Stronger as One (#1, Completed)

7. One door closes...

RILEY

Once we agreed I would join him, Lucien and I said our goodbyes and he was on his way out when I heard him bump into something... or rather, someone.

"Fuck me," an excited and rather impressed female voice said. 

Oh god, did she just say that out loud to my brother?

"I'm sorry, miss- I didn't realise there was someone on the other side of the door," he started apologising before he looked down at the tiny red-head in front of him. "You are Scarlett, right? Riley's friend?"

I moved to my brother's side just to find Scarlett holding onto his torso as if she was clutching on for dear life. My very much attached brother might not have noticed the lustful looks that my best friend was giving him, but I knew exactly what was going through that head of hers.

"You know who I am?" she exclaimed with obvious surprise, her cheeks bright red in the meantime.

"Let's just say I might have heard a thing or two." Lucien smirked, and I knew he was teasing me, but Scar was probably going to assume that I'd been talking about her to him. Great- now one of my closest friends was going to be pining after my brother. "I'm really sorry, but I have to go. See you tomorrow, sis! And it was a pleasure to meet you, Scarlett!"

My friend finally got the hint that she should let go of him, but that didn't prevent her from following him with her gaze as he left my house.

"You did not tell me that your brother is hot, with capital H. I would love to get my hands on him again. Preferably naked," she said, licking her lips and closing her eyes, probably to imagine... actually, I didn't want to know what she was imagining. I finally understood how my brother must have felt last night. 

"Don't you even dare continue," I warned her. "I do not want to ever picture my brother like that. Besides, he is not even your type."

"What? Since when is ridiculously sexy not my type?"

"Since you keep going on and on about muscly tattooed men with beards and long hair." Oh, I knew her type pretty well. Good thing that there weren't many motorcycle clubs in London or she would have quit her job in finance by now to become a biker groupie.

"True. But a girl needs to keep her options open!" She flashed her most innocent smile at me, probably hoping that I would give her my blessing.

"Sorry to disappoint but my brother is attached and, apparently, it's pretty serious. Like sister-in-law kind of serious. What are you doing here, anyway?"

"That's a shame! And I came to check on you. I wanted to make sure that you got home okay. Actually, that's a lie. Well, not entirely - I care about your well-being, but I wanted to hear all the juicy details about your sexcapade with Mr Sex-on-a-stick from the bar. He looked like he was ready to shag you there and then, audience be damned."

"Let's just say that I taught him a lesson about not always having things his way." I smiled smugly at the memory of last night. Yeah, it was a good night!

"You go, girl!" Scarlett wolf whistled, and I nearly choked. 

I knew she was not aware of everything that I had just discovered, but her action caught me off guard.

"Hey, Scar, I need two favours from you. One, can you please give me a lift to my parents' place in Virginia Water? I left my car there yesterday, as I was not in the right mind to drive."

"Sure thing, Riley. What's the second?"

"I'm going to go away for a while. Lucien and I agreed I should go up to Scotland for a bit to find out more about my family and to get to know each other. Can you please keep an eye on my place and the mail? I don't know how long I will be away for and I would feel better if I know that someone was checking on things here now and then."