Read Online Escalation Clause by Liz Crowe - Free Book Online

of their relationship from Jack, had worn Brandis down. He needed his friend to know, or better yet, to accept their relationship.
    He sat, staring at the light summer traffic. “You got a girl or something, man? I never see you anymore.”
    “Yeah, kinda,” Jack ran a hand through his thick black hair, sipped his beer, his work-boot clad feet propped on the railing. “Not really. She’s fun and all but, nothing special.” Brandis matched his casual stance but his heart was going a mile a minute.
    “Is it that S and M stuff? You still doing that scene?” Brandis had no interest in it, but Jack seemed to enjoy the kink.
    “Some.” Jack kept his eyes trained on the traffic on Church Street. His body language screamed stress. Brandis let the conversation drift off.
    “You should realize that I know—about you and my sister.” His friend commented after ten minutes of silence.
    Brandis lifted his chin. Here it was. The moment of truth. “Oh?” He grabbed another couple of beers from the cooler between them, popped the caps and handed one over. Jack just stared at him, his deep blue eyes full of something Brandis wished he could read. “What is it that you know?” He tried to keep the defensiveness out of his voice but a sudden loop of pure pornographic activity that he had shared with Maureen shot through his head so fast he sucked in a breath at the strength of the images.
    A mistake, Brandis. You have made a giant error in judgment.
    But words tumbled from his lips. “I love her. Did you know that?” He leaned his elbows on his knees, let the beer bottle dangle from his fingers.
    “No, I did not.” Jack’s voice was tight with anger. “I figured it for a ‘fuck the virgin’ thing. Forbidden fruit. Whatever.”
    “No.” Brandis kept a tight rein on his temper. Between the two of them, they had enough testosterone for a football team, but he knew the moment was crucial if he were going to keep Jack as a friend; because giving Maureen up was something he simply would not do.
    “Gonna be tough, isn’t it? Long distance relationship and all that?” Jack sipped, staring back out at the road. “She won’t be happy. I mean if you are ‘in love’ and all.” He hooked his fingers around the words, sending a bright shaft of fury between Brandis’ eyes.
    “Yeah well, it’s been done before. I only have a three-year program. I’ll be home enough to….”
    “You know what, I don’t want to hear anymore.” Jack stood. “She is barely eighteen years old, has her entire college life ahead of her. And you, you are…shit.” He spit out the words then stomped inside. Brandis stayed put, knowing Jack would not walk away from this conversation. He wasn’t mistaken. Jack stalked back out, changed into shorts and a T-shirt, but sporting anger that was palpable from across the porch. “I told you already. I don’t want you to be that guy for her, okay? I mean, it’s not that I don’t like you. I do. You’re my best friend, but….”
    Brandis sipped, forced the fury out of his voice before he spoke. “Did you hear me before? I love her. I don’t want to just fuck her. I have never in my entire life felt this way about any woman. You know that. I’ve never had a girlfriend longer than a…oh….” He slumped back into his seat, suddenly getting it. “Look, Jack, I swear on a stack of whatever you hold holy this is completely different for me. I haven’t even…I mean she…we. She’s still a virgin, okay?”
    Jack stared at him, eyes narrowed, fists clenched. Brandis tensed. If it came to blows they were evenly matched. It could get ugly. He watched his friend take a deep breath and process what he’d been told. “Okay. Fine. Then walk away from her. Now. Before she isn’t a virgin anymore, and I have to pound you. If you honor our friendship with anything at all, you will do this.”
    “Jack,” Brandis shook his head. “I can’t man. I cannot do that. I love you like a brother. I always