I pulled away and held him at arms length. “You too, Gramps. You look good for an old man,” I joked.

He laughed and my smile only broadened. “Who have you got here?” he asked, looking past me. I turned to see Sienna watching us rather awkwardly. She was a duck out of water here and it only made me question my decision to get involved with her. Her eyes told me she was pissed, but she plastered on a fake ass smile and stuck out her hand. “I’m Sienna,” she said, shaking my grandmothers hand. My grandmother’s expression was laughable and I could tell she wasn’t impressed by Sienna. Unlike most people, my grandparents weren’t as easily charmed and the only person who had managed to win them over was Demetria. “I’m Brody’s girlfriend.”

I froze, my thoughts of Demi halting at the term Sienna used to describe herself.

“It’s nice to meet you dear,” my grandmother said politely. I knew better. As soon as she had the chance she was going to lay into me.

“I’ve heard so much about you,” Sienna said, reaching to shake my grandfathers’ hand. Her tone was clinical and detached, like this was a business transaction rather than a sincere introduction to two of the most important people in my life.

“That’s funny,” my grandfather replied, looking Sienna in the eye. “Because we’ve heard nothing about you.”

She gasped, and I sucked in a laugh. My grandmother slapped my grandfather’s chest, but the need to laugh was etched in the wrinkles around her mouth. Sienna politely excused herself, spun on her heal and stormed out of the house, muttering curse words under her breath.

“Thanks Gramps,” I groaned. He shrugged and replied, “Not my fault the stick up her butt leaves no room for a sense of humor.” I chuckled because well, it was funny, and walked outside to find Sienna. My foot hit the second step of the porch when a scream pierced my ears. I knew that voice anywhere. I ran around the side of the house where the barn was situated, and increased my pace when I saw Demi rolling on the ground with Jeff on top of her.

“NO!” she screamed. “Please, Jeff! NO! STOP!”

I couldn’t see her face but seeing her with him made my blood boil in the worst way. I didn’t want another man touching her, whether I had a right to feel that way or not. I grabbed Jeff’s shoulder and hauled him up to his feet.

“Brody, what the - ” Jeff’s words were cut off by the sound of my fist making contact with his jaw and his body hitting the ground. He jumped up quickly and tackled me to the ground. The wind was knocked out of my lungs and I barely had enough time before Jeff’s knuckles hit the side of my face. Demi and Sienna started shouting at us but we didn’t stop. I rolled us over, straddling Jeff’s waist, and hit him again. The faint crack of his nose should’ve stopped me, but all I could think about was his hands on Demi and my rage bubbled over. Two strong arms wrapped around my chest and pulled hard enough to get me away from Jeff. I looked over my shoulder and saw Grayson holding me back. I was so focused on smashing Jeff’s face that I didn’t notice Huntley and Grayson had pulled up to the farmhouse.

“Oh my god!” Demi yelled, scrambling to where Jeff was lying on his back. He had blood running down his nose and over his mouth. If Grayson didn’t look so pissed I would’ve been happy that I’d just broken his brother’s nose for no reason. “Are you okay?” she asked him. The way she looked at him with concern made my anger rise and I had the urge to punch him again.

“Yeah,” Jeff replied, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. “I’m fine.” Demi helped him up and I hated it.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Demi asked me. “What did you do that for?”

“What the hell is going on here?” my grandfathers voice boomed and we all turned to see him approaching us.

“Let me go,” I growled at Grayson.

“Not if you’re planning on hitting my brother again,” he replied angrily.

I shook my head. “I won’t.”

Grayson let go of me and took a step towards Jeff. “Let’s get you cleaned up,” he said. He gave me a look of disapproval. “We’ll talk about this later, Brody.”

I watched them walk to the house and disappear inside. I was left alone with my grandfather and Sienna.

“You want to tell what that was about?” he asked. The disappointment in his voice hung heavily in the air. I couldn’t explain my way out of this one. While I knew I’d fucked up, I couldn’t regret it.

“No, sir,” I replied.

He snorted and shook his head. “I’m no fool, son. A man could be blind and still see what made you fly off the bandwagon for no rhyme or reason. I suggest you and your friend get going,” his disliking of Sienna didn’t go unnoticed but I’d expected it. He disliked anyone who wasn’t…

“You’ve worn out your welcome for today.” Just like that my grandfather had dismissed me and I knew I deserved it. He’d always taught me that a man who used his fists to solve his problems was not a man. Sienna stalked towards the car and slammed the door as soon as she climbed in. Great. Now I had to deal with her bullshit too. I was about to make my way towards the car when I saw Demi storming down the porch steps and headed straight towards me. Her red hair flew in all directions and her face was screwed into a scowl, but all I could think was that I’d never seen a sexier woman in my life. I should’ve felt guilt, having Sienna waiting for me in the car, but she was the last person I truly cared about.

“You have some serious balls,” Demi said, hitting my chest with her forefinger. I watched in amazement as she went off on a tirade.

“What the hell is your problem? You broke Jeff’s nose!”

I grabbed her arm and dragged her around the other side of the house until we were both out of sight. She glared up at me and my eyes dropped to her mouth and then her heaving chest. I stepped forward and before I could second guess myself, I did the one thing I knew I couldn’t resist. I kissed her.

Brody’s mouth crushed mine and while my brain shouted at me to stop, my body responded the only way it ever would when it came to Brody. His tongue traced the seam of my lips and I opened up for him, allowing him to explore the contours of my mouth. His hand came to rest at my nape, while the other cupped my hip and pulled me closer to him. What we were doing was wrong, but I couldn’t rationalize it that way when my heart believed it was right.

Everything else around me disappeared as my blood started humming in my veins, making me feel feverish. Brody moaned into my mouth and in that moment it felt as if he was breathing life into me. I inhaled, swallowing his scent greedily, silently begging for more. But I knew more with Brody would never be enough. I’d learned that very early on. I had no doubt that his kiss alone made my panties wet and slick with desire. My breasts grew heavy and tender, aching for his touch. It had been so long and my body knew it. I experienced a total loss of control around Brody, which only made stopping that much harder. It was when his lips left a hot, moist trail down my neck that reality came crashing down. What was I doing? I pulled away, breathless with swollen lips.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” I said, my voice shaky and quiet.

“I wasn’t the only one enjoying it,” he retorted with a smirk. My hand came up, poised to slap him, but he grabbed my wrist before I could.