Chapter Six

Brax's P.O.V.
What was I suppose to do? There was no way out of it. He started laughing his head off. I decided to ignore him and went back into the bathroom.
"Brax, wait up bro!"
Oh great. He was going to be at it again.
"What do you want Case?" I demanded.
"The lipstick. Where were you tonight anyways?"
"At the barbecue. Mate, you saw me there."
"Yeah, at the very beginning. I saw you slip out with Charlie."
Hold on, what? Wasn't he taking Ruby to his room? I swear he has eyes on the back of his head.
"We just went for a walk, that's it," I assured him.
"Really?"
"Yes Casey, just drop it okay? Please?"
I turned the radio on loudly in the bathroom to drown Casey out in case he was still talking to me. I went in for a long shower in case Heath came back. I would be dead meat if it was him who saw me instead of Casey.

Casey's P.O.V.
I knew I shouldn't tell Ruby of the state Brax was in, but in some ways it seems like the right thing to do. Charlie is her mum. She should know what's going on. I suspected that Brax had a thing for Charlie as soon as he kept asking about her, but he was never open about it. He kept keeping it to himself. I decided to give Ruby a call. The worst thing she could do was scream and yell at her mum. Surely she wouldn't tell anyone...

Ruby's P.O.V.
I can't believe what Casey just told me. Ew, no. No way. Charlie was not with Brax tonight. Just because Casey and I saw them slipping out together didn't mean they were doing anything in particular. They were probably completely innocent, and all they did was talk. Charlie was probably just being her usual self, needing to go outside for fresh air all the time. Besides, I knew how much her job meant to her. She has worked ever so hard to get herself to this point, and I knew she wouldn't throw it all away just for a man, let alone Brax. Anyways, I think she would've figured out how awkward it would be with her going out with my boyfriend's brother. No, no, no, this couldn't be true. I wanted to know so badly, but I couldn't bring myself to ask Charlie. I texted Casey saying how this could be a coincidence. "What are the odds?" was his reply. Okay, maybe he did have a point.

I went into the living room to where Charlie was lying on the couch, watching TV. I grabbed the remote from the table in front and turned the TV off. As I expected, Charlie turned and glared at me.
"What was that for?" she demanded.
"I just want you to be honest with me okay?"
"When am I not?" she said satisfyingly.
"Tonight. What happened?"
"I was at the barbecue with you."
"No, I saw you and Brax going outside."
"Yeah, for some fresh air."
"Oh really? Then how come both you and him came home in the same messy state."
"I have no idea? A coincidence maybe?"
"Yeah, of course, because both of you were obviously at the barbecue all night tonight weren't you?" I said sarcastically.
"Ruby, please, just drop it."
"You don't get it do you?"
"Get what?"
"Everything you're wasting for Brax."
"Rubes, Brax and I aren't together. Please, just understand that. I couldn't be any clearer."
"Yeah, fine, whatever. I'm going to sleep now. Night Charlie."
I walked to my room, knowing she had been lying to me. I just don't understand why. I'm her freaking daughter.

Brax's P.O.V.
My phone rang and I looked at the caller ID. It was Charlie. I couldn't pick it up because both Casey and Heath were in the same room as me. If it wasn't raining so heavily, I would've gone outside.
"Aren't you going to get that?" Heath asked.
"Nope," I replied.
"Okay, then..."
He looked down at his sandwich strangely and took a bite. I knew how suspicious I was being, but this couldn't get out. I then received a text. One voice message. I decided to wait until the other two had gone to bed until I listened to it.
"Being quite antisocial aren't you?" Casey said.
"No, I just don't feel like picking up my phone at the moment."
"Sure sure."
What was with this family? Why was everyone being so nosy? It's not like I questioned Casey what he did tonight, same with Heath. Well actually, more like who Heath did...

Finally my brothers decided to call it a night. I double checked to see if their bedroom doors were shut completely until I called Charlie back. I listened to her voice message first.
"Brax, I'm sorry for calling so late. Ruby forced me sit down with her to have a conversation about what happened tonight. She started interrogating me, and bombarded me with questions. Before you ask me, no, I didn't tell her anything. Although she knew that you had make up sprawled everywhere? Did Casey see you before you got yourself cleaned up? Well, he probably did because it's not like Ruby saw you. Anyways, I'll get to my point. Tonight was fun, but that was it. It was just a one off and I wasn't thinking straight. I'm sorry, I can't do this again."
No, she couldn't do this to me. Ruby must be getting into her ear. She seemed to be enjoying it tonight, even if she did mention how risky it was.

Charlie's P.O.V.
I was lying on my bed, facing the ceiling. I held my phone tightly in my hands; somewhat hoping that Brax would call back. Was he purposely ignoring me? I did kind of turn him away on the message I sent him... Ruby did have a point tonight though. I did have a good job, and I couldn't just throw it away. On the other side, what if Brax is the one? I don't get where his whole "reputation" was coming from. Once you got to know him, he was really nice. I didn't want to push him away. I decided to call him back.

Brax's P.O.V.
The TV was turned up too high so I didn't hear my phone ring at all. It was lying on my pillow in my room, and I hadn't even noticed until I was about to sleep. I had seven missed calls all from Charlie. What did she want? Was she trying to confuse me? First she said she didn't want me; now she won't stop calling me. I was getting awfully tired, so I thought it was best if I left this till tomorrow.