Getting the Axe - Nikki Mays Page 0,23

what?”

Brad smiles like the Cheshire cat. “With that…umph.” He looks down at me with a frown when I elbow, none too gently, in the ribs.

I glare at my brother before looking at Noah. “Shirtless.” I cough out. “Brad,” I may or may not growl his name. “Was just wondering if you’ve been walking around shirtless for the past few days, that’s all,” I say through gritted teeth with a demented smile on my face. Yep, definitely moving to Mexico soon.

Noah blinks at us a few times. “I can’t lift my left arm.” He states slowly, like we’re morons. He’s not too far off.

I ignored Brad’s snort and mumbled, “now I know why you’re so out of sorts.” Because if I don’t I might stab him next. And the last thing that I need is to be taking care of two men that I’ve stabbed. Gosh, that sounds really bad. When did I become this psychotic? I used to be so sweet and normal.

“Are you hungry? I’m making omelets.” I say with a lot more enthusiasm than is required when discussing breakfast.

“Yeah,” Noah answers in a monotone voice.

“Great!” I chirp.

I can see my brother out of the corner of my eye staring at me in horror. Thankfully his back is to Noah. I can even make out the fact that he’s lipping: “what the fuck?” I wonder if we have any bridges nearby for me to jump off of. This is just getting brutal.

Noah looks between Brad and me, then shakes his head like whatever he wants to say just isn’t worth it. “I’m going to go sit down.” He states before giving us another wary glance and walking to the couch.

I go back to making our omelets. I can feel Brad’s eyes burning a hole into the side of my head. “Just say it,” I grumble lowly so that only he can hear.

He lifts his coffee cup to his lips and mutters out the side. “Is this how you’ve been acting for months? Because this shit is sad girl.”

I look over at him with a glare. “No, you jerk!” I hiss quietly. “He wears clothes at work. I don’t usually have to deal with that,” I wave my hand in Noah’s general direction. “Sight on a daily basis.”

Brad takes his sip before replying. “Good, because that’s pathetic. If you hadn’t called me right after, I would think that you’re a virgin or something.”

I put a lid on the frying pan and turned towards my brother. I give him a frown while crossing my arms. “Do you think it’s weird that I called you almost immediately after I lost my virginity?” I’m pretty sure other girls don’t do that.

He purses his lips and shrugs. “It probably would’ve been if I wasn’t gay and was a normal bovver protective big brother.”

“I suppose,” I said unconvinced.

He gives me a bright smile. “Plus, since when have we ever been normal. Our entire childhood is a testament to the fact that we were never going to be like other siblings.”

I snort and shake my head. He’s definitely right about that. Where other siblings would fight or do not get along, we were the opposite. We had to be with someone as physically and verbally abusive as our father. We were the only ones who really looked out for each other. I can’t even recall how many times Brad took a beating for me because of something I did that made our father angry. All we had to do some days was breath a little too loudly for his liking. It was a miserable existence growing up being afraid to go home after school each day.

I look over at him and smile sadly. “Yeah, we were definitely not going to be like other siblings.”

Brad wraps me in a massive hug. His hugs have gotten me through some very rough times. His hugs will always be one of my most favorite things in the entire world.

“Don’t get all sad Elle. We made it out of there with only minimal damage.” He pulls away enough to look down at me with a smile. “And on the plus side, at least we know how we’ll never want to treat our own kids.” He pauses. “Well, how we want to treat your kids. Because the only two women that I would want to carry my test-tube baby are both in relationships. One of whom still won’t tell me who in the ever-loving hell she’s dating! It’s getting ridiculous that I’m