Chapter 67 - 67 Hugs

I leave my work and head to Alyssa's house to go visit with my brother. I wanted to talk to him about what happened this weekend and how John Holcomb was in town again. I bite my lip at the way John looked at me. I shake my head before the heat starts to rise to my cheeks.

"I'm with Brian." I reprimand myself. Just because I have had a crush on John for years, doesn't give me an excuse to let that old sputtering flame for him, make me flustered. He's still good looking but in truth he's lacking compared to Brian.

That thought right there, fixes my thought processes on that particular area.

I groan, remembering after John left, how Brian's demeanor changed. He said he wasn't worried, but I don't believe that with how he's been. He's been quiet while we're together and not our normal comfortable quiet. No, he's been lost in thought, and not good ones. He has been tense and I've noticed the way he's been tossing and turning in his sleep.

Although the sex has been amazingly feral in nature....

The memory alone of last night is making my toes curl and my pussy spasm. A thrilling shiver runs through my body and I can't help the excited squeaky giggle that erupts. I should make sure I leave Alyssa's early enough to get home before Brian and surprise him, wearing something sexy. Maybe that will put his mind at ease?

When I arrive at Alyssa's, Amanda opens the door and waves me on in, a resigned look on her face. "Oh, good. You're here. Maybe you can talk to those two and calm them down." She sighs and rolls her eyes as she motions towards the back.

"Calm them down? What happened?" I ask, concerned, looking through the windows to see them over by the barn, obviously in a passionate discussion.

Amanda clicks her tongue and starts shaking her head, "Alyssa wants to change the last hurrah party into a simple wedding for them."

My jaw drops, "She wants to marry him?! Now?!" I turn to Amanda because she must be joking.

Amanda shrugs, "She wants to 'marry the love of her life while she can' is what she was spouting before he went outside and she followed. With how in love those two are, I don't see what the problem is, but then again, it's not my relationship so..." She tosses her hands up in the air, saying a silent, what can you do, before patting me on the shoulder. "Go get em tiger."

She walks off to her bedroom and shuts the door. I take a deep breath and steady my thoughts as I stroll out to the barn. As I get closer, I can hear my brother.

"...don't understand why, though! I'm dying! Do you want to be a widow, for crying out loud?!" David shouts, turning his wheel chair away from Alyssa, making him spot me.

"Sorry to interrupt. Everything alright here?" I ask while approaching.

Alyssa, who's wiping tears from her face with her hand, nods. "Yes. I'll leave you two to visit. I'll be taking care of some laundry inside." She rushes past us and David sighs, looking skyward.

"David, what's going on between you two right now?" I ask, leaning against the one of the posts that are part of free stall barn attached to the outside of the main barn.

David looks pissed, before I see the shake in his shoulders. I take a step towards him as he covers his face and breaks down. I hurry to him and drop to my knees in front of him.

"David?" I wrap my arms around my brother, letting him cry into my shoulder as he grips me for dear life.

"Why'd I have to get cancer, Sarina? Why does she want to marry me when I'm just going to die soon? I don't get it." He sobs into my shoulder, "It's not that I don't want to, but I'm dying. I have nothing to give her except some stock and my useless ass."

I squeeze him tightly back, stroking his head with my hand, "Come on, bubba. You know she loves you and you love her. Why not? At least you'll have this time to do what you wanted to do after college. Or at least what you planned on." I say, pulling back from him a bit to look into his eyes.

"She deserves better than just wearing her best dress and having someone come to officiate us. She deserves a real dress and decorations and music... and a husband who can dance with her. I can't even dance with her... Sarina..."

My brother is being tortured right now. He wants to give Alyssa these things but feels like he is incapable.

"David..." I start, "She doesn't care about that stuff. She just wants you."

David looks up at me, still in pain, "I know that, but she won't even have me for much longer, sissy." He breaks down again and begins coughing. I can't stop the tears that escape me now, as I rummage in my purse for a tissue for my brother to wipe his mouth off with.

He finishes coughing and looks worn out. "Can you push me back inside sis?"

"Of course." I get him back inside to his room and help him get into the bed. He thanks me and tells me he's tired, so I let him sleep and find Alyssa, crying in the laundry room.

"Hey." I stay in the doorway, not sure if she wants to speak to me.

She looks up from the garment she's been folding and gives me a strained, forced smile. "I know, I'm being selfish. I know it pains him because he's not going to be here.." Her voice breaks before she catches her breath, "But I just want to experience everything I can with him, before he goes that we can enjoy. I want the memories with him." She breaks down and I go to her and wrap her up in my arms as she begins to tremble in my arms as she cries. I feel another pair of arms encircle us and look to see Amanda teary eyed along with us.

After a few minutes, Alyssa pushes away from us. "Sorry, our little tiff has ruined your time to visit with him."

"You don't need to apologize for this. To be honest, I didn't plan on staying long today anyways. I'm having my own issues the past few days." I shrug, feeling like my problems were insignificant to the one she was experiencing with my brother.

"What's the matter? Is it still about Friday night?" Alyssa asks, curiously, as Amanda takes the basket full of clean folded towels to put away.

"Not really..." I start, not sure how to explain the situation. "Do you remember John Holcomb?"

She thinks about it for a minute, "Yeah... Didn't you have the biggest crush on him all through out high school?"

I nod, "Yes... He's also the one who bought my parents business from David after our parents died."

Alyssa, confused nods, "Okay... So what about him?"

I brace myself and say awkwardly, "He's back in town and wants to have lunch with me. In fact, he came by my house on Sunday to ask... and Brian answered the door. John gave him his I don't know you, so I don't care about you attitude and Brian wasn't happy about it."

"Okay...? I'm missing something here. What did you say to John?"

"I told him sure, that would be nice and made sure his number was still the same."

Alyssa's jaw drops, "You have his number?"

I scoff, "He's ordered watches and jewelry from my store before, so yes, at the store I do."

"Does Brian know that is where you have his number stored?" She asks.

Frowning, I shake my head. "No, I didn't mention it was at the store. I told him he'd been a client of mine, so I figured he would realize that."

Alyssa raises a brow, "I think I'm starting to see the problem. So what happened when he left?"

"I was stunned he stopped by the house and trying to think of why he wanted to have lunch together. But Brian.... he started acting, I don't know.... distant and I thought he was upset with me. So I asked him if he was mad at me. He said no, but that he felt disappointed in me with how I didn't introduce us, even after John was dismissive of his presence directly in front of me." I cross my arms and lean against the washer and sigh.

"Oh, bless your heart darlin...." Alyssa rolls her eyes, "What else happened?"

"Nothing, not really. He told me I could have lunch with who ever I wanted, just don't let them be disrespectful of him and make sure I draw my line in the sand if he make any passes at me. I thought that was that, that we were good, because we had some..." I pause to smile and fan myself at the memory, "amazing time together after that."

Alyssa giggles, then scoffs still laughing, "Time together, SURE!" She sticks a stack of shirts in another basket and continues folding some others. She calms down and asks me, "BUT... What else has been going on?"

Still blushing from her calling me out, I shrug with my head dipped low between my shoulders, "He's been very quiet when we're together. He seems tense and lost in thought all the time. When we go to bed though... he's been... " I can't believe I'm going to say this out loud, "fucking feral." I whisper, knowing I'm so red it looks like I'm turning into a tomato.

Alyssa looks at me stunned a moment, then throws her head back and laughs, "OH damn! That's your issue right now girl?!" She laughs and smack her thigh, Amanda rushing in looking at us both.

She whips her head back and forth between me and her sister and cocks a brow in question, "What did I just miss?"

Alyssa even through her laughter is able to tell Amanda, "Brian's letting her be her own woman and letting her go out to lunch with a man she's had a crush on since high school. At the same time though, he's been brooding and quiet but rocking her world to remind her that she's with him."

I cover my face and Amanda sneers, disgusted, "Okay, could have left the sex part out, but why is that so funny?"

I shrug with my hands raised and Amanda shakes her head at her sister.

"Sorry." Alyssa sputters, "She just didn't realize that's what he was doing. Plus, watching her try to tell me, her face... it's so.. red." She starts to snicker at me again and Amanda shakes her head.

"Don't worry about it, Sarina. She needed to find something to laugh about. It's how she copes. Are you going to stay for dinner?"

I shake my head and look at the time, "No, I've got to go. I wanted to do something special for Brian tonight. It sounds like I need to reassure him, I know who I'm with..."