4

Aria

I stare in shock at Mr. Bradbury sitting at my table, in a pair of jeans and a plain tee shirt, laughing at something my brother said. My brother, blissfully unaware of my dismay, introduces me as he waits for me to sit down. Mr. Bradbury stands up as well, clearly trying to act like a gentleman. Mr. Bradbury looks as gorgeous as ever, with his dirty blonde hair pushed back from his face, curling ever so softly.

The t-shirt he is wearing strains against his thick muscles and well defined chest. He is so darn mouth watering that I have to fight back a rush of desire that threatens to weaken my knees. I slowly get my body in motion, despite the fact that my feet feel as if they are made of lead. I cross over to the chair beside my brother and take my seat.

"Aria, my friend Cash. Cash, my younger sister Aria." Both Cash and Maddy take their seats. Thank God he didn't say 'little' sister. For some reason, that bothers me. I don't want him to see me as 'little'. That puts me in the mindset of a six year old girl with a giant bow in her hair and patent leather shoes. I want to be seen as a woman, not a child.

"May I pour you a glass of tea, Aria?" Mr. Bradbury asks me, politely. Aria. He called me by my name for the first time since I have known. Wait, not the first time. He said it yesterday after I ran away from him. I blush, thinking about my own cheek as I stood up to him. God, this just got even more awkward, if that was possible.

"Yes, please." I say, my voice barely above a whisper. He fills a glass and hands it to me. "Thank you."

"My pleasure." He says, making my heart beat a little faster. Has his voice always had that sexy, husky timber to it? Or am I just now noticing it?

What the hell is he doing here? How is my hot teacher and my brother's nerdy friend the same person? I was expecting Poindexter, not sex on a stick. I think of the dream I had last night and I turn even more crimson. From dirty dreams to a shared meal with my brother. My life has taken a turn for the crazy. I glance down at my food, trying to avoid looking at Mr. Bradbury. Or more accurately, staring. I am trying not to stare at him.

"This all looks delicious." Mr. Bradbury says but I don't look up.

"Yeah. Aria is an amazing cook!" Maddy says, taking a bite. I made the Coq Au Vin, with a side of ratatouille and pommes persillade for the main course. Which is basically roasted chicken, potatoes and a side of veggies just in a very fancy version. I watch as Mr. Bradbury takes a bite.

"Wow. This is amazing."

I nod to acknowledge the praise. I remain silent, having no idea what to say. I am only sitting with my brother and my former teacher whom I yelled at.. nothing unnerving about that. My brother usually carries the conversation, but he is too busy stuffing his face. Which leaves me sitting awkwardly trying to avoid eye contact with my former teacher, Mr. Bradbury.

"You can call me Cash."

I hear the words, almost as if they are whispered in my ear. I start, nearly jumping a foot out of my chair. My eyes shoot up and I meet Cash's beautiful green ones. I glance at Maddy, but he is eating his food, completely unaware. "Only you can hear me. I just wanted to tell you that you can act normal. You look like a caged animal; scared and ready to run for safety given the first chance."

Act normal? Hard to do when someone is in your damn head, I think to myself.

"I know."

He heard that?

"I did."

Okay, so you are reading my mind. All my thoughts, go straight to you or something?

Suddenly my eyes widen and I give him a look of such horror that I imagine to anyone else it would look quite comical. Oh. My. Gawd! If he can read my thoughts then he knows what I just thought.. about my dream. My sex dream.. Stop thinking about it! My fork clatters out of my hand and falls to the table with a clank. "Excuse me!"

I jump up from the table and flee the room, hustling back to the kitchen. I grab two serving plates from the cabinet and begin filling one with the chocolate eclairs that I had left cooling on the counter. Once it is filled, I begin placing chocolate raspberry macarons on the other. I hear footsteps come into the room, but I don't look up. It is just my brother, asking why I am acting like such a freak, no doubt.

"Sorry about that. I needed to see to the dessert." I explain, the excuse sounding lame even to me. 

"Sure." Cash drawls in a slow tone.

My head shoots up, eyes making contact with his before I glance away. "Um, did you need something?" I try to sound casual and polite, but it comes out much too timid for my liking. 

"I would like for you to come back to the table." He says, moving over to join me at the counter, getting way too close for comfort.

"I am really busy. Thanks, though." I move away, pretending to look in the fridge for something. Hopefully the blast of cold air will cool me down a smidge. "Enjoy your meal, though. Dessert will be done in about ten minutes." Hopefully he will take the hint and leave the kitchen.

"No such luck." He says, pushing the door closed.

"Seriously, you have got to stop doing that!" I snap, anger burning inside of me as a whirl around to glare at him.

"What?" He asks innocently, though his grass green eyes are bright with mirth. He knows exactly what he is doing and what affect he has on me.

"You know what! Getting in my head, reading my mind. Whatever parlor trick or freak magic you have going on! Whatever you are doing. Just stay out of my head." I snap at him, shouldering past him to reach the stove.

"Maybe I like being in your head."

"Maybe you will like a frying pan upside your head just as much. Keep at it and we can find out!" I tell him, furious.

"Fine. I shall stop." He says, holding up his hands in mock surrender. He acts scared of my threat but I know that he isn't. 

"Thank you so much!" I say sarcastically.

"If-" He adds, moving closer. "You come back to the table." He stops just beside of me. Nowhere near touching me but still way too close for my peace of mind.. Or not close enough, my traitorous body decides.

"I am waiting for the creme brulees to finish cooking. Then I will serve them to the two of you in the dining room." I tell him, looking through the window of the oven to check on my dessert. The timer shows that only two minutes remain.

"You will join us." He isn't asking. That much is a given.

"I have things to do-" I begin.

"Let's talk about that dream then." He says aloud. "I would love to know more about it." He says in my head. The look he gives me is pure challenge. He is letting me know that I can either come back to the table or he will stay in my mind, pretty much embarrassing the hell out of me.

If you are in my head now, I hope you know that I hate you. I think the thought, giving him a fierce glare.

"Yeah.. Keep telling yourself that."

I snarl, turning away from him. I turn off the oven and fling open the door. In my anger, I forget pot holders. I reach in to grab the hot ramekins. Before my fingers can make contact a firm hand catches my wrist and jerks me back.

"Careful!"

He moves me away, easily lifting me up and sitting me on the counter, as if I were a toddler. I watch, dumbfounded, as he removes the ramekins with the potholder I had left beside the stove. He sets them on the counter then removes the safety glove, turning to look at me. He takes in my long bare legs and my obvious annoyance. He just smirks, making me want to kick him in his shin.

I don't have to be a mind reader to know that he is about ten seconds away from making a snide remark, probably involving how childish I look. I jump down from the counter and move over to grab the desserts. "Go on into the dining room. I will be there in just a moment."

I spend the next few minutes putting on the finishing touches before I carry them to the dining room. I shove one in front of my brother, who looks up at me. He is on the phone, which explains why he hasn't already come in to the kitchen to usher me back. All the times that he is so crazily overprotective, the one time I need him as a buffer, he was fifteen feet away on his phone, leaving me hanging out to dry.

He ends the call and notices my glare. "What?" He asks me, clearly confused by my hostility. 

I just huff in annoyance. I slam one down in front of Cash, before I sit down in my seat and lay mine down on the table. Cash and Maddy talk amongst themselves as I eat quickly. A couple of times they try to draw me into the conversation, but I give a one word answer or ignore the offer.

"Time for after dinner coffee. I will let you two enjoy it alone." I say, grateful that the meal is over.

"No, that's okay. We would love for you to join us." Cash says. Maddy nods.

"But-" I begin to protest but Cash raises an eyebrow and I groan inwardly. Jackass! I see him grin. "Give me a few minutes."

"Why don't we move to the living room, where it's more comfortable?" Maddy suggests and I go to disagree but Cash nods.

“That sounds good to me.”

I go get the coffee started and carry the plates of eclairs and macarons into the living room, placing them on the coffee table. I bring in the french press next, with three small cups. The only seat available is on the couch. Next to Cash. My brother is seated in the chair, eating a macaron. So, I move over and sit as far away on the couch as I can from my former teacher, current nemesis.

My phone pings and I pull it out of my hoodie pocket. I see that it is an unknown number. I click read. Sorry it took me so long to message you. Shit is crazy here. I am looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Another ping. It's Mason, by the way.

I laugh out loud. I text back, I'm looking forward to tomorrow too! I send him my address, then save his number to my contact list.

Ping. How was your dinner? I respond, Awkward. Ping. That sucks. I am about to repsond when my brother speaks up, catching my attention with a question.

"Who are you texting?"

"Mason." I respond, noting my brother's frown. Why is he suddenly so curious about who I am texting. "He's coming over tomorrow."

"Why?" Maddy asks.

"So I can blow him in the front yard!" I say calmly, despite your annoyance. Why the hell does he think I would have a friend over? Clearly to hang out. So if he is going to ask stupid questions then I am going to give him a stupid answer.

"What?" Two sets of voices explode.

"Calm down. I was joking." Ignoring Cash altogether, I look at Maddy. "I would never do that-" He breathes a sigh of relief and I continue, "in the front yard. Grass is so hard on the knees. I would take him to my bedroom, obviously."

I can literally see my brother's blood pressure rising. If this was a cartoon then any minute the top of his head would blow off and smoke would shoot out of his ears. "Oh my gawd, don't be such a prude, Maddy. I am just joking. He is coming over to watch movies and eat junk food." I consider making another suggestive remark but judging by my brother's face, I don't think it will go over very well.

"I don't think it's a good idea." Maddy says.

"What?" I ask him, because surely I misheard him. He is telling me that I can't have my friend over?

"Mason coming over here.. I don't think that it is a good idea." He tells me with finality. Clearly he thinks that is the end of the discussion. Boy, is he so damn wrong.

"Why not?" I explode. "You let Halona and Moira go out and do whatever the hell they want. I ask to have a friend over to watch one freaking movie and you don't think that it is a good idea?!"

"Aria-" He begins.

"No! I was joking about blowing him. But even if I wasn't, I am grown. You are my brother, not my parole officer! You can have friends over-" I gesture wildly to Cash "- and you didn't ask our opinions. You might be older, but that doesn't mean you get to control every part of my life. If I want to have sex, I sure as hell can!" I say, standing up angrily.

"Okay, enough with the damn sex talk! You aren't sleeping with that boy if I have to lock you in the basement! For you to say that you are grown, you sure are having a temper tantrum like a spoiled little brat!" He yells at me. "You are so damn immature. Only a stupid child would joke about things like that! I can't deal with this shit! It is bad enough that I am stuck with the three of you, but when you pull this shit-"

I reel back in shock, hurt replacing the anger. Tears sting my eyes. "I am so sorry that we are such a burden to you. But it's not like we asked mom and dad to die, leaving us alone."

"Aria-" He begins, stepping forward, remorse all over his face. "I didn't mean-"

"Fuck you, Madoc!"

I leave the room before either of those assholes can see me cry. I walk up the stairs, the sound of my brother's curses following me. When I get to my room I close the door, locking it behind me. I sit on the bed. No tears come. I just feel numb. When Halona blows up and say shit, it doesn't bother me. I brush it off because it is just how she is. We know that she doesn't mean it. But this, hearing those words from my brother. It broke my heart into a million little pieces.

One solitary tear drips down my face. I turn off all the lights in the room and lay on my bed. I tug the comforter over my head and tuck the pillow to my chest. There is a knock on the door but I ignore it.

Cash

"Aria."

Go away.

"He didn't mean it, you know."

I followed her up the stairs to see if she was okay. I know I had gotten her upset at supper by mind connecting with her. Then to have Maddy go off on her like that.. she looked devastated and I wanted to offer her comfort, despite the fact that I know I am te last person in the world that she wants near her at the moment.

I never meant for her night to go so horribly. I just liked the way she blushed when I messed with her. Now I am sorry for my part in the evening because now she has no enjoyable moments from the evening. I want to apologize to her but I doubt she will believe me. But I still have to make sure that she is going to be okay.

Aria

"Will you be okay?"

Yes.

I hear the muffled thuds of his footsteps retreating. I squeeze my eyes tighter closed, willing back the tears. I hold the pillow clutched so tightly to me that my knuckles go white. I lay there, feeling empty and sick to my stomach until finally the emotional turmoil wipes me out and exhaustion overtakes me. I fall into a fitful sleep.