Played By Riggs

17

James had described his brothers to be two rowdy bears with threatening eyes,  mixed with a whole load of trouble.

However the only threatening thing about them was their charm. Their smooth 'it runs in the family' Branson charm. I was caged in with Jay on my left and Jordan on my right. I had no idea where James was. I didn't really even have the time to think about where James was, because I was being told marvellous stories about his childhood and my sides were aching from laughter.

"Tell me he didn't," I pleaded in between breaths.

"He did!" Jordan bellowed, laughing. "He climbed to very top of the tree just to get the ball, the twig snapped, so he fell and broke his arm."

I pursed my lips to stifle the laughter. "Oh, wow. A true hero."

It was so nice to be on the other end of the line. Nice to know that James would be embarrassed when he found out what his brothers and I were discussing. And extremely nice to know that it wasn't my Mother sharing old stories and trying to scar my humiliation card some more points.

 I even felt like I had the upper hand. I had already sat through his parent's memories of James and now I was getting his brothers'. I had no siblings. The ball was in my court and I was so aiming for a dunk.

"He's stubborn, always has been. He'll stop at nothing to get what he wants," Jordan finished, shaking his head. "We would always dare him to do some crazy shit, or pull some extreme prank on our next door neighbour, thinking there was no way in hell he would go through with it. He always did. Had to prove us wrong."

Jay smirked, nodding. "One time, Mrs Hallmay was in the shower with her window wide open. We dared James to get the hose and try aim the water inside."

My eyes widened. "No," I choked, not believing it for a second. There was no way. The smart, sensible James Branson had ruined an old ladies warm shower with cold water from the hose?

"Yes," Jay snorted. "Mrs Hallmay was in for a big surprise, and so were our parents when they received an angry knock on the door 10 minutes later."

"How did she know it was James?"

"We always pranked her," Jordan said, a soft smile on his face. "But little, harmless pranks. In the summer, she would always call us to her back garden gate and offer us ice lollies. We would take her rummaging through the freezer to swap her sugar for salt. Put pepper in her coffee jar."

"The poor woman," I gasped. "How did you ever get away with it?"

"We didn't. She always knew what was coming. We figured she had eyes in the back of her head or something with the way she noticed our meddling," Jay chuckled. "The hose was the first and last of the biggest dare and still to this day she reminds James of it."

"So she should. I can't believe he went through with it," I laughed myself. Admittedly, it was funny. My impression of James had excelled sky high limits. I started to wonder if he was still unable to resist a good dare. Perhaps I could use that to my advantage tonight. He had informed me that the walls were too thin and the bungalow to quiet for us to have some fun, but maybe I could get him to change his mind with the new information. "Are you still as close now, as you were back then?" I asked.

Jordan shook his head and his smile disappeared. "All three of us work a lot, so there isn't really much time in between to see each other. We text now and then. The odd phone call. But it is occasions like this that we really look forward to. Especially since James has brought you along. You do know that you're the first woman he's ever introduced to us, right?"

"He told me earlier," I nodded, blushing like a fool. "It doesn't really mean anything, though, does it? James was the first man to meet my Mother but...."