ROBBIE’S POV

I thought my eyes deceived me, but after several times blinking–there he was, standing on the front door looking real shady.

When Dad told me that my sister was dating a guy from work with a British accent, he failed to mention that the British guy was actually Orlando Bloom.

The Orlando Freaking Bloom.

Well played, sister.

A suppressed chuckle left me when I saw my older but actually smaller sister tried to shield her elf boyfriend from our dad.

That poor thing.

Lynn glared at me, looking disapprovingly over my snickering.

After a few small talk with Orlando and Dad, the poor thing was being lifted by our dad like a rag doll, her expression was one that made me feel almost sorry for her.

Almost. But what kind of brother doesn’t enjoy seeing his sister suffer?

I pressed my lips together in an attempt to suppress my laughter—a failed attempt, of course, but eh.

Mr. British seemed like he would laugh too if he wasn’t actually being stared at by my dad.

Lynn finally smiled at Dad, mumbling ‘I miss you’ and all that sentimental stuff and stuck her tongue out at me before sending a playful punch on my chest.

I groaned playfully in return and grinned at her, then at Orlando before Dad gestured for us all to get in.

As they made their way to the sofa, I followed them behind and pulled out my phone to send a quick text.

‘Babe, go back to my sister’s room for now. She just came and brought her bf with her.’

A few seconds later a reply came to my screen.

‘Ok. But then I have to spend the rest of the night without u? ’

‘Don’t worry, hun. We’ll continue our unfinished business 😉 but I’ll need to talk to my sis.’

‘Ok baby 😘’

I grinned as I read my girlfriend’s text but quickly wiped it off of my face as I listened to Lynn and Orlando explaining their paparazzi situation to me and Dad. Knowing her, the poor thing must be feeling pretty miserable.

“I bet you love the attention, sis,” I chirped sarcastically, grinning smugly at her.

I expected her to glare at me, but she just pouted instead, making me and Dad chuckle.

I saw Dad looking at both Lynn and Orlando, then nodded a bit. “Mr. Bloom, you’re welcome to stay for as long as you need. Let’s chat again tomorrow, I bet you two are tired already.”

“Well, the guest room is still very messy so I guess you can stay at my room,” I added, offering my hospitality at Orlando like the good son and brother I was. “But fyi, Serena happens to be sleeping over so I hope you don’t mind sharing room with her?” I turned to my sister.

Lynn, always the perceptive one, seemed to notice my hidden agenda though not knowing what it was yet. She narrowed her eyes at me curiously to which I only return with the sweetest smile I could muster.

“Oh, really? No problem. Thanks, Rob,” she answered, choosing to play along with me. I sent her a pleased smile, inwardly thanking her.

Our dad smiled at both of us. “Well, I can’t be happier now that my kids are both here with me. Your mom will be thrilled when she wakes up tomorrow,” he said to both of us.

This time both me and my sister gave him a genuine smile and my dad gave me a clap on my shoulder, his eyes shone with what I could imagine as pride.

Now that I looked at him again, I realized that the lines on his face was getting deeper. Though I know he was perfectly healthy, he wasn’t growing any younger. So was my mom.

I realized that with both me and my sister growing up, having our own careers and lives, we didn’t spend barely as much time being at home with our parents as we used to.

I and Lynn locked eyes, obviously thinking about the same thing.

“The more the merrier, pops. Besides, it means we get to see mom cooks like there’s no tomorrow,” I commented, smiling fondly.

Dad, Lynn and Orlando chuckled at that before I started to get up from the sofa. “Come on, man,” I signaled to Orlando, “Don’t worry, the bed is big enough for both of us,” I chirped as I led the way to my room.

We made some small talk on the way, but when I was sure that we were alone, I stopped him on the hallway, facing him.

ORLANDO’S POV

“I know who you are, Orlando.”

Robbie’s voice stopped me in my track, but his tone suddenly made me feel uncomfortable. The casual look that was on Lynn’s brother’s face earlier was gone, replaced with a rather dark look. I looked at him straight in the eye, waiting for him to continue.

“You replaced your girlfriends every month with a new one like a monthly gossip magazine subscriptions,” he said with a dead look.

“That’s an exaggerated statement,” I retorted, narrowing my eyes at him. “Where are you going with this?” I asked.

Robbie maintained his eyes at me, seemingly studying me like one would study a new specimen under a microscope.

“Don’t hurt my sister.”

I blinked at that, noticing the serious expression and the implied threat that seemed almost out of place on his young face that seemed almost always playful and boyish just minutes earlier.

“I don’t plan to. I love her,” I replied truthfully, frowning at him.

“Believe it or not I knew a guy who said it the way you do, and I knew him a long time,” he replied. Right away I knew exactly that he was referring to Lynn’s ex boyfriend. “And I believed him just like I believe you now. But it doesn’t matter what I believe–“

“–you just have to have more faith in me,” I cut him, “And to be honest, don’t believe everything you read,” I added matter of factly.

A smile started to form on Robbie’s face. He lifted his pointer finger at me. The hard look that was on his face moments ago now returned to his usual casual expression–the look that almost seemed mischievous.

Oh, fuck. No wonder Lynn handled me and my mischief so well all this time. She had practice her whole life with his little brother.

“Faith is something that my parents teach me my whole life. So… okay,” he shrugged, folding his arms in front of his chest. “Unfortunately I’m not as dedicated as you think, so I need a little incentive,” he added with a sigh that was obviously faked.

I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering what he had in mind. “What do you want? Do you want me to sign your shirt or something?” I asked.

A smirk that looked like a Cheshire cat appeared on his face as he looked at me like I was a primitive, prehistoric homo sapien. “Please. I’m not one of your fangirls,” he said with an eye roll.

He placed an arm around my shoulder, now treating me more like his peer than a threat like he did earlier.

Dear lord. What have I gotten myself into?

“Look, dude. I need you to keep this between us,” he started, “But I can’t have you sleeping in my room as long as my girlfriend is staying over. So can you crash at my sister’s room instead?”

I raised my brows in surprise at his request. If anything, I felt damn well elated at his suggestion.

I shrugged and broke a smile. “Jeez. Why didn’t you just say so?” I replied with a relieved breath.

Robbie had a decency to look amused with my answer. “Because I don’t want my parents to know. They’re old school,” he explained with a grin. He pointed somewhere behind me, “That’s her room.”

I followed his eyes to a room at the end of the hallway before looking back at him, shaking my head in amusement.

“I can’t believe you’re an adult. An engineer, that is. You act like a teenager, mate,” I told him.

Robbie snickered at that. “Why do you think my girlfriend likes me so much?” he replied smugly to which I only shook my head in amusement.

With that we parted ways and I watched him entered his room before making my way to Lynn’s room.

At her door, I contemplated knocking, but I figured since we wanted to keep this a secret so I refrained from doing so.

I opened the door silently and entered, closing the door softly before turning and had my jaw dropped to the floor like a fool.

***

[Author's Note: Have I told you that this book isn't finished yet and that I hit major writer's block with this one? So yeah, this one is the newest chapter, and I'm afraid due to my other stuff called real life and my current project (Thorns & Roses, check it out if you love Legolas), it will be a while until the next update, but fear not, I am not abandoning this book so stay tuned! Let me know what you think of the book so far. Thank you so much for being loyal and reading it this far, I honestly really appreciate all of you, either you comment or not, vote or not, either you're just a silent reader–what really matters is that there are people out there who read my creation. Love y'all, you sexy beasts ♥️ Rawr]