Down to My Soul (Soul Series Book 2)(97)

I recognize how very whipped I sound, but there’s nothing I can do about it.

“It’s hard to explain,” I add.

“I think I get it.” Marlon shrugs, brushing a rough hand over the dreadlocks hanging past his shoulders. “I mean, that’s how I kinda felt the first time I met your sister.”

I nearly run off the road.

“Are you shitting me?” I swivel a glance his way. “Bristol? My sister Bristol?”

A heavy frown settles over his dark eyes.

“What? You think your sister’s basic?”

“I don’t exactly give it much thought with her being, you know, my sister.” I hesitate because Marlon isn’t serious about much other than his music. And I guess Bristol. “Are you for real? That’s how you felt the first time you saw Bris?”

“Your sister’s gorgeous.”

“Of course she is.” I shrug. “We’re twins.”

“And you’re both really modest, too,” Marlon deadpans. “She came to visit you and Grady on Spring Break her sophomore year from Columbia.”

I remember that rare trip. She had to ask Marlon’s name about five times.

“Man, she barely acknowledged your existence.”

“She’s playing hard to get.”

“For a decade?” I do a brow lift. “More like never gonna get it.”

“That joke will never get old, will it?”

“Sure, it will, if she ever goes out with you. So . . . probably not.”

“She’s driving me crazy.” He holds his head like he would squeeze her out if he could. “She brought this Qwest thing to me. She wants to manage me so bad.”

“Let her. You know she’ll do a great job.”

“Yeah, a job. I don’t want to be her job.”

“What do you want to be?” For once, I’m not going to tease him about my sister because I can tell he’s serious.

“I want her to be my girl.” He frowns at me. “You know that.”

“I mean, you still f*ck everything that moves, so I didn’t think it was like that.”

“I’m not a monk.” He gives me a knowing look. “You telling me all those months Kai had you in the friend zone you didn’t get it somewhere else?”

I shake my head. His grin drops.

“Not even a little bit o’ *?”

“Not even a little bit.” I shrug. “She was it for me. I didn’t want anybody else. Haven’t since the day we met. It wasn’t like love at first sight or anything. I grew in love with her, but all the other girls just kind of disappeared.”

“And when Kai told you no and friend zoned you so hard, did you give up?” Marlon demands.

“Nope. Failure wasn’t an option.”

“Well, then you understand why I haven’t given up on Bristol yet.”

“Frankly, I don’t want you to get hurt.” I sigh. “And as much as I love my sister, she could roll over you like a speed bump and never even feel you under her tires.”

“I’ll take my chances. I think she’d be worth it.” His grin makes a brief appearance before fading. “Your girl’s worth it, right?”

“There’s not a chance I wouldn’t take for her.”

I slow down a few blocks from the address Bristol gave me when I see Gep’s truck pulled off to the side. Once we’re out of my truck and standing in front of him, I see the sober look on his face.

“What we got?” I demand. “He’s in the house?”

“Yeah, he’s there.” Gep puts a firm hand on my shoulder. “I don’t know exactly what we’re walking into here, Rhys. It could be volatile. It’s not too late to contact the cops.”

“No cops.” I slam my frown into place. “The circle of people who know about this is already larger than it should be. I can’t risk exposing Kai like that. Some cop or clerk looking to make something on the side gets wind of this and sells to the highest bidder. No f*cking way, Gep. We get to the bottom of this quickly and quietly.”

He looks like he’ll make another argument, and I’m braced to stand my ground.

“Gep, let’s try it his way.” Marlon leans against my truck, arms folded across his chest. “I’ve kept him from killing this guy since high school. I think I can do it one more time.”

Gep’s got about five seconds to concede before I go in there on my own. My fingers itch to wrap around that f*cker’s neck. I know Gep’s job is to keep me safe, but my safety is the last thing I care about right now.

“Okay, let’s do it.” Gep taps on the tinted back right passenger window, and a guy I’ve never seen before dressed in UPS browns steps out. Gep gestures to him. “Our element of surprise.”

We make our way silently up the steep driveway of the small house nestled into the side of the mountain. Gep and I step to one side of the door. Marlon steps to the other, and our fake UPS guy rings the bell. The door is barely cracked open, and as soon as I see Drex’s face, I shove UPS out of the way and lunge for that *, pushing him back into the house. He slithers out of my grip and zips toward an open door leading to the patio. I’m on his heels and tackle him to the flagstones, sitting on his chest to keep him pinned. The fool has the nerve to laugh up into my face.