Chapter Twenty-Seven
"Are we expectin' anyone else?" Sean asked confused when he saw that his brother had gotten four controls ready. He knew Austin was on his way, but it was normally just the three of them.
"David will be joining us," he answered.
"David? As in Isabella Santiago's boyfriend?"
"That's the one," Aaron nodded, seeing his brother didn't get it. "He's new to town, doesn't know anyone. Figured I'd take him under my wing," he explained, seeing him nod now; that made more sense.
Sean knew his brother would try to mould him or use him in some way to benefit himself. He just didn't know for what purpose. "Okay but isn't that a bit awkward...?" the younger Miller asked without referencing the feud outright.
"Nah, barely comes up," Aaron shrugged jovially, making his brother think that that didn't really answer his question. Especially after he got lectured for potentially helping out either sister with Kevin and yet, here Aaron was getting friendly with one of their boyfriend's. It made him wonder if Tatum was seeing anyone, having figured out that she'd only asked about Austin the other day for either Isabella or Sue. "Ah, there he is," Aaron pulled his brother from his thoughts when he saw David enter the vast living room. "David, glad you could make it," he said jovially, giving him a clap on the shoulder. "This is my brother Sean," he introduced them.
"Nice to meet you," Sean nodded as he shook his hand.
"You too. Thanks for having me over, it gets a bit boring stuck at home, especially with Tatum constantly on my case," David said, exaggerating how often she asked him to help out. "She's a ball buster, that one," he added with a laugh, intriguing the two brothers for very different reasons.
"I bet," Aaron nodded with a chuckle, still wanting to see if he could find out more about the family dynamic and put that information to good use.
"So, how long have you and Isabella been together?" Sean asked, figuring it best to be polite to his brother's guest, even if he didn't quite get it.
"Four years... wait, or is it five?" David couldn't quite remember. "Four or five," he said, "most likely five."
"That's a long time," the younger Miller nodded impressed. Aside from his parents, aunt and his grandparents, there didn't seem to be many role models when it came to relationships; his brother was constantly seeing different women and Vivian was constantly off and on again with their friend. "How are you findin' town?"
"Oh well... it's alright," their guest said slowly. "I do miss our place in the city, I miss having our own place," he added, referring to Tatum's presence. "And it's only going to get worse," he was about to mention her pregnancy.
"Nah it'll be fine. Let's set up the game," Aaron stopped him from running his mouth. He wanted to use the news of Tatum's pregnancy when it best worked to his advantage.
"What about Austin?" Sean asked now, not missing the dark look passing over David's face.
"He can join us. We'll just do some practice runs," his brother dismissed and led the way over to the TV and the two sofas. "David, fancy a beer?" Aaron offered, showing him the koolbox to the side. "We've got chips 'n dips too," he added.
"I'll get them," the younger Miller offered, still trying to figure out what was going on. His brother was up to something, that much he knew.
Austin could hear them as he made his way up the stairs to the second living room. They had one downstairs where the family spent their time together, but there was a second living room upstairs for the games' consoles and cinema screen. It kept the boys out of the way when they were playing games that only interrupted the others. By the sounds of it they'd started without him, as the battle noises met him on the landing. For now, they were playing solo, but they'd split up into teams once the Sheriff joined them.
"Hey guys, havin' fun?" Austin asked as he walked in.
"Hey, there he is!" Sean called out enthusiastically, but not looking away from the screen. Neither did the other two, to be fair.
"We'll be with you in one minute," Aaron said, his tongue poking out slightly as he concentrated.
"Oh, come on!" David let out as he kept battling to get away from Sean's army, drawing the Sheriff's attention to himself now.
"What's he doin' here?" Austin asked, his tone making both Millers stop and turn to him. Their guest hadn't noticed and kept playing, until Aaron finally remembered to pause.
"That's David," the older Miller said simply.
"I know who he is, I want to know why he's here," the Sheriff repeated himself, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"He's my new buddy," Aaron answered now, making his friend wonder what he was up to as well. Though for all he knew, maybe the oldest son didn't mind if David roughed Isabella up a little, in the name of the feud. "Is there some problem I don't know about?"
"Eh no..." Austin shook his head now. He didn't want to ruin today, and he had no proof if David had ever done anything more than hold her arm too tightly. He would just make sure he kept his distance from her boyfriend, and it'd be fine. "So teams... am I with Sean?" he diverted his attention to the matter at hand. If he couldn't kick the guy's ass in real life, he would happily settle for doing so digitally but that might be a bit awkward if they were on the same team.
"Yeah, sure thing," Sean nodded. The Sheriff normally teamed up with his brother, but as David was Aaron's friend they might as well be on a team together.
The game started off friendly enough, but soon Austin took his opportunities and kept bombarding David.
After about the fifth time, it was really started to get on the new guy's nerves. "Seriously Austin, what is your problem?" David called out annoyed as his avatar was regenerating again.
"No problem," the Sheriff started with a pleasant enough voice. "I just hate men that rough up women," he added in a muttered undertone.
"What was that?" the guest asked, sounding a little more threatening now.
Aaron paused the game again, to find out what the hell the matter was with his friend. "Come on, Austin, you can tell us," he said. He gave his friend a 'just tell us' look when the Sheriff looked a little uncomfortable.
"I said that I hate men who rough up women," Austin repeated now. Both Millers looked at their guest, a little horrified. If there was one thing they didn't stand for, it was physical abuse.
"David, is that true?" the older brother asked.
"What? No, course not," David responded, a little too heatedly.
"Don't lie, I saw you with Isabella," the Sheriff reacted.
"You saw nothing!"
"Yes, I did."
"Well, what did you see?" Sean asked now, as this was getting them nowhere. It was clear that whatever Austin had seen, David didn't want them to know about. And the latter glared at the former, almost as if trying to threaten him not to tell.
"He was being rough with Isabella, he was hurting her," the family friend said now.
"But he didn't hit her?" Aaron checked, almost for his own peace of mind. He didn't want to have to cut his new friend off already, not before he'd been useful to him. But if David had hurt the girl he wanted, then he would make his life miserable.
"No, of course not," David defended himself. And it wasn't a lie, because in that instant he hadn't done anything more than hold her too tight and maybe shake her a little.
"Austin?"
"Not that I saw, but he was definitely hurting her."
"I lost my temper and I may have held her too tight. Nothing more," David 'explained' to his new friend, who was looking from him to the Sheriff as he internally debated his response.
"Could you be mistaken?" Aaron asked his friend, and he knew straight away that the Miller was inclined to believe the new guy.
"No," was all Austin said, turning his gaze back to the screen and his controller, indicating that he was done talking about it; he would let it lie for now.
"Let's just keep playing," Sean noticed, in an attempt to keep the peace. There was no point getting into it now, not when it was one man's word against the other. He just hoped that perhaps their friend had seen wrong, because if he was right and they did nothing to prevent David doing more... that would be unforgiveable.
Tatum sighed as she opened the front door and headed in. It had been a long day as she'd not been able to leave quite as soon as Isabella had arrived. All she wanted now was a nice bath and an attempt at an early night. "Hey David, good day? Have you heard back from the interview at all?" she asked when she realised he was home.
David huffed as he slammed the TV remote down onto the sofa and got up. "I have had a fucked-up day. Can't you leave me alone for just one second?" he blew up at her, leaning in close to try to intimidate her. When she didn't respond he stormed past her, slamming the door behind him. She frowned to herself, not thinking her simple question had quite deserved such an over-the-top response. It still didn't help figure him out, but it added to some of the concerns that were starting to build up.