Down Home Runs Deep

Three

Briar

Jake's cowboy hat standing at least 3 inches about everyone else makes him hard to miss.   As soon as he passes the TSA threshold, my feet carry me as fast as they can go in his direction.  You're probably thinking "damn girl, leaving your literal twin in the dust like that!"   It's fine, Mallory is right by my side, ready to fling herself into his waiting arms.  Honestly, it's been this way since the boys went off to the academy.  She and Brooks won't unlatch for at least 10 minutes and I happily take the time to find myself in Jake's warm embrace.

"Well hello there, gorgeous.  What lucky man has you waiting for him?" Jake teases as his arms lock tightly around me and I'm lifted into the air.   I squeal as he spins us around, my feet a solid foot off of the ground now.  Once I'm back on my own two feet, I giggle as I respond to his question.

"I don't think lucky is the world, poor guy has been putting up with me for the last 25 years!"

Jake still hasn't released me, and I know it must have been a tough mission, but he'll talk about it when he's ready.  Brooks is carrying Mallorie to the baggage claim as she's wrapped around him like a koala and Jake laces his hand in mine.  It's not completely out of the ordinary for Jake to hold my hand, but it definitely is when it's in the presence of my brother.  I chance a look up to where Brooks is walking, but notice he's too happy being wrapped up in Mallory.  Literally.  So I don't say anything as we follow after them, enjoying his closeness.  Aside from Mal, Jake is my absolute best friend, and I've missed him so much.   We separate when we arrive at the carousel marked for their arrival, and that's when I finally get a chance to get a good look at his face now that his sunglasses are off. 

I gasp loudly.  "Jacob Taylor Seresin!  What the fuck happened to your eye?!"

Jake winces as Brooks and Mal snap their heads in our direction at my outburst.   They turn back away once they realize what it was about, and I swear I see a sly smile on both of their faces. 

"Nothing you need to worry about, princess.  Just a little roughhousing on the boat, you should see the other guy," he smirks at me. 

"Have you iced it and-" I start, but am cut off when Jake finishes my question for me. 

"Taken anti inflammatories?  Yes, nurse Briar, I have indeed.  You've been taking care of me long enough that I know the drill better than I know how to fly my plane," he teases. 

I huff.  "Fine, will you let me put some more ice on it when we get to the house though?"

"I would expect nothing less," he smiles softly down at me. 

Their bags make their way around within 5 minutes and we're headed out to my 4Runner in the parking lot in no time. 

"The lunar rock was a solid choice, tiny.  It looks damn good!" Jake whistles upon approach. 

"Right?!  I love it so much, the TRD package has definitely come in handy driving out to mama and daddy's too, we've got to convince them to pave that damn driveway eventually," I grumble, making Jake laugh.  We all have killed the suspension in at least one vehicle each with that rocky entryway. 

"Remember when you were hellbent on that cute little Camaro for your 16th birthday and we all tried to convince you it was a terrible idea?  But oh no, Briar is the superior driver to all of us and had it handled.  I'm still mad I don't have a picture of your face when we had to use my truck to pull it out of the massive pothole you swore you wouldn't even graze!"  Jake teases and Brooks joins in on the laughter.

"Hey, Mal.  Do you remember the last time we pulled the 3A on them?" I ponder from the passenger seat with Jake in the driver's seat and the disgustingly in love pair in the back.

"You know, I think it's been a good while.  One could even argue it overdue," she replies.

She's always had my back, even if it's against the love of her life.   The boys' laughter quickly dies down at the memory. 

"Point made, little sister!" Brooks chimes in from the backseat. 

"Yep, lesson learned.  Sorry, darlin'," Jake winks at me.

I swear he has never openly flirted with me so much.  Don't get me wrong, we've always been affectionate and playful, but definitely not with Brooks around.  Once I was old enough to not think all boys had cooties, Brooks made me promise that all of his close friends were off limits.  I agreed, knowing it would work out for the best in the long run.   Admittedly, it sucked when he and Mal paired off, leaving Jake and I to be third and fourth wheels.  But hey, a car needs four wheels to drive, right?  

I was in the 7th grade when I realized I'd had a crush on Jake.  One of the mean volleyball girls with a bubble butt was making fun of me for being too skinny when he quickly came to my defense.  "Don't worry, princess.  She's just jealous that her now ex boyfriend dumped her because he had a crush on a certain cheerleader."  He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and quickly escorted me away from the bitch, tossing a "later Stacy!" over his shoulder.  "It's Amy!" she had whined in reply.  With the contact of his big arm over me, my hands got clammy, my face got hot, and my stomach filled with butterflies.  Thankfully, Mallorie was in my next class and I could ask her what was wrong with me.  She smiled once I finished confiding in her.  "It's about time you realized you're in love with each other," she had whispered to me.  "Um, no way!  Absolutely not!" I had quickly shut that down, but she just smiled and disagreed. 

I'm pleasantly surprised, once again, when Jake reaches across the console to lay his warm palm across the bare skin of my upper thigh.  I turned my head towards him, eyebrows raised in question.  He looked over at me, winked, and turned back to look at the road, leaving me with a gentle, reassuring squeeze to my leg.

My eyes dart up to the rear view mirror, hoping to catch Mal's attention.  Instead, my eyes lock with those of my brother's, that look annoyed.  His smirk gives away the fact that he's not completely pissed, though.  I chance a look back at Mal, who is smiling like a fool. 

What the fuck is going on here?