I shouldn’t feel jealous, because Rick’s a righteous friend and he deserves something nice to finally happen for him. Natalie seems really nice, and if I’m honest, she’s also gorgeous. But I’m not about to make a fool of myself over my friend’s new sister. Especially as I’m seven years older than her and she’s off limits. Wanting something you can’t have is a special kind of hell.
Now that we’re home and I see Rick showing her around our place, some of my jealousy settles. I glance around our place, trying to see it from her perspective. We haven’t put a lot of effort into making it homey. If I’m honest, it looks more like a bachelor pad. We’ve got a big sofa that wraps around the back of the living room and good, solid tables and chairs in the dining room. There are no plants, throw cushions, or pictures on the walls. Seeing Natalie eyeing the bare walls, I wish we’d made more of a fuckin’ effort.
I smooth my cut down and try not to act embarrassed. Rick tosses his keys on the counter and turns to his sister. “We have two bedrooms with a private bath. They call it double master bedrooms. You can have mine,” he says. “I’ll take the couch.”
This is who my best friend is. He gives first, then suffers for it later.
Her pretty face falls and she starts to protest, but he cuts her off with a small shake of his head. “I won’t have my sister sleeping on the fuckin’ sofa like a visitor. You’re important to me. So you get the bed.”
He leads her down the short hallway and opens the door to his room. When Rick begins gathering his shit up, I step in and wordlessly begin to help him clear the space.
“My room’s nothing fancy but it will have to do until we find a three-bedroom,” Rick says.
She looks surprised.
“Hey, I know I was a bit of an asshole back in the clubhouse, but I was blindsided. I love the idea of having a sister, so if we’re gonna do this, we can find ourselves somewhere bigger.”
“I don’t want to impose, you might hate living with me,” she says.
Rick looks at me and mutters, “He snores, leaves takeout containers on the counter, and his socks stuffed behind the couch pillows. I put up with him okay.”
“Fuck off. You’re hardly Suzy Homemaker.”
Rick’s room is bare bones, much like mine.
I jerk open the dresser drawers to find them mostly empty. That’s when I realize with amusement that most of his clothes are stuffed in the oversized dirty laundry hamper. It doesn’t take long to clear the space out. Then we pull his bedclothes off and put on fresh ones.
“There you go. Does everything look okay?” Rick asks.
“Rick,” she gushes, “This is amazing. I don’t know how to thank you for letting me stay with you.”
He shrugs, clearly uncomfortable with her gratitude. “You’re family and I’m fuckin’ thrilled to have you in my life.”
“Now, where’s your stuff? Did you leave it at a hotel?”
She shakes her head as her hands come up to clasp her small bag. “I stuffed what I could in my bag. My foster parents thought I was going to the library.”
My heart sinks. They wanted to keep her in place looking after those younger foster kids and taking her money from her. Something about that makes me angry, but I don’t say a word. Although Rick shoots me a look, he doesn’t dredge up her past. She’s talked enough about that already today.
Instead, he shrugs it off. “No biggie. It’ll just give us an opportunity to go shopping soon.”
She smiles, patting her bag. “Let me buy food. If I’m not paying for a motel then I’ve got enough cash for that.”
“Sure,” Rick says enthusiastically. “Why don’t you settle in and get refreshed. Don’t worry about the food, I’ll get us something today and tomorrow we can figure things out.”
I follow Rick out of the bedroom leaving Natalie in there to make herself at home. Just before he heads out the door he turns to me and says, “Hands off my sister while I’m gone. I mean that.” He pauses for a split second and adds, “In fact, she’s off limits to every fucker we know.”
It’s an easy promise to make, but it might turn out to be a hard promise to live with. I lift up both hands and make a placating gesture because he’s not wrong to make her off limits. Our club brothers can be like a dog with a bone when it comes to pursuing women. And his pretty sister is young, vulnerable, and has just escaped from a bad situation.
“I’m hearin’ what you’re layin’ down, bro. There ain’t no need to say it twice.”
Rick calms down instantly and gives me a helpless look. I know what his problem is. Not only has he never had a family member, but he’s never even thought about having to deal with all the issues that come along with looking out for an innocent younger sister who looks all womanly and tempting to men. My poor friend is probably losing his fuckin’ mind about now.
I jerk my chin towards the door and say, “Get food for your hungry sister and get twice as much for me.”
He finally smiles, grabs his keys, and heads for the door. Watching him walk out the door, I feel my envy dying away.
When I turn around, Natalie is sitting on the sofa, wringing her hands in her lap.
