instead, I let it ring the five or six times before it goes to voicemail. Eventually, I hear the footsteps back away from the door. I feel bad; I know how much Emerson is looking forward to this, and I don’t blame her. Being a virgin at twenty-two? I sure as hell couldn’t do it. Shit, I lost my virginity at thirteen and never looked back.

  I know it’s not going to be easy getting Emerson off of the idea, but I think the only way this will work is if she thinks I’m over it. Unfortunately for me, that means I’m going to have to lie convincingly, and potentially hurt her feelings. I’m not exactly looking forward to it. No one likes to see a girl cry.

  The only way I am going to make it through the next couple of stops is alcohol and a lot of no strings attached sex. Here’s to hoping I don’t hurt Emerson more than is absolutely necessary.

  Chapter Seventeen:

  Emerson

  I’m not sure I know what happened last night. After we had checked into our rooms at the hotel, I made my way to Braxton’s room. It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes after check-in, yet, he didn’t answer. I waited a few more moments hoping he was just delayed, but nothing. So as soon as I woke up this morning, I hurriedly showered and then ran over to his room again looking for him.

  Once again, he doesn’t answer the door for me, so I am starting to worry about what Cade said to him. It could have been anything last night, but whatever it was has had Braxton acting differently ever since. Because I can’t seem to locate him, I’m starting to worry that all of our encounters and attraction to one another has been in my head. Why else would he go MIA on me when he knew he was getting laid?

  I don’t find Braxton again until sound check. He’s onstage, so I can’t really go up to him and talk about what happened. That doesn’t stop me from standing in the back of the room with my arms crossed in front of me. Breigh shows up shortly after, from who knows where.

  “Hey,” she says as she stands beside me.

  “Hi,” I reply, acknowledging her. “How was your night?” I’m not sure I want to know, but she is still my best friend.

  She raises her eyebrows surprised. “It was really good. Look, I’m not naïve enough to think that he’s not going to be attracted to other girls, but I’ve never felt this way before about anyone.”

  I sigh. There is nothing more in the world I want than her happiness; she deserves it. “If he hurts you, I’m not holding back,” I warn her.

  She laughs, nudging me in the shoulder. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

  The band finishes playing through two songs and tuning before deciding they are good. Cade jumps off the stage, heading straight for us. “What time is your flight tonight?” he addresses Breigh.

  “12:15, why?”

  He rubs the back of his hand across his forehead. “That means you have to get there around 10:30.”

  She nods. “I can take an Uber.”

  Cade looks distressed, rubbing his hand across his face. “Or I could take you.”

  “What time do you guys play?” she asks with a concerned look.

  Cade scrunches up his nose, thinking. “We go on around 8:30.”

  “That’s cutting it close, don’t you think?” I feel like she addresses the question to me.

  I nod. “Yeah, I can take you and then bring the van back.”

  Cade shakes his head back and forth. “No. I’ll take you.”

  That settles it. Even though we are only minutes apart, if Cade wants something, he gets it. No questions asked.

  “Fine,” I give in and then my eyes dart around the room, nearly forgetting that I had come here with the intention of confronting Braxton.

  I don’t see him at first, so I shift my attention back to my brother and best friend. “Well, we only have a little time left together. What should we do?”

  Cade kisses Breigh on the top of her head before whispering something in her ear and walking off. I eye her up and down suspiciously. “What was that?”

  She blushes, barely able to contain her excitement. “He just told me to spend some time with you before it’s too late. Margaritas?”

  I glance back at my brother surprised. He rarely ever puts anyone’s needs before himself. Breigh is doing something to him, and it isn’t entirely bad.

  I loop my arm with my best friend’s. “I thought I might never get you back from his claws.”

  She giggles. “Oh, whatever.”

  ***

  Breigh is gone, and I’m sad. I had such a good time with her here, even though I would have loved to spend more time with her.

  The whole Cade and Breigh thing is so new and foreign to me, I’m still having trouble accepting it. I want nothing more in the world than for Cade to fall for Breigh and give her the fairytale love she’s always wished for, but I know with him being a musician it’s hard to divert the female attention. I don’t blame him.

  I didn’t get a chance to speak with Braxton prior to their set, and before we had to pack up and get back on the road to Oregon. It’s almost a ten-hour drive from Sacramento to Portland, so luckily we get a day off to recoup and not race all the way there. We decide to stop in Ashland, right after the border and get some motel rooms.

  It’s nearing five in the morning when we check into our rooms, and I try once more to figure out what is going on with Braxton. He’s barely looked at me since we left California, and besides two words in passing, he’s acting as if I don’t exist. It hurts.

  Geo is the one who got the other individual room apart from me so sneaking over to try to speak with Braxton right now will only throw up red flags with Cade. I switch up my approach and text him instead.

  Hey. I write simply.

  Anxiously waiting for his response, I light up the screen of my phone every few seconds hoping to see a reply.

  Fifteen minutes later, my phone finally buzzes from the nightstand beside the bed.

  Hi.

  That’s it? That’s all he is going to say to me? I feel my blood boiling.

  So you’ve been hard to pin down the past couple of days. As soon as I hit send, I regret it. It’s not like we’re dating.

  His response comes a lot sooner than his first text. Yeah, sorry, been busy.

  Why does it feel like you’ve been avoiding me? Did I miss something? I hate feeling stupid.

  There is a long pause before I g
et a reply. By the time my phone buzzes, I’m pacing back and forth across the room like a crazy person.

  No, you’re good. His answer is short, simple, to the point, and vague as fuck.

  Come over. I can’t explain it, it just happens.

  Actually, I’m about to go to bed. You should too. We have another long drive tomorrow.

  Avoiding. He’s definitely avoiding me. The thought crushes me. I don’t know what I’ve done or what has changed, but Braxton is acting cold again and I don’t like it.

  Ok. I type as if I couldn’t care less. See ya tomorrow.

  It’s obvious to me that something has changed and Braxton will more than likely not be taking my virginity. The thought both upsets and frustrates me. It’s like I can’t get a guy to come near me with a ten-foot pole. When I get home, I need to distance myself from my overprotective brother. I’m tired of being alone due to his antics. Hell, if I really want to push the envelope, I’ll find someone to make out with tomorrow at their Portland show. It’s about time I start living life to the fullest.

  Chapter Eighteen:

  Braxton

  “Dude! Dude! Wake the fuck up!” Cade’s voice booms in my eardrums. I feel movement on the bed, but I’m groggy. I blink my eyes a few times in an attempt to focus them.

  Cade is standing above me, his feet on both sides of my body, glaring down at me.

  “What the fuck, man?” I groan, rolling over and closing my eyes. I feel him jump off my bed, making a loud noise when he hits the ground.

  “Get up, Brax; we only have a few more chances to pull the prank of a lifetime. We need to get planning.” I can hear Cade rubbing his palms together excitedly.

  Angrily throwing the covers off my body, I manage to roll out of bed. I yawn and stretch before getting up and heading to the bathroom to piss. Once I’m finished, I emerge ready to plot and plan.

  “What if we got a bunch of plastic cups and filled them with water and put them outside of her motel door spelling her name?” I offer up. “She wouldn’t be able to get out unless she knocked them all over or tried to walk across them.”

  Cade grins. “Funny, but I don’t think the motel staff would be amused. Plus, we have to check out of here in a couple of hours. I need something that preferably won’t take a lot of planning time or cost us extra money in fees.”

  A thought pops into my head. “She probably hasn’t showered yet…”

  “Disgusting, bro, why would that thought even pop into your head?” Cade asks, shrugging it off.

  “Because,” my eyes light up as the idea filters through my head, “we could flour bomb her.”

  Cade grins back at me. “Now that would be hilarious if it were one of us, but being that it’s my sister and all, I have no want or need to see her shower.”

  I sigh. “I don’t know, man. Maybe we should just call a truce for the rest of the time here and pick it up when we get home.”

  Cade looks at me like I just told him he didn’t get a promotion at work. “What fun is that? No. We have a few days left; we need to do something!”

  A strange odor begins permeating the motel room we are in, and Cade and I exchange grossed out expressions. “What the fuck is that smell?” I ask, covering my nose and mouth.

  “I don’t know. Where is it coming from?” Cade gags, his eyes scanning the room.

  He notices the vent in the ceiling and instantly stands on the bed so he can reach it with his hand. He lifts his hand up to feel if any air is moving and then he puts his nose up to it, sniffing.

  Almost instantly, he jumps from the bed, grabbing his stomach, and gagging some more. “It smells like rotten eggs.”

  I run for the door of our room, opening it quickly, trying to air out the filthy stench. As soon as the door widens, I notice Emerson standing on the other side, smiling and leaning on the frame. “Did you have something to do with this?” I ask, plugging my nose.

  Emerson giggles with a wide smile. “Happy Prank Wars.” And then she skips off merrily leaving us to deal with the nasty smell.

  “What the hell was that?” Cade asks.

  “It was your sister.”

  “What did she want?” He takes a few steps toward me.

  “She wanted to let us know that it’s on, this was her prank,” I answer.

  Cade’s eyes widen, and then he begins laughing manically. It takes him a few moments to compose himself after his outburst. “Oh, my,” he wipes fake tears from the corners of his eyes, “she’s good. We can’t let her win.” He punches me in the arm. “You better come up with the prank to end all pranks!”

  I nod. “Already thinking about it.”

  Cade laughs again. “We can’t let her get away with this.”

  Emerson – 1. Cade & Me – 0. “Oh, believe me, I don’t intend to.”

  ***

  When Emerson pulled that prank on us, it helped take the pressure off me. She wasn’t so focused on the fact that I was avoiding her if she was planning such an elaborate stunt, knowing that helped.

  Cade kept me busy the following day talking through a million different ideas, none of which really spoke to either of us. We just wanted to go out with a bang, and that meant we could spare no expense.

  By the time we need to sound check for the Portland show, we still don’t have a solid plan for getting her back, and I’m worried we are running out of time. Oddly enough, Emerson is nowhere to be found. I haven’t seen her since we had to check out. She took off on her own to find something to eat for lunch, and the rest of us wanted to get our equipment to the venue first.

  It’s been a few hours since then, and she still has not made it to the venue. I try not to let it get to me, seeing as I’m the one who has been pushing her away, but I can’t help how I feel.

  After we are finished doing our run through, Cade approaches me. “Can you call Emerson and find out where she is?”

  I’m not exactly sure why he doesn’t pull out his phone and do it himself, but I don’t argue with him. Dialing her number, I hold the phone up to my ear anxiously. She doesn’t answer, so I hang up and text her instead.

  Hey, where are you? Cade is looking for you.

  I glance back at Cade. “She didn’t answer, so I texted her. What do you want to do?”

  Cade shrugs. “I’m starving, man. I want to get some food.”

  I nod. I can relate. I’m always hungry. I think there is always room for more food. “Then let’s go get something to eat. Let me tell the guys.”

  I round up the band and surprisingly, all of them want to tag along. It’s a rarity, but I love when we all get a chance to hang out apart from the music. It’s hard to get us all in the same place at the same time unless it’s a scheduled rehearsal or tour. I love these guys though, so I really enjoy any time we get to spend together.

  ***

  We are about a half an hour away from starting when Emerson comes strolling into the venue with a slightly familiar looking guy. He’s broad, tall, and muscly, and appears to be around our age with dark hair and a nicely trimmed mustache and beard combo. I don’t recognize him although his face seems familiar, so I wonder if Cade has ever met him before. They head straight to the bar, ignoring everything else around them.

  My eyes search for Cade, wondering how he is going to react to this nice surprise. I can’t locate him, and after a while, I assume he’s outside at the van with Spencer and Red. My eyes shift back to Emerson and her mystery man. She’s leaning into him as she speaks almost as if she feels the need to whisper. I feel a pang of jealousy at the thought of Emerson flirting with someone else. Wasn’t she just begging me to take her virginity? After a few beats of watching the two of them together, I saunter over fully intending to make my presence known.

  “Hey,” I greet Emerson, not even bothering to give this mystery guy the satisfaction of acknowledging him.

  Emerson spins around and stares back at me, seeming a little thrown off guard. “Oh, hey, Brax.” Giving me a small head nod, she proceeds to
shift her attention away from me again.

  The stranger is still eyeing me up and down, trying to figure out if I am a threat or not. “Hey, man, I’m Braxton,” I introduce myself, stepping away from Emerson and extending my hand out for him to shake.

  He looks at my hand like it is poison before slowly shaking it. “Robert.” He is cold and unwelcoming, and I’m not sure what Emerson sees in him.

  “So, what do you two lovebirds have planned for tonight?” I ask, only angering Emerson more. She turns around, so she is fully facing me.

  “I don’t know,” she says nonchalantly before rubbing her fingers across Robert’s shirt collar. “I think we are just going to play it by ear.”