Strung (Seaside 0.5)(19)
Author: Rachel Van Dyken

“Don’t you guys have anything better to do then stalk an innocent girl?” I spat.

“Whoa.” The photographer kept snapping pictures of me as I stalked towards him “There a reason your so chummy with your brother’s girlfriend? Does he even know?”

“We’re friends.” I yelled. “Now get the hell off our property!”

“Why are you really here?” The other photographer smirked. “Come on, Seaside?” They both cursed at me and laughed.

I was just about to attack both of them when Demetri ran up to us. His arms wrapped around my chest as he pulled me back. “Come on, man, it’s not worth it.”

“Let me go, damn it!” I lunged for the guys again.

Demetri held me firm and ushered me back into the house.

“What the hell, man?” I yelled once Demetri locked the doors again then turned to face me. “You should have let me punch them, they got pictures.”

Demetri was calm, his voice low. “Of what?”

“Nat hugging me.” May as well have the word guilty written across my forehead. “But she was just thanking me, thanking us for taking care of her!”

“Really?” Demetri crossed his arms and paced in front of me. “Why are you being so defensive? So you hugged her, big deal.”

“But…” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “You kissed her yesterday, I hugged her tonight. It makes her look…”

“Well shit.” Demetri groaned into his hands. “Thanks, I know exactly how it looks.”

“If the media found out…” I choked a bit. “If they found out about our past, and what I did to you, and now with Nat…”

“Look” — Demetri’s eyes flashed — “They aren’t going to find out, okay?”

I wasn’t so sure.

“We need body guards.” Demetri sighed and pulled out his phone. “I’ll get Bob up here, ask him to bring one of the usuals from the tour.”

Was I seriously that shaken up that Demetri was the one thinking with a clear mind? I still wanted to run outside and ram my fist through those bastards’ faces!

In that moment I saw a side of Demetri I had always hoped existed, but had given up on long ago.

Maturity.

And again, I was back to square one with Nat. Because blood always came before a girl… I shuddered. The problem? I knew we weren’t blood brothers. And he didn’t. He didn’t know. He didn’t know anything.

If he ever found out.

The secrets I kept from him.

I’d lose him forever.

Demetri got off his phone and tossed it onto the couch. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “Thanks for…” I pointed at the door. “That.”

“We’re brothers.” He said it like it was so simple.

I nodded and smiled. “Yeah man, yeah, we are.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Demetri

NAT WAS STANDING in her driveway with her hands on her hips. Most of her hair was pulled back in a haphazardly done ponytail and she had a scowl on her face. “Geez, took you long enough to get ready,” I said, scaring the crap out of her.

Her eyes narrowed. “I overslept.”

“I couldn’t tell.” I eyed her up and down and winked as she blushed bright red and tightened her arms across her chest. “Do it again.” I tugged her into my body and kissed her mouth.

“What?” Her voice was soft.

“Blush. It’s sexy.” And she just blushed two shades darker. I. Am. Awesome. I picked her up off the ground and twirled her around then kissed her cheek. Wow. I could totally survive life if I had a girl like her standing in my driveway every freaking morning.

“You ready man?” I heard the screen door slam as Alec bounded down the stairs. Interesting choice of clothes. He wasn’t blending in. Not one bit. Rocker skinny jeans, a graphic shirt, converse and a beanie. Yeah… way ta look LA dude.

I understood though. Why try to blend in when everyone already knows anyways? It’s why I wore ripped jeans and put my man necklaces back on as well as my leather bracelets. Who the hell cared that we didn’t fit in? We had Nat.

I didn’t realize I said ‘we.’

As in she was both of ours.

Until I got into the car.

“Let’s go.” Alec got into his car an unlocked the doors. The drive to school felt tense. But then again, I knew it would be. Alec got zero sleep if his stomping through the house was any indication last night.

And me, well, let’s just say between telling the giant bear I was living with to calm the hell down and trying not to panic over the fact that he was that bent out of shape over something involving my girlfriend — it was almost enough for me to want to reach my arm down that toilet and snatch up those drugs.

Hey, I didn’t say it was a pleasant mental picture.

I settled for a Coke Zero at six am.

Soda. I was drinking soda in the morning.

And they say drugs can kill you.

My cell rang in my pocket. Swearing at my publicist’s number, I pulled it out and barked into the phone. “What?”

“Damage control.” He coughed. “Just let it roll over but it’s worse than you guys suspected. The media’s making it out to be that she’s AD2’s newest plaything.

“ I’m sorry, what?” I roared. “How the hell did that happen?”

“Look, Demetri, it will blow over. It always does. Jamie Jaymeson was just found walking out of a hotel with three girls. Three, Demetri. Trust me, once that video goes viral, you’re good.”

I cursed into the phone then hung up.

Mature. I’m aware.

“How bad?” Alec asked quietly.

“Bad,” I croaked.

“Atlanta bad?”

I snorted. “Worse, man, so much worse.” I turned around and bit my lip as I thought of exactly what to tell Nat. “I don’t know how to say this, or even how to warn you.”

“Just say it,” Alec spat. If I had pills I would have given him one.

I gave my brother a glare before reaching for Nat’s hand and kissing it. “The media’s cooked up a pretty ridiculous story. It’s not going to be an easy day.”

Nat’s tilted her head and spoke softly, “What kind of story?”

Alec swore under his breath while I explained. “One where you were seen kissing one brother one night, only to be seen almost kissing the other the next night.” I left out the part in the middle about us sharing her for sex or playing with her for sport. She was too innocent to get it. I didn’t want to share ugly with her; I wanted to protect her from it.