Double Dare (Neighbor from Hell #6)(25)

“You really do,” Jason murmured in agreement as he tossed his empty bag aside and grabbed a box of Lucky Charms.

“Why exactly are you here?” he asked, rubbing his hands down his face as he sat up.

“It’s Sunday. Where else would we be?” Trevor asked with a snort of disgust as he tossed the empty cookie package aside and grabbed the bag of peanut butter M&Ms that Darrin kept for Marybeth.

“Anywhere but here,” he said, sitting up against the headboard as he struggled to stay awake.

“We came to give you a ride,” Trevor said around a handful of M&Ms.

“I don’t need a ride,” he said, yawning even though he’d already decided to call one of his brothers for a ride tonight before he added, “And you weren’t invited.”

“We don’t need an invitation,” Jason reminded him, because his parents, much like the rest of their aunts and uncles, never turned family away.

“Then why are you here?” he asked, giving up and closing his eyes.

“Besides giving you a ride?” Trevor asked before saying, “To help you.”

“I don’t need help,” he mumbled around a yawn, wondering what it would take to make them leave.

“You really do,” Jason said with a long-suffering sigh.

“With what exactly?”

“With Marybeth,” Trevor said, making him chuckle, because if there was one thing that he didn’t need help with, it was Marybeth.

“It’s not necessary,” he said, not in the mood to have this conversation, especially not with the two cocky bastards eating all his food.

“It really is,” Jason said around a mouthful of cookies. “You’re going about this whole thing all wrong.”

Sighing, he reached over and shoved Jason off the bed.

“You bastard!” Jason gasped from where he’d landed on the floor.

“Get out,” Darrin said as he flopped back down on his stomach and decided to ignore the bastards and go back to sleep.

“We’re here to help you, *.”

“I don’t need any help,” he mumbled against the pillow, wondering when they would just give up and leave.

“Look,” Jason said, getting back up and sitting on the edge of the bed, “we love Marybeth. We do, but there is something seriously f*cked up with your relationship.”

“It’s fine,” he bit out, already missing the peace and quiet that went along with keeping their relationship a secret.

“They don’t have a relationship,” Trevor said, sounding bored. “They’re f*ck buddies.”

“We’re not f*ck buddies,” he bit out as he grabbed a pillow and pulled it over his head, hoping that it would be enough to block the meddling bastards out.

“Really?” Trevor asked in a mocking tone that was going to get the shit kicked out of him.

“Really!” he snapped, because they weren’t just f*ck buddies. This was going somewhere, he told himself. It was either that or admit that his cousins might be right, which was something that he refused to do.

“Admit it, you need our help,” Trevor said, sounding smug, even for a Bradford.

Too tired to deal with this bullshit, he reached over and shoved Trevor off the bed as he said, “Fuck. Off.” And then for good measure, he shifted so that he could kick Jason off his bed as well.

“You could have just asked us to leave!”

“Could have,” he said, sighing heavily as he rolled over onto his stomach, “but didn’t.”

“Asshole,” Jason muttered as Darrin grabbed the pillow that Marybeth liked to use, pulled it closer and inhaled her strawberries and cream scent as he ignored the bastards bitching about police brutality.

Chapter 11

“Ever hear of a phone, *?” Darrin asked, pushing past his exhaustion as he pulled Danny into a hug, taking his brother by surprise. “Mom was about to send us to go find you,” he said softly, only half joking as he gave Danny one more squeeze, needing to reassure himself that his brother was really okay before he released him.

It had been years since his brother had been shipped back to the states courtesy of the U.S. Marines, but Darrin still couldn’t get the image of his brother strapped to that hospital bed with a machine breathing for him out of his head.

“I’m fine,” Danny promised as he pulled back and reached down, taking the hand of the small woman standing next to him into his. “Just got a little delayed.”

“I can see that,” Darrin murmured, looking Jodi over, not bothering to ask for an introduction since he already knew exactly who she was. “Why don’t we head inside?” he suggested, using the Bradford smile to put the small woman at ease.

“I should have called,” Danny said as he glanced down at Jodi, who looked a little nervous and for good reason, Darrin mused as he eyed the small woman suspiciously.

“And warn Mom that you were bringing a woman to meet the family for the first time ever?” Darrin asked brightly, chuckling when Danny shot him a homicidal glare. “Now, why would you want to do that?”

“Umm, maybe I should wait in the car? Or walk home?” Jodi asked, slowing down a bit as she worried her bottom lip. “I can walk home. It’s really not that far.”