Garden of Sins

I glance over my shoulder and meet the pissed-off look of my brother. He leans in the doorway, his arms crossed in front of his chest, and I roll my eyes. What does he think I’m doing with her here? Okay, I understand what he thinks and I understand why he thinks that. Okay, well, maybe it’s my own fault. I admit it. As Caden raises an eyebrow, Alayna rises and pats the dirt off her jeans as I flick my cigarette away.

“I was just having a brief chat with your brother,” she explains somewhat uncertain.

“Relax, bro. Everything’s fine,” I say drily. I’m not good at defusing situations and calming people down.

Caden doesn’t say a word, he just opens the door wider so Alayna can enter.

“We need to talk,” he says to me. Great, as if I haven’t talked enough today. But for my brother, I am obviously available 24 hours a day, no matter what he needs me for. So, I also get up as Alayna scurries into the house and I gesture to Caden that he should follow me into the garage, which he does.

This will be rather ugly or extremely liberating.

* * *

We are in my garage. The door is open as usual. Caden is sitting on my couch, where he always sits, his legs stretched out on the table. I flop into my beanbag and roll a joint — like so often. Music roars out of my speakers as always. I haven’t slept a second, as almost always. Caden probably hasn’t either because he was with Alayna all night.

He isn’t wearing a shirt, just like me. The warm summer air moves into my still filthy hole. I really should clean up the leftovers from the party or pretend to be Caden and manipulate Alayna into doing it.

“So Melissa, huh?” Caden asks casually and I light the joint.

“So Alayna, huh?” I reply because, yes, obviously Melissa.

We stare at each other for a moment. The cloud of smoke that I expel wafts around us. He now thinks I’m doing something with his chick behind his back. Besides, he still has a grudge against Melissa, so we stare at each other. My brother is the first to break the tense silence between us.

“She said she loves me.” It comes out pretty stiff and I hold back a roll of my eyes because that’s what I heard.

“Melissa said the same thing,” I reply, although of course, the thing with Melissa is quite different from the thing between Caden and Alayna.

We don’t take our eyes off each other for a second as I hand him the joint. Does he really think I’m taking away the woman who loves him? Of course, something inside me craves it because Caden has put me through some nasty shit, but I would never intentionally hurt him that much on purpose, not unless he fucked me up enough before.

Caden holds the joint between his index finger and thumb as he slowly brings it to his lips.

“Sweet,” he states drily.

“Likewise,” I reply in the same tone.

We both are totally emotionless and pissed off inside. That actually rarely happens to us. The last time was because of Melissa. I didn’t talk to him for three months after he seriously fucked her up and I had to send her away because of him. Everything only became normal again after Dad put his foot down and Caden brought in a new chick as a peace offering. That’s just it. Just as we protect each other, we forgive each other for everything. And it’s dangerous for both of us to know that about the other.

“And?” he now asks calculatingly.

“Nothing, and you?” I ask politely.

“Nothing.”

“Great.”

My brother nods. “Great.” Then he hands me back the joint, which I bend forward to accept.

As soon as I hold it, I take a deep drag and expel the thick smoke toward the ceiling of the garage. “So? Great love, huh?” I probe.

He shrugs. “And you?”

I shrug too. Of course, it’s not great love for me. She never was. There were feelings involved, yes, but I do not talk about love like that because I am not a champion of the love faction. A chick would have to come along that completely blows my mind and that hasn’t happened yet.

“I think I love her too,” Caden says. A threat sparkles in his eyes. It baffles me to hear my brother say that since Caden doesn’t just say things like that. I’m surprised my assumptions are correct and though I’m having a difficult time keeping my eyes open since I’m quite stoned, I think hard about it for a moment.

Nonetheless, I decide to needle him a little since my dear brother has done it to me more than once.

“Are you sure you aren’t confusing that with being horny?” I ask provocatively since I have confused my cock with my heart a few times. But I actually know Caden is not like that. He is not as cock-controlled as I am.

“Nope.” The answer comes swiftly.

“Hm,” I reply, “do you think she’ll still love you even if she knows everything that happened between you, me, Danielle, or Melissa? I think she’ll leave and not come back for more like Melissa.” I can’t help it. There is still so much bubbling inside of me and I want Caden to suffer in between, just like he wants me to. Our relationship is truly sick.

Now he laughs. “Melissa is a puppy. Melissa does everything, you know that, bro. She has no boundaries.” Yeah, she does.

I gently hit the joint twice more and form curls with the thick smoke.

“Well, Alayna is not a puppy,” I murmur. “She is a lioness and you can’t just play with her with impunity. She attacks when she doesn’t like something, right?” Let him be in my position. Let him feel what it’s like when the other keeps poking his finger into the wound. That’s Caden’s hobby with me.

He lifts a brow with a smile and takes the joint out of my hand. “Are you threatening me, Carter?” he asks and I look at him lazily from the side.

“Does it seem like that to you, Caden?” I counter with a thick tongue.

He laughs again, but it sounds tense and a bit crazy. Yeah, now he slowly changes into his mode, his psycho mode. “Are you going to tell her, Carter?”

I shrug.

“You want a war with me, Carter? Then I think we need to figure out how to handle this situation.”

“Should we?” I ask, taking back the joint that is burning hot. “Or do you already have a plan, Caden?” Because he always does, doesn’t he?

He sinks deeper into my couch and grabs his fist to crack his knuckles. Then his neck, like he’s getting ready for a fight. If he wants to punch me in the face, he has a good chance today. I’m so thickheaded and exhausted that my reactions leave something to be desired.

“Of course I have a plan. Or should I rely on you to make one for us?” he asks snidely and I snort.

“Whatever,” I mutter, knowing I won’t like what is about to come. Oh, fuck it, let him unload.

Now everything is bubbling up in Caden. I love it when that happens. Not. “You played the game without me. And you brought her inside your shithole and tied her up. You came inside her. You beat her and drugged her. What am I supposed to think, Carter?” The calmness with which he says this is a sign of how strong his rage is and how entrenched he’s in his mode right now.

But I’m so high, I don’t even care. “Well, when she screamed and begged, it didn’t look like she wasn’t enjoying it — everything I did with her that night. Did she tell you what I did to her ass?” I continue prodding him and in a moment, he’ll break my neck, I can see it in his crazy flashing eyes.

“Shit, are you provoking me?” he asks with restraint and his muscles twitch, his arms tense, and the anger is reflected in his smooth features. Yes, I am. Maybe I want him to freak out. Maybe I need that. Maybe this shit will be over. Maybe we’ll finally be over. Whatever. I take another jab.