Brett and Hannah (Soul Mates 101 Series) (4 page)

On Saturday, Hannah watched out the window all morning trying to get the nerve to talk to Brett. She finally decided to get it over with. She felt a need to wear clothes instead of a bikini. She worried he might find her slutty after seeing her at the party, so she opted for a blue top with white shorts.

She
walked past her dad and his friend Jim as they sat on the patio. She hated Jim with a passion. As she matured into a woman, he’d become different toward her. She caught him staring at her body whenever he was around, and she found it gross since he was in his late forties and a family friend.

“Hannah, ar
en’t you going to say hi to Jim?” Todd asked.

She
rolled her eyes and turned back around.

“Hi, D
ad and hi, Jim.”

“Hi, Hannah, good to see you again,” Jim said with a seductive smile.
She waved at him and quickly walked away. Her body shivered over the creepy vibe he gave her.

S
he continued walking toward Brett and felt like a ball of nerves, realizing she was crushing on him badly.

“Hi, Brett.”

Brett sat his sandwich down and turned around. He was sitting on the edge of his truck bed.

“Hi, Hannah.”

She saw his warm smile and felt less nervous.

“Would you have a few minutes to talk?”

“Yeah, sure. You wanna have a seat?” he asked, pointing to the spot next to him.

She jumped up on
the truck. “I’m sure you know what happened after I introduced you to my friends. I want to thank you for helping me out at Olivia’s party, and I’m really sorry it happened.”

“
I’m sorry I didn’t say anything yesterday. I worried it might embarrass you. It’s no big deal. Any decent guy would’ve done the same thing.”

“I disagre
e. I’m sure there were other decent guys at that party, and they didn’t take the time to help me.”

“I just happen to be standing at the right place at the right time.”

Hannah turned her body sideways to face him. She wanted to gaze into his blue eyes forever. “Really, thank you for getting me out of there and making the guy delete the photos. My parents would kill me if those leaked out.”

“You’re welcome. I’
ve witnessed some bad shit at parties over the years. You really need to watch it.”

“
I know. I don’t normally drink that much. I’m not gonna lie. I was pretty embarrassed when I found out you had to hold me all that time. I hope I didn’t do anything too embarrassing. I also heard your friends were giving you a hard time.”

“You w
ere fine, and they were just jealous they didn’t have a beautiful girl in their arms.”

Hannah could feel her face warming.

He just called me beautiful.

“I’
m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I swear I was respectful to you the whole time.”

“I believe you.
Since you were at the party, do you go to Vandy?”

“Yeah, I’ll be a senior.”

“That’s cool. I’ll be a sophomore. Have you been a landscaper very long?”

“I wo
rked at a nursery in high school and started landscaping my freshman year of college. I really like it, except for when it’s a hundred degrees.”

“We’
ve lived here a long time, but my parents never got around to hiring anyone to do the backyard. I can’t wait to see it finished. I guess I should let you get back to your lunch. See you around, Brett,” she said with an alluring smile after she jumped off the truck.

“Bye, Hannah.”

All she could think about the rest of the afternoon was Brett’s gorgeous eyes and how he thought she was beautiful.

I’m an idiot. Why did I tell her she’s beautiful? She’s definitely going to get the wrong impression.

He actually found her more than beautiful, but
he wasn’t about to date Lorna Ray Mason’s daughter. When he got back to the house, he heard Dylan playing his guitar in his room. He didn’t see the other guys, so he took a shower and crashed on his bed.

Several hours later
, Matt knocked and entered Brett’s room. “Get up, man. We’re all going to The Stables tonight.”

“Is there a way I can get out of this?”
he asked, without removing his face from his pillow.

“No way. If you want to
meet someone younger, then you have to go out. It’s not gonna happen from this room.”

The
guys drove two cars and didn’t get to The Stables, a local country bar, until around ten. The bar was right at the entrance and the dance floor was in the center of the room with tables filling the perimeter.

Matt,
Brett and Austin hung out at a small, round table after buying a beer. The three of them routinely gave Cody and Dylan a hard time about their dancing, but Brett knew the two of them would go straight out to the dance floor.

They insisted it was the best way to get a chick to go home with them.
Brett spotted a few women that were attractive, but no one was really catching his eye.

“Brett, I just saw your little girlfr
iend dancing with Dylan,” Austin said, laughing.

“What
are you talking about?” Brett asked, not making eye contact with him as he continued to scan the outer perimeter of the dance floor for women.

“There,” Austin replied
, pointing to a spot in the middle of the dance floor.

Brett look
ed that direction and saw Dylan dancing with Hannah Mason. “Funny, Austin.” He felt his heart rate rising as he got the same protective feeling he had when he held her exactly one week earlier.

He noticed her black cowboy boots and her tight jeans about the time he saw Dy
lan’s hand partly on her ass. He glanced around the room to find her friends and saw they were on the dance floor with different guys.

“I wonder how they
got in here,” Matt said.

“
Think about who she is. You know she draws a crowd, not to mention how hot they all are. It’s good business for the bar. They probably get in everywhere,” Brett said as he turned away from the dance floor again.

“Man, it’s
too late to run now, but Julie’s making her way over here,” Matt said.

“Great, not what I need tonight
,” Brett said.

Julie
was thirty-five at the time he dated her a year before and was tall and blonde. He hadn’t seen her since they broke it off.

“Brett, how ar
e you?” Julie asked before she hugged him.

“
I’m good. It’s nice to see you again. What have you been up to?”

“
I have some news. I got engaged,” she said.

Brett heard her enthusiasm as she
held her ring out for him to see.

“That’s great news
,” he said relieved.

“Is the lucky guy here tonight?”
Matt asked.

“
No, I’m out with my girlfriends. I still have to get out once in a while,” she said with a sly grin. “I should get back to my friends. Bye guys.” Julie kissed Brett on the cheek and walked away.

Matt looked at him
. “You dodged a bullet, man.”

“
No kidding. I don’t want to go back down that road, but I’m happy for her.”

Dylan and Cody
sauntered to the table.

“Did you all see me dancing w
ith Hannah Mason?” Dylan asked.

“
I saw, and don’t dance with her again,” Brett said in a demanding tone. All four of the guys looked at Brett.

“
You’re not telling me who I can or can’t dance with.”

“Look,
I don’t care who else you grind on in here, but I didn’t save her ass last week just so you can have your way with it.”

“You don’t know her, so she’s fair game. You’
re not going to fuckin’ tell me I can’t dance with her.”

Brett glared at Dylan.

“Actually, I do know her. I’m working at her home every day. Leave her the hell alone, or we’re going to have problems tonight.”

“Come on
, Cody, I don’t know when Brett became such a bitch,” Dylan said as they turned to walk away.

“Bro
, that was not cool. What the hell’s up with you?” Matt asked.

“
If last weekend is any indication, she’ll probably get trashed, and we all know Dylan has no qualms about taking drunk girls home to fuck.”

“You’re probably right,
but why do you suddenly care?” Austin asked.

“I already said why,
so drop it.”

“Damn,
look at that chick,” Matt said, pointing.

Brett noticed
she was a pretty brunette. “I don’t see a dude with her, so you better go for it.”

“I’
m making my move.”

Austin
patted Matt on the shoulder. “Good luck, she’s one of the best looking ones in here.”

About an hour later,
Brett noticed Dylan and Cody dancing with some other girls when a slow song came on. He usually didn’t drink much but had lost count of his beers trying to numb the feelings he was having for Hannah. The next thing he knew, she and Chelsea were walking toward them.

Austin
saw them coming and chuckled.

Brett was caught off guard when Hannah threw her arms around his neck to hug him. He reluctantly hugged her back.

“Hi, Brett,”
she said in his ear.

Dammit, why
does she have to smell so good, like strawberries?

“Hi, Hannah. It appears you didn’t learn your lesson last weekend.”

“I already have a father. I don’t need another one. Are you stalking me now?”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Brett said icy before he turned his back to her. He didn’t
like her attitude. He recalled her being mature and kind when sober and decided she had no business drinking.

She pulled on his arm.

“I’m sorry. Please look at me.” Brett turned around and noticed her eyes were a shade of bluish green. He recalled them looking different each time he saw her.

“I shouldn’t have said that. I came to ask you to dance.”

Whoa, I didn’t see that coming.

“T
hanks, but I don’t think so.”

“What’s wrong
? Am I not good enough for you, or should I say old enough? I saw you talking to that older woman.”

“
I work for your family, Hannah. I don’t think it’s a good idea. I also don’t want to see my picture in a magazine.”

Hannah placed her hands on her hips. “The
damn paparazzi aren’t following me around. Just forget it. I see which category you fall into.”

“What
does that mean?”

“There are me
n who want to get close to me because of who my mother is, or they want nothing to do with me because of it. Like I said, I see which one you fall into.” Hannah turned and walked away.

“Hey, shortcake,”
Brett yelled.

Hannah
stopped and turned around.

“So, are you telling me you’
d rather me fall into the other category?”

S
he stomped back to him.

“
You know what I meant. I just wanted to dance with you. I didn’t ask for this other shit.”

Brett heard a new slow song come on right then. He hoped it was the alcohol making his decision and not something more when he slamm
ed his bottle down on the table and grabbed Hannah’s hand.

He
pulled her behind him to the dance floor. Her anger turned him on, so he wanted an excuse to put his hands on her. Grabbing hold of her waist, he pulled her in close before wrapping his arms around her. She put her arms around his neck and gazed up at him.

“I’ve never seen this before,” Austin said.

“Seen what?” Chelsea asked.

“Brett
... he doesn’t socialize with younger women. Period. He’s only dated older women. He doesn’t dance, either.”

Austin turned and looked at her
.

“
I’m Austin by the way. Would you like to dance?”

She smiled.
“Sure, I’m Chelsea.”

Br
ett gazed down at Hannah’s turquoise eyes. Even though he was lightheaded from the beers, he still had enough sense to know he was going to regret dancing with her. As she stood below him, he admired her silky hair and smelled her arousing scent.

“You’re very
good looking, Brett.”

“Yo
u’re gorgeous, so I guess that makes us even.”

She smiled up at him.

“No, we’re not even. You have no idea how hot you look when sweat’s dripping off your tan, muscular body.”

Brett grabbed the back of her head and pulled her closer to his chest
, so she wouldn’t see him trying to hold in his laugh. He knew the alcohol was doing her talking.

She
got him more turned on by what she said, and once he had her that close, all he wanted to do was kiss her. He tilted up her chin and smiled.

“Hannah
, listen. You’re cute, but you should stop talking like that. I’m sure you’ll be embarrassed tomorrow like you probably were last Sunday, and I don’t want you sitting on my truck apologizing again.”

“
I don’t want you to just find me cute,” she said as she jerked away from him and scowled. “If you haven’t noticed, I like you, but it sounds as if you think I’m still a child. I’m nineteen, and I’m guessing you’re only two years older than me, so I don’t get it. Just forget this. I don’t want you dancing with me out of pity.” Hannah turned to walk away.

Brett pulled
her back into his arms. “I don’t just find you cute, Hannah. You’re sexy as hell.”

She quickly leaned up and kissed him
. Once he felt her plump, warm lips on his, he couldn’t resist her. Brett kissed her back as he grabbed the back of her hair, pulling her in toward his body that was burning with desire.

He was becoming
aroused from tasting her sweet tongue. Feeling it swirling around his mouth, and feeling her fingers traveling through his silky blonde hair caused a craving he’d never felt before.

Hannah pulled her lips away
and tiptoed, layering his neck with kisses.

“I
want you, Brett.”

Her words were
electricity, shocking his core. He stared down at her with piercing eyes full of lust.

“You’
re so damn hot, Hannah.” The words came out, and then reality sunk in as Brett let out a loud groan. He snapped out of her seductive take over but not before some of his friends witnessed their smoldering kiss. He grabbed her arms and pulled back from her.

“W
e’re not doing this,” he said. He felt the surge of heat and lust racing through his blood, wanting her in a way he’d never experienced with any woman.

She
gazed up at him seductively.

“Fuck, I want you,” he said with a
groan, running both his hands through his hair. “Go find your friends, Hannah. We can’t do this.” He left her and went straight for the bathroom. Pacing around, he tried to get his self-control back.

She
was new, dangerous territory. Hooking up with older women was less complicated. He knew he was going to hang out with them and have sex—nothing more. He never felt for them what he was feeling for Hannah. Brett was questioning his idea of wanting a relationship. If he was going to feel confused and out of control, then he wanted no part of it.

Dylan and Cody were on the dance floor with two blondes. Dylan was normally happy go lucky but was having a hard time shaking the fact that Brett was telling him to stay away from Hannah.

He and Brett got along the least of the guys
, and he was starting to think it could be a bad thing if Brett was going to start wanting younger women, the same younger women he was interested in. None of the roommates had ever went after the same chick before.

He was laying his charm on thick to the girl he was dancing with when he looked up and saw Brett making out with Hannah on the dance floor. He felt anger and jealousy course thr
ough him. He’d enjoyed dancing with her and thought she was one of the first girls he’d talked to at The Stables who wasn’t at least borderline trashy.

Dylan couldn’t stay focused on the blonde in his arms with all the anger he was feeling toward Br
ett, so when he saw Brett walking toward the bathroom, he made an excuse to get away from her for a minute.

About the
time he made it to the bathroom door, Brett was coming out.

“I see how it is. You wante
d her for yourself. I didn’t go back and ask her to dance after you gave me hell because you acted like you were a saint looking out for her.

“
Had I known you were just saying all that shit so you could put your hands all over her, I wouldn’t have hesitated to go after her, and I would’ve told you to fuck off!” Dylan yelled.

“Listen to me
. She came and asked me to dance, and she kissed me.”

“
I saw your tongue had no issue with it.” Dylan lifted his ball cap and pulled it back down on his head.

“
I didn’t plan on this happening when I said something to you. No matter what happens tonight, unlike you, I don’t plan on sleeping with her while she’s trashed, so just leave us the hell alone,” Brett said angrily.

“That’s not what I planned on
doing with her.”

“S
ince when, Dylan? You do it every chance you get.”

“
I’m sick of you thinking that picking up an older woman, sleeping with her for a few months until you toss her away for a new one is somehow more commendable,” Dylan replied.

Brett stuck his finger out in front of Dylan’s face.

“Just stay the hell away from Hannah. You’re not touching her!” he shouted before storming away.

Dylan growled l
oudly as he headed back to the dance floor to find Cody and the girls they’d been dancing with.

After buying another beer at the bar, Brett went back to the table. Austin was there talking to Chelsea.

“Have you seen Matt?” Brett asked.

“He’s still over there talking to that brunette. I have a hunch she’ll be going back to our place tonight.”

Chelsea looked at Brett.

“Where’s Hannah?”

Brett swallowed hard and looked away. “I told her to find her friends.”

“I better look for her,” Chelsea said with irritation in her voice. “I’ll hopefully talk to you later, Austin.” She smiled faintly before she walked away.

He
scoped the dance floor and saw Dylan and Cody dancing with a couple of blondes. He hoped Dylan would find a girl to take home, so he wouldn’t give him more grief over Hannah. He turned his back to the dance floor.

“
Damn, Brett. Hannah’s friend is hot. Don’t piss Hannah off. I’d really like to see Chelsea again.”

“Too late, but don’t l
et that stop you. Just get her damn number.”

“
It appears Hannah has no business drinking. I’m surprised she survived her freshman year without ending up dead in a ditch,” Austin said.

“I know. She’
s completely different sober.”

Austin pointed to the dance floor.

“Dude, look. She may end up in a ditch yet.”