she's like a rainbow

she's like a rainbow

I walked into the cafè, my eyes landing on the gorgeous blonde looking at her phone with a big grin on her face. Without even thinking twice I sat in the chair across from her. Lila glanced up and smiled at me. "Is this seat taken?" I grinned, winking at her as she set her phone down and crossed her legs.
"Aren't you suppossed to ask that before you sit?" She questioned, though she was amused. She liked me, just as I liked her.
"What's a pretty girl like you doing here in the middle of the day?" i asked, ignoring HER comment completely.
"I'm enjoying my monday." She replied with a grin. "How about you?"
"I'm enjoying the view." I grinned wider then called for the waitress to order a cappucino.
"Poor thing." Lila pouted as she walked away. "You made her nervous."

I did a double take to watch the girl before looking at her. "Do I make you nervous?"
She laughed at that. "No." She grinned.
"I saw an article about you online. Apparently you're quite the artist." I commented.
"Are you looking me up?" She asked, intrigued.
I shook my head. "Just interested. Tell me more."
"I just got back from showing in a gallery in New York."
I blinked. "Huh. Trav is in New York." I commented.
She swallowed. "I know." She said slowly. "I saw him."
I rose a brow. "Did you?"
"I sat next to him on the plan, curiosity eating me alive since Travis hadn't told me much about her lately. Not about New York anyway. "And?"
She rolled her eyes and leaned into me. "Do you really want to know about your brothers sex life?" She asked, smirking a little.
I laughed. "How about you leave him out of it and just tell me about your sex life." I wiggled my brows, making her laugh.
"That would be a boring story if I was to leave Travis out of it." She admitted.
I blinked at her, "Does it mean you're not sleeping with anyone else?" I asked without thinking about it.
"Do I strike you as s.lutty?" She asked back, her lips pursing together and forming a straight line.
"No, of course not. Sorry Lila, I didn't mean it that way." I explained scratching the back of my neck, a little mortified to be honest, "It's that you're so sexy...I don't know, maybe I hand out with the wrong girls and now I think that everyone's like them."
At that she laughed again, shaking her head, "It's okay, I know you don't think I am like the ones you like." She pointed out, leaving me wonder what she meant with that. I knew what she meant, she was right.
I grinned, shaking my head and waiting for the waitress to set my cappuccino on the table before talking again, "I like you."
"Yes, sure but not in that way." She said back with a shrug and a small shrug of her shoulders as she sipped her coffee, looking at me with those green eyes. No wonder why Travis had a weakness for her. Damn him.
"Just because my brother met you first." I said seriously, pouring some sugar into the cup. I had no desire to settle down, but for someone like her? I'd think about it twice. "You picked the wrong Cole."
She laughed again, her laugh alone making me smile. She was really cute, Travis was right about that. "For what I know you're both cut from the same cloth."
"No." I smirked wider, taking a sip of my cappuccino, "I'm not grumpy or moody like him."
"Oh if only I had known that." She sighed and faked a frown before breaking into a silly smile.
This time was my turn to laugh, "My brother is a lucky bastard." I said offhandedly, shaking my head. I couldn't blame him for the way he was being with Lila but damn, another girl like her was hard to find.
"You don't sleep with as many girls as he does?" Lila asked, raising a brow.
I took a long look at her and shrugged. I didn't know how many girls my brother was fucking, but I could guess they were less than usual since he had Lila. "Maybe." I took a sip of my coffee and she followed suit.
"That waitress would probably sell her soul to go home with you." She commented, smirking back at me as I made a face.
"We weren't talking about me. And I have far better taste."
She laughed at that. "Right, you wanted details on your brothers sex life." She teased back. "That's a little weird."
"You're kind of a smartass aren't you?" I grinned wider.
She shrugged even though she was still smirking. How could my brother like a girl who was always so cheerful? She was his opposite. "Guilty." She winked at me.
I took another long second to stare at her, trying to guess where her thoughts were but also checking her out just a little. She was such a babe. "When did you last see Travis?"
She licked her lips. "The morning I left for home." She admitted. "Why?"
I shrugged and ran my hands through my hair. "Just wondering."
She licked her lips again. "Did you know Karlie?" She asked out of nowhere.
"Who's Karlie?" I asked, faking a confused expression as I furrowed my brows. I didn't know how much she knew about her but I knew how much travis would want her to know. More likely how little.
She rolled her eyes, of course not buying my nonsense. I had forgotten how hard it was to talk with girls with a brain. Or talk with girl period. "Karlie as your brother's ex." She pointed out.
"Adam never had a Karlie ex." I went on but this time I smirked.
She shook her head, her lips turning upside in a small smirk. She was so pretty. "I was talking about Travis." She said softly, the way his name left her lips saying it all. He was in a lot of trouble.
I nodded, "Oh, that Karlie..." I trailed off, leaning back in my chair as I looked at her.
"Why, do you know many Karlie's?" She asked with an amused expression on her face.
I shrugged, keeping my playful tone on, "I'm bad with names." I said and even if it was supposed to be a joke? It was true too.
"Oh god." She chuckled, shaking her head and pushing her hair behind her ear, "Your as good as deflecting as your brother."
I took my time to take in her angelic features before leaning into her from across the table, "What was the question again? I got distracted." I smiled.
"Did you know her?" She asked and her cheeks turned a darker shade of pink as she bit down on her lip, as if that question ashamed her a little.
"I did...I do." I answered eventually, "She's not dead you know."
She nodded slowly, looking lost in her own thoughts, "How is she?"
"Your opposite." I said quickly, not even thinking about it, but then again I wasn't saying anything bad was I? Travis wouldn't kill me for that.
She raised one eyebrow, looking genuinely curious, "What does that mean?"
I shrugged, "She's not blonde and she's crazy."
"Yeah I heard that." She muttered under her breath, pursing her lips before talking again. "What else?"
"I don't think Travis would be happy if I talked about her with you." I said and I looked at her, this time being serious. My brother had been through a hell with her and I was in no position to tell Lila that story. It was part of an ugly past that no one was happy to bring up again.
"Travis is usually not happy so what's the difference?" Lila quipped back, making me laugh out loud.
"Why do you even want to know?"
She licked her lips, something I noticed she did whenever she was saying something that was hard for her to say, and then gave me a look before shrugging. "I'm a girl we're jealous and needy and nosey."
I smirked, since she didn't seem any of those. Appearances could be deceiving though. "You're not though."
She let out a sigh. "I am." She sighed again and frowning a little. "Did you like her?"
I ran my hand over my face and nodded since yes, I had always liked Karlie unless she had turned into the crazy woman who was my brother's personal pain in the ass. "She's a nice girl." I said shortly and that was true. She was nice, smart, funny even, but her bad side was real bad. Lila on the other hand, seemed like her opposite.
She licked her lips. "I'm not Travis' type. Why is he fooling around with me?"
My serious face turned into a big grin because yes, maybe my brother usually went for brunettes, but she was a kind of beauty that was impossible not to notice. Or resist. "You're everyone's type baby."
She rolled her eyes and laughed, though her cheeks turned pink again. "Oh shut up, you go for busty brunettes just like your brother."
"I don't have a type." I replied, sitting back in my chair and eyeing the plate the waitress was carrying to another table. "I'm hungry."
"Order some food genius." She tilted her head to the side and bit her lip as she smirked at me, making me groan. Didn't she seriously realize the effect she had on men?
"Damn it Lila, stop being so pretty, it does things to me."
She widened her eyes at the outburst. "I'm not even dressed up or anything. You're just lonely." She teased me. "You need a girlfriend."
"Are you offering for the role?" I asked as I kept my grin in place. She looked exactly like the kind of girl who'd dream to get a nice boyfriend and all that bullshit.
She shook her head, chuckling, "No, of course not."
I leaned my elbows on the table, smirking at her, "Why not? You're single and hot, I'm apparently lonely and needing a girlfriend...it sounds like the perfect match to me."
"Yes, too bad I'm already seeing your brother." She said nonchalantly, rolling her eyes.
I grinned wider, liking how she got all kind of defensive whenever we brought up Travis, it was amusing. "You're seeing me now."
At that she laughed, "You know what I mean." She ran her hand through her golden hair, playing with a loose wisp as she stared at me. "And I'm too young for you anyway."
I raised one eyebrow slowly since yes, she kind of looked young, but I had never really thought about it. "Why how old are you?" I asked.
"You shouldn't ask that to any girl you know." She pointed out with a grin, "But since we're friends...I'm 23."
I widened my eyes, because she was a baby. "Damn, I'm ten years older than you." I thought about loud before shrugging, "Age is just a number though and I could teach you many things..."
"If your brother was here he would've kicked your ass already for what you just said." She said with a brow raised, her look a meaningful one.
I smiled at her instead, noticing how she talked about Travis a lot. "I'm just messing with you Lila." I said back simply, because if Travis and I had a rule was that we didn't share girls. Unless we wanted to. But I had the feeling that Trav went all territorial about her, the look on his face when he had seen Lila in that club with another guy had said it all to me.
Lila grinned and leaned into to me slowly, playing with fire. "So then you can't teach me many things?" She asked, tilting her head to the side and shooting me a fake innocent look.
"I feel as if this is a trick question...." I trailed off, my eyes moving from hers to her pink mouth to lower and then back up.
"I'll take it as a no." She sighed dramatically. "Men. All talk and no action." She tried not to laugh as she took a sip of her coffee and I debatied exactly what to say.
"Women. All teases." I retorted, making her actually laugh.
"Oh please, you have plenty of women willing to kneel at your feet if you'd let them."
"None like you." I commented nonchalantly, honestly. She was like a breathe of fresh air compared to all the other girls.
She blinked.  "Keep talking like this and I'll think you're trying to steal me away from your brother." She commented.
I smirked. "I could if I wanted to."
"You couldn't actually." She sighed, pouting a little and looking upset. "I'm not his to steal."
I leaned back, staring at her again. In that moment she was completely transparent. "You want to be." I replied, a statement not a question.
"It's obvious I know." She agreed. "I wish I didn't."
I licked my lips. "I wonder why he's stringing you along if he doesn't want what you want too." I said out loud, that wasn't something Travis would normally do.
She shrugged. "He can't say no to me." She replied simply.
"And you can instead?" I quipped back, smirking.
"No, I can't." She confessed with a sigh, playing with her hair as she looked away a moment.
I watched her closely, processing her answer. At least she was honest, ready to confess her sims, and honesty was hard to find in girls these days. "Good." I commented shortly.
She blinked at me, looking taken aback, "Good? How is that good?" She asked as she shook her head.
"My brother doesn't like no's." I smirked again at her face, at how she seemed almost mad at herself. I wonder how long it'd take before she'd go from mad to hurt.
She sighed again and her expression changed completely, a pout on her lips as she folded her arms again her chest. "Your brother surely has many demands for giving me nothing back."
"That was bitter." I raised one eyebrow at her, "But I'm sure you're right. He's hard to handle, I'm surprised you're still sticking around. I'm surprised he's letting you too."
"Oh yeah, I'm so lucky." She said back, sarcasm in her tone, "So lucky and special he didn't even tell me he was going to stay in New York."
"I thought you knew instead." I commented slowly even though I had seen that coming. Her face gave away everything.
"Knew what? When is he coming back?"
I blinked, she looked completely clueless. "Um. He got a job there Lila...they transferred him."
She stared back at me, pale like a ghost and looking like she was about to cry, pass out or throw up. Fuck me, I had to learn to keep my mouth shut. "What?" She asked in a breathy voice.
I reached over and grabbed her hand. "Are you okay? You look really pale."
"I always do." She spat back, pulling her hand away and giving me a look she should have given to Travis instead. "He could have told me."
"He should have told you." I agreed. "It was a dick move not to." I shook my head.
"...He doesn't owe me anything." She said finally, trying to relax.
"Bullshit. Does he know?" I asked though I guessed the answer already.
She looked back at me. "Does he know what?"
"That you're in love with him?"
She winced, looking actually pained. "He knows." She nodded. "But he doesn't feel the same way."
"Couldn't you be in love with me?" I asked, being silly because I couldn't stand looking at a sad girl. It was my weakness. "I promise I'd love you back."
She let out a small laugh but then she choked on it, "I wish." She said and I could see her struggling to show herself as strong even when she was hurt.
"Let's go, let's take a walk." I suggested as I set a few bills on the table that were enough for my cappuccino and her coffee, guessing that some fresh air would be good for her.
"Okay." She said weakly and got up, following me outside the cafe.
I slid my hands into the pockets of my jeans, peeking at her and studying her. I was good at reading girls, but usually all I wanted to read was if they'd sleep with me or not. "He cares about you." I said slowly as we walked.
"Did he tell you?" She asked, hooking her arm around mine, her voice little. Travis had this gorgeous young girl in his hands and he was fucking up. It was so typical of him, yet at the same time it wasn't at all.
"He doesn't talk much, but I know him." I commented simply, because it was obvious to me. He was like an open book to me.
Lila let out a deep breath and ran herhands through her hair. "I'm being awful, you should run away."
I laughed. "I never run away from pretty girls." I winked and she laughed, a real laugh that eft me smiling.
"No you just sneak out the next morning." She teased me.
I set my hand on my chest in mock hurt. "You wound me Miss. Trenton."
"We should be friends Jax." She said seriously.
"That is literally the worst thing you can say to a man." I replied, shaking my head. "Damn Travis."
"What?"
"I was serious about him meeting you first. You would have been mine so fast..." I shook my head and she laughed.
"That is very cocky of you." She started. "But I understand that's a family disorder so I won't judge too much."
"Nah, I'm the only cocky one, Travis just likes to copy the things I do. He used to follow me around like a puppy." I said though that wasn't true, or at least not anymore, but I liked making fun of my brother.
She tried not to laugh, "Second of all? You wouldn't love me either and since you're always so cute and happy I'd have fallen way harder and would now be an epic messs instead of just a semi-epic mess."
"I'm also much better in bed." I grinneed wickedly at her and she rolled her eyes.
"I doubt that." She said under her breath.
"You wound me again." I shook my head. "Fine. I'll be friends with you but only if we get to go lingerie shopping together."
She nodded. "Good idea, are you a thong wearer or more of a boyshorts kinda guy?"
I laughed, nudging her gently, "You're hilarious Lil."
"That's what Travis says too." She paused to fake a frown and a serious face, "Hilarious Lila." She said, mimicking my brother.
At that I laughed even louder, because she got him all right. The scowl, the glare, the annoyance in the voice...it was perfect. "You're killing me. That was really good."
She broke into a smirk as she ran her hand through her hair, "I know I'm amazing in so many ways." She sighed and glanced at me, noticing the look on my face. I bet she was. Ugh. "Not in that way! You can't keep having those thoughts if we're supposed to be friends."
"Thoughts? What thoughts? I swear I never had a thought of any kind." I grinned at her as we kept walking with no destination. It was a nice day, it had taken an unexpected turn that was making it even nicer. Since Travis had gone to NY I hadn't gone out much, I missed him as a wingman and as friend too. Adam was too busy with being a father and after a day of work I needed some distraction. Maybe Lila was right, I needed a girlfriend.
She bit down on her lip, shaking her head, "You're silly."
"I hope it's not a problem." I winked at her, looking down at her and catching her watching me weird. Girls. "What are you thinking about?"
She furrowed her brows, "I'm trying to guess what's your job." She answered honestly.
I laughed, finding that odd but cute too. "How's it going so far?"
"I have no idea." She said with a straight face, "Tell me."
"I'm a building contractor...kind of." I said back, making a face.
She raised one eyebrow at me, looking curious, "Kind of?" She repeated slowly.
"I could do better, but it's hard and all I get is small jobs." I explained quietly, "I can't complain really, but when I look at Travis and all the money he makes I wish I had been studying more. Then I look at Adam and I wish I had his family. God being in the middle sucks." I said and chuckled, since it wasn't really a problem to me. We were all different and if there was something that our mother had taught us was never to envy others.
"Oh my god. You're right. I should have met you first." Lila shook her head and I clapped my hands.
"Exactly!! So what do you say, want to be my girlfrined?"
She chuckled. "Yes. But you can't flirt with other women." She said back seriously.
I groaned. "Ugh. Dealbreaker."
She nodded. "Yeah I figured."
'What if you were to like, dress up as other women....could I flirt with those pretend girls?" I asked, looking her up and down.
"You mean like a slu.tty nurse or a sexy cop?"
I nodded, trying not to picture that in my head and failing. "We're on the same wavelength already." I grinned wider.
"You and Travis are so different." She pointed out.
I turned the corner and she followed me. "Ahh did you try to dress up for him once? He hates that."
She laughed again. "No I tend to dress down around him instead....fuck I miss him." She shook her head and ran her hands through her hair again.
"Me too actually. Want to go to Trenton's and help me pick up girls?" I suggested, that sounding distracting and good enough for both of us.
She rose a brow. "You go to Trenton's to pick up girls?"
I nodded. "Hell yeah, that place is full of hot girls."
She laughed. "My brother owns Trenton's."
I widened my eyes. How come I had never seen her before??? "Oh shit Lila Trenton. Wait that means you have like 6 siblings who are all famous right?"
"How do you know that?!" She kept laughing. "And they're not all famous....just 2 or 3 of them."
"I've talked to Kolton a few times at the bar. Good guy."
"Until you tell him you want his baby sister to dress up like a slutty nurse." She teased.
"Me?" I faked an innocent face and shook my head, "Never. I'm a saint."
She laughed again, a sound that was really nice, plus her smile could light up a whole room. "I'll remember that."
"When? When you'll finally understand that I'm the best Cole you can get?" I teased her though I didn't really mean it. There wasn't such a thing as best between us, we were all full of flaws.
"You should stop hitting on me." She grinned and poked my side.
"I'm not. We're friends, remember?" I smirked back at her, noticing how easy was to be around her.
"True." She ageeed as her grin turned into a genuine gorgeous smile.
I nodded slowly, silence between us a few seconds before I spoke again, "What do usually friend do?" I asked eventually.
She chuckled, "Don't you have any friend?"
"Not girls." I answered with a shrug.
"Go figure." She asked, rolling her eyes. "Why don't you have a girlfriend?"
"I'm waiting for the right girl. I have bad luck." I said simply. It wasn't like I was girlfriend hunting either, but I wouldn't be against that. I was almost 33, I couldn't go on sleeping around forever, it was starting to get old, boring even.
She shot me a meaningful look as her brow rised slowly, "And you think you can find the right one at Trenton's?" She asked skeptically.
"I could have met you." I pointed out.
"Yeah sure, but me aside?" She questioned, the look on her face saying what the opinion on the other girls hanging at her brother's bar was.
I sighed, "Why do you have so many brothers? Couldn't you have more sister?"
"I have one." She smirked at me, looking amused.
"And a hot one." I nodded. I had seen her a few times at practice...damn she was sexy. But. "With a kid."
She shot me a glare, "My nephew is adorable."
"He is, I know." I smiled at her, since the boy was close friend with my own nephew, but I couldn't handle that. It was too much. "But still." I added with a shrug.
"You're not paternal?" Lila teased me.
I shook my head. "Nah, kids scare me."
She laughed. "Travis says he wants kids. A family."
I nodded, since I knew that. The way he was with our little niece? It was crazy, he was a completely different person around her. And he sometimes acted like a father with Robert. It was as if he wanted kids, was even ready for them, but was too messed up to take the following step, which was making his own kids. "He does. But he's too obsessed with his work to focus on it."
She sighed. "Why is that? He's already successful, he doesn't need to spend his life obsessing about it."
I ran my hand through my hair. "We didn't grow up with much Lila, almost nothing actually. And Travis being the youngest never really got anything that wasn't once mine or Adam's. He saw our parents struggle with money and I think it got to him."
She nodded slowly, "Makes sense." She licked her lips. "I went the opposite way, I always got Colbie's handmedowns or my brothers old legos, but it was how you looked at things that made them good, not where they came from."
"But you're successful Lila, you worked hard to be where you are."
"There's a difference between success and money though isn't there. Even if I had none, I have art and family and friends...that's worth so much more."
"Are you sure you're 23?" I asked seriously and she laughed.
"Don't get me wrong, I like a good shopping spree as much as the next girl." She sighed. "I just wish Travis could see that I don't care about anything but him. He thinks I want him to change his life around. I love him the way he is."
"He's a lucky man." I pointed out, leaving at that. My brother might be subborn, but I could see his point too. You had to change a little if you were in a relationship, no matter if the girl wanted it or not.
She took a deep breath. "It doesn't really matter anymore though does it. He's not coming back."                                                                        I stopped walking and reached for her chin gently, tilting her head up as I studied her expression. "Don't be upset Lila, you should always be happy."
She shrugged, looking away and swallowing. "It's kind of sad though. He didn't tell me anything..." She trailed off.
I felt her pain, it was so evident it made me feel sorry for her though I understood my brother too. "Maybe he'll come back." I tried.
"You said they transferred him." She commented as her pout got bigger. Now, pouts were my weakness. F.uck my life.
"He doesn't know if it's a permanent thing." I explained quietly, remembering Travis words. "It could last a few months only."
"Yeah but what does that change really?" She asked, folding her arms against her chest as if she was physically hurting, "Even if he comes back, he still doesn't want me...what should I do? Wait?" She went on, reasoning out loud.
"You shouldn't wait." I said seriously, because in my opinion waiting was always bad. Things happened anyway if they had to, no matter if you were waiting or now.
She rolled her eyes, "Sure, because you're here and I can have you instead."
At that, I laughed, "That's not what I meant but I'm happy you finally understood what's good for you."
She blushed but a small smile played on her lips, "You're too silly for being Travis brother." She shook her head, "But thanks. I needed someone to talk to...you know, Travis is too closed off and my brothers, well, are my brothers."
"Anytime Lil." I smiled at her, watching her taking a deep breath.
"I think I need a hug too." She announced and a second later she was in my arms.
I was taken aback for a moment but then I hugged her, "That's what friends are for, right?"
"Right." Lila nodded before pulling back. "So tell me more about your job."
I shook my head. "Nah, that's not exciting."
"Do you hate it?"
I shook my head again. "Not at all." I stopped and sighed, rolling my head so my neck cracked twice.
"Okay I can get the hint that you don't want to talk about it. But we will eventually."
I winced. No thanks. "We'll see about that."
She grabbed my arm again. "Let's go see a movie."
I turned towards her and then nodded, liking her idea. "Yeah okay. Perfect, there's a few out I want to see, and since I have no chance of getting you naked, I don't have to watch what you want."
She laughed. "Deal. I'm not really into girlie movies anyways. I have 5 brothers remember?"
I grinned. "This day is turning out better than I thought. Can we see the one with that victoria's secret model trying to act?"
"No. My brother is in that one and I don't want to watch him groping her."
I laughed again. "You have such problems Trenton." I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and she shrugged.
"Nothing that popcorn and an icee couldn't cure."