Off Limits, Brother's Best Friend Chapter 71

Chapter 71: Do As You Were Told 

Brianna

Jane and Callan are polar opposite, she is blonde, bubbly and small. He is large, unfriendly and has the darkest hair I have ever seen.

“You live in Port Harcourt, don't you?” I asked her.

“I do, though I don't always get around to seeing my brother. He is a workaholic.” She replied which made me giggle. I know exactly how he is.

“Yes, I am still trying to find the source of this surprise visit of yours.” Callan eyeballed his sister.

“Can't your baby sister visit it?” She popped her hip out.

“She can but you never do it without a reason.” He looked at her pointedly, she smiled sheepishly, it means he was clearly right.

“We will talk later, come sit down, Brianna.” She waved me over to the sofa.

We talked for a little bit longer while Callan walked around his apartment doing whatever it was that he was doing.

“We are going for lunch, you should come.” She invited me.

“Nowhere fancy, just my father's place.” She added, I assumed she meant the family owned restaurants.

“I don't want to monopolize your time with your brother.” I waved off the idea.

“He won't mind. Would you, Callan?” When called out to him. He appeared suddenly and his deep voice made me turn my head to find him.

“You are welcome to join us.” He nodded once, his tone was very disinterested and I wasn't sure if the offer was valid.

“Come on, we will eat at Terra Kulture and then go down to the shop. What do you think?” She asked, I glanced between her and her brother and since he didn't look mad about the invitation, I shrugged and agreed.

She is a very easy going person to talk to, the conversation never lagged between us and I found it comical when she had brought Callan into our conversation and he looked annoyed with her. She told me a few stories about them as children which he promptly shut down.

“He wasn't always mean, the military hardened him in my opinion.” She muttered, he rolled his eyes and told her to shut up and talk about something else.

Since he knew some people in the restaurant, he hung around the bar for a few minutes before returning to us once our meal was finished. He had eaten faster but I guess that was because we were talking more than eating.

“Okay, I want to shop.” She announced, she looked at her brother who seemed to already know what she wanted. He dug into his pocket and pulled out the wad of cash I have seen him carry before.

“Brianna, do you have money with you?” He stopped counting and asked me. My eyes went wide but my cheeks went pink.

“Umm, I wasn't planning on buying anything, I was just going to keep Jane company.” I replied.

Instead of giving her cash, he pulled out his black card. Holding it between two fingers, he showed it to his sister but quickly snatched it away when he spoke.

“Don't go too crazy, get yourself and Brianna something.” 

“What? No,” I refused the offer. Jane had no problem snatching the black card from her brother.

“Thank you, Callan.” She stood and hugged his arm, he just looked down at her without even responding to it.

“Buy yourself something.” He reiterated his message to me, I lowered my voice and leaned closer to him.

“I told you I would let you do that anymore.” I refused again.

“Bryce would have given you money if he was here. If it makes you feel better, I will take the cost out of his next paycheck.” 

“Don't fight him on it, Brianna.” Jane interrupted. She said she was going to use the restroom before we headed out and it gave me an opportunity to argue with Callan on this.

“You can't just be handing black cards out to people and making offers like that. I already told you that you don't owe me anything, if anything, I owe you a lot.” I brought up the topic that I have mentioned before. He looked around the restaurant before stepping closer to me.

“How many times am I going to have to argue with you about money before you just drop it and do as you were told?” I scoffed.

“Do as I am told?” I repeated his words.

He pinched my chin to tip my face up to his, I saw that same flicker in his eyes that I always see when our gaze longer on one another. His gaze dropped to my outfit and back up to me.

“You look cute.” He changed tune so quickly and it surprised me, making me blush.

“Umm, thanks.” I said sheepishly.

I saw a small smirk come out of him but he quickly corrected his face to his usual serious expression. There was serious and then more serious, those are his two expressions. He released my chin and leaned into my ear instead.

“Buy something, you can show it off to me later.” His deep voice insinuate something more than just showing an article of clothing. I have shown him outfits before but in a sexy way like the last time I showed him my small pajamas through pictures. We communicate more provocatively over the phone, almost like we were trying to take the personal out of it. Just two screen on two phone, not a man and his best friend's little sister. I bit my lip when he pulled away and a glimmer showed in his eyes at the thought of me modeling something for him. We didn't even realize Jane had returned, so when she spoke, Callan almost yanked head away from me. The air that was thickening between us suddenly dissipate, I cleared my throat and grabbed my purse.

“Ready?” I nodded to her.

“Are sure you don't want to come with us, Callan?” She asked him one last time.

“I would rather be tortured physically than endure one of your shopping trips.” He deadpanned, it made me laugh all the way out the door.

When we got into the street, a car was alre waiting for us. We slipped in the back and she turned to me right away.

“So?” She began, I looked up at her to see what she was going to say.

“What is going on between you and my brother?” She smirked, my eyes went wide and I fumbled over myself to immediately deny her allegations.

“What? Nothing, absolutely nothing.” I shook my head, she laughed and flicked her hair away from her face. She wears it parted down in the middle like I do but more curtain bangs.

“He wants to buy you stuff, I saw him looking at you throughout the meal and I also saw him pinching your chin and whispering something to you.” I blushed deeply.

“I am not trying to embarrass you, you would be adorable together. I am only curious.” She grabbed my hand to reassure me.

Since the drive was a short one, we were already at the cobblestone street that was lined with shops. We got out of the car and she linked arms with me. She is a touchy person but I didn't mind it.

“Nothing is going on between us, he is my brother's best friend.” I reminded her, she looked less than impressed.

“So?” She deadpanned.

“Bryce would flip out.” I tried to make her see the reason.

“But you are attracted to each other, right? I could feel it in the air between you two. He is attractive and you are gorgeous.” She waved me off. I felt weird talking to Callan's sister about this, I wouldn't fess up, I couldn't. Luckily she got distracted when we started to walk into the shops and she dropped the topic. We fell into paradise instead.

I ended up getting along so well with Jane, she might be a little bit spoiled but she was sweet and funny and a really good time. We both love clothes,bags, shoes and all good things, so we talked a lot about it. I missed being able to do it, in school we would gush about things because we all shared a common interest. Here, I have been surrounded by men who could care less, one shopping fun was a few days ago and we already have plans set up for this weekend after work. She was surprised that I worked for some reason, I guess because she has never had to. She has always been rich.

*****

It was midweek and I had just gotten out of work, so David was driving me back home. I tried to chat with him and be friendly, so he doesn't feel like he works for me as a driver and more like a buddy. He didn't use to engage much but I guess he has come around because he was actually talking more, asking me some personal questions about my life. Just random small talk about who I have been hanging out with now that I am settled in Port Harcourt. I was proud to say I finally had friends like Jane, Kate, Sandra but we didn't go out much beyond hanging around the shop.