by Piper Rayne
Another shrug. I place my hand on my buddy’s shoulder. “What’s up big guy?”
He blows out a long breath. “I’m over this shit. Let’s go somewhere else. The last thing I wanna do is pick up a chick tonight.” Liam downs the rest of his beer.
“I’m game.” I start to push my chair from the table.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Denver holds his hands out. “You, I get. You sleep with pussy every damn night. But you” —he points to Liam— “you’re my wingman, I’m your wingman, we’re each other’s wingmen.”
“Not in the mood. Let’s go grab some beer and head to the lake or something.” Liam stands and pushes his chair back in.
“Let’s just go back to your place. I’d love a night of watching sports.” I follow him out of the bar.
Denver huffs like a toddler and drags himself out of the bar behind us, griping the entire way out the door.
“This is unbelievable. You’ve both become boring as shit. You know this, right? I mean Rome when was the last time you even came out with us? And now you finally get a pass from Harley and you want to sit around Liam’s house watching ESPN?”
I swivel around in Liam’s car to face Denver in the backseat. “First off, I didn’t get a pass from Harley. I told her I was going out and she thought it was a great idea.”
He laughs. A fake laugh. “Since when does a chick think it’s cool for a guy to go out with his friends?”
“You don’t even fucking know her.”
“I know girls and by the end of tonight, she’s going to be pissed off at you.” He slaps Liam’s shoulder. “Aren’t I right?”
Liam eyes him through the rearview mirror and then looks over at me. “I think he’s jealous.” Liam smirks and hits the bullseye.
I was ready to climb back there and beat the shit out of him.
“You’re jealous?” I ask.
“I am not. Without you, I get more ass anyway.” He looks out the window at the darkness while we make our way back to Lake Starlight.
“You are jealous.” I chuckle. “Do you miss me, baby brother?” I reach across and ruffle his hair.
He slaps my hand away. “Piss off. You have like two minutes on me.”
“It’s okay, I still love you. Harley hasn’t taken your spot.”
He rolls his eyes. “C’mon guys, we can’t use a night out to just go to Liam’s.”
“Well, I’m not into watching you pick up chicks all night either.” I sit forward, glancing to Liam for any ideas.
“We could do stupid shit like we used to in high school?” Denver sits up straighter in the backseat, eyes so wide he can hardly contain himself until we say yes.
“Sure.” I shrug, the guilt of my twin brother thinking I’m done with him enough to make me pull some pranks.
“I’m game.” Liam takes a quick turn to the right. “Gotta go to the store.”
We go to the late night grocery store on the way back into Lake Starlight. It’s the only place you can pick up beer and a bunch of crap to prank people with on a Sunday night. While we’re there, we take the time to put all the shopping carts around the other lonely car in the parking lot.
We do stop at Liam’s because all good pranks take time and preparation. Otherwise you end up with stupid shit no one laughs at.
“The cockroaches. We got to do that one.” Denver pulls out the black construction paper and scissors, cracking open a beer and sitting next to me.
“Whose car do we cover with Post-It notes? I’m not sure we should do the cotton ball one because that fucks up a paint job.”
“I’m doing the wiper blade one. I just have to figure out whose car.” Liam pulls out some eraser tips.
The three of us start working on our pranks while drinking beer and taking shots. Well, Denver and I do. Liam has decided to be our designated driver in what he’s calling a twin bonding night.
“You’re really into her, huh?” Liam asks midway through our case of beer.
I forgot how fun it was to laugh with my buddies and do the stupid shit we’re about to do just to blow off some steam.
Damn, I hope Calista takes after her mom, not me.
“I really am.” I smile, thinking of the woman I get to return home to.
“Why?” Denver asks. He leans back on the two back legs of his chair, sipping his beer. “What makes Harley so special?”
He’s not being a dick, he truly wants a reason and I can’t give him one. I could list the reasons I love being with her. The word love has been on the tip of my tongue, but that’s full-on game-changing lingo there and I’m not even sure how Harley would take it. She probably wouldn’t believe me, or it might cause her to panic and want to run.
“I’m not sure. She just is.” I shrug.
My brother stares at me for a moment, drinking his beer. “So, you’re completely off the market?”
Liam throws a beer can at him and he wobbles but recovers. “He moved in with her, douche.”
Denver’s chair falls down to all four legs. “Yeah, but I mean are you gonna marry her?”
I shrug. “I just moved in with her.”
“You already have the kid,” he reminds me.
“We’re backward but I’m not gonna marry her yet.”
“Why not if you love her?” Denver’s much like me. He’s go-big-or-go-home. He’ll probably marry whoever his future wife is two weeks after he meets her.
“I never said I love her.”
Liam smirks and then concentrates back on his stupid pencil eraser prank.
“What?” I glance between them.
“You don’t have to say it. Rome Bailey doesn’t ditch his friends and move a chick into his apartment without loving her. Plus, I mean, damn, the way you look at her when you guys are in the same room.” Denver shakes his head and his whole body shakes in disgust.
“What do I look at her like?”
“Like no one else is there. Except Calista.”
I say nothing.
Denver puts his hands together and stares up at the ceiling. “Please God do not let me ever fall in love.” He winks like God responded and goes back to cutting up his fake cockroaches.
“One day,” I say.
“Never.”
“What about you, Liam?” Denver puts our friend in the hot seat.
He shrugs. His answer for everything tonight. What the hell is up with him?
“Should we all just shrug?” I ask, eyeing him for a better explanation.
“It’s nothing. Let’s go.” He stands, collecting all his crap off the table.
Denver and I each chug two more beers and take two shots because we can’t have an open container in the car. Liam drives us downtown where it’s dark and desolate. Everybody’s already in for the night except for a few people at Lucky’s. Smokin’ Guns is already closed though we do take the time to head in and put an air horn under one of his employee’s chairs, so it goes off when he sits. Denver and I each drink another beer, because Liam can’t come in here and not do something work-related, so we have to wait around for a bit.
“Where to next?” Denver asks as we leave the tattoo shop, another beer in both of our hands.
We pass Lard Have Mercy and tape up a sign that says it’s National Take Your Pants Off Day and instructing them to take their pants off and have a seat.
Hey, it’s an actual thing in some places.
Rounding the corner, I crush my beer can and toss it into the trash. My eyes focus on Terra and Mare, the dark windows of the restaurant and then shift up to the second story where shut blinds show just a hint of light behind them.
“Harley’s up,” I say.
“Maybe she left a light on for you, like that motel commercial.” Denver puts his arm around me, laughing. “Let’s stop in.”
“You’ll wake up Calista with your loud asses.”
Denver and Liam talk about what to do next and whose car to Post-It note although I’m fairly sure I couldn’t actually align them straight right now. My
“I’m going home,” I say, mindlessly walking across the street.
“You’re so whipped.” Denver’s voice follows and Liam comes up next to me, propping my arm over his shoulder. Apparently I can’t walk for myself.
“I’m not whipped. I’m making this decision,” I holler back.
We round the back of the building and I climb the stairs with Liam holding my back up. This is not an easy feat. “Keys are in my pocket,” I say.
Liam holds up his hands. “Not it.”
Denver huffs but does me a solid and reaches in, retrieving my keys. He hands them to Liam because well, Liam can actually see the keyhole.
The door opens and there’s Harley on the couch with a blanket over her and textbook in her lap. She stares up at me, eyebrows raised. “Well, this is interesting,” she says, shutting her book.
I stumble across the floor and fall down into the couch with my head in her lap. “I missed you,” I slur.
She turns away from me and looks at the other two. “Alcohol does make the heart grow fonder.”
“He’s like a magnet. He can’t stay away from you.” Denver sits down in the chair.
Liam shuts the door.
“I think I might be sick.” I slide off the couch onto the floor.
Denver cracks up, finding my suffering amusing. Harley shifts to get up.
“I got him,” Liam drags me to the bathroom and then it’s all black. The tile is cold against my face and I let myself drift away.
Twenty-Nine
Harley
Liam returns to our small family room. “He’s found his bed for the night.”
“The guy is a lightweight. What did you do to him?” Denver looks over at me with judgment in his eyes.
“What do I have to do with it?” I put my textbook on the table and rise to grab my impromptu guests a drink.
I haven’t spent a ton of time with Liam and Denver. Both work as much as Rome does and from the gossip amongst the Baileys, they spend any free time out picking up girls and drinking.
“He spends his time with you.”
I open the fridge, grabbing two beers. “I think Terra and Mare is the mistress in this scenario.” I hold out the beers and they each take one. “I pretty much only sleep with him.”
Denver downs half his beer while Liam sips his slowly.
“He’s going to be out for a while,” Liam says. “I haven’t seen him this drunk since….” he looks to Denver for some input.
“The night he returned,” Denver finishes, and Liam nods his head.
“I thought for sure he’d be gone the next morning,” Liam laughs, and Denver holds out his beer to hit his.
“The boy can’t sit still for more than a few months. I’m guessing the restaurant will keep him here,” Denver says.
My gut twists in my stomach.
“And you of course,” he smiles. “And Calista.”
I nod, almost rocking in place to get rid of the ailing feeling that one day he will want out of our little situation.
“He’s here for the long haul.” Liam looks over at me and his face is serious as if to make sure I believe him.
I nod. Not really sure what to say.
“When our parents died, Rome went stir crazy. He wanted out of this town.” Denver continues talking when I’d rather talk about what team will make it to the World Series. Anything other than this. I already freak out enough about my future with Rome. I don’t need his brother confirming that those fears could become a reality.
“You did, too,” Liam says, shooting him a warning glare.
Denver shrugs. “I talked him out of running away.”
“You would’ve been found even if you had.” Liam continues batting away anything Denver is trying to put out there.
“We’re pretty resourceful when we’re together.” He leans back in the chair, eyeing me.
Liam glances from me to Denver. “Cool it,” he says in a low voice.
“I’m not doing anything,” Denver says loud enough to make sure I can hear him.
Liam says nothing and it’s easy to see he’s the sober one of the bunch. Well, too bad for Denver I’m not one to sit in a room with an elephant and not address it.
“Just say it, Denver.”
“What?” He looks at me like he hasn’t been dangling the carrot waiting for me to bite.
“We should go.” Liam sets his beer down and stands. “Thanks for the beer, sorry for bringing him home in this condition.”
“No.” My hand lands on his forearm.
Damn, he has muscles on top of his muscles. He eases back down to the couch. Denver slides to the edge of his seat, holding his beer in his hands between his legs. Looks like we’re doing this.
“What are you trying to say, Denver?” I repeat my question.
“I’m just telling you how he was.”
“Are you warning me?” I ask. “Trying to get me to run off?”
“I figure you’re not really the sticking around type. We should address it sooner than later.”
I stare at him for a moment, hearing words like that from a man who looks exactly like the man you love is fucked up.
“You know nothing about me.”
He shrugs like he’s giving me that one.
“This is ridiculous, he’s just jealous. Before you, Denver was Rome’s Saturday night date,” Liam tries to joke, but neither of us laugh.
“I didn’t get myself pregnant,” I say to Denver.
“Never said you did. I just find it convenient how you come to town asking for a test and then it doesn’t take a lot of convincing for you to stick around. I wonder if Rome being a Bailey and starting his own restaurant had any influence in that decision.”
“Denver!” Liam warns like a father who just disrespected his mother.
“Come on. I can’t be the only one who’s thought it.”
I stand from the couch, closing my eyes briefly on the way to the fridge. My sharp tongue is going to give Denver a lashing if I don’t rein in my temper. I could very well say things I can’t come back from.
Grabbing a beer, I take the cap off, throw it away, and walk back to the family room.
“I don’t have to defend myself to you, Denver, but just so you know, this is your brother making these decisions. I told him I would never keep Calista from him. That we’d make plans and figure it all out. I don’t want his money. I don’t want his status in this town. So, don’t worry.”
“I’m sorry Harley, he’s drunk. We should go.” Liam stands again, but this time Denver stops him. Liam eases back down to the couch but sits on the edge.
“I’ve never seen my brother give one shit about a girl other than maybe how many times he can get her off in a night.”
Nausea rolls in my stomach.
“But you’re different and if you’re only here for a sugar daddy, and you hurt my brother, I’ll help my brother sue you for parental rights.”
“Okay.” Liam looks to both of us, placing his hands up in the air, but I smack them down.
“Fuck you, Denver. Do you think I wanted to come here and deal with a father for Calista? Hell no. That would be me depending on someone else and yeah, you don’t know anything about me, but if you did, you’d know I don’t want to depend on anyone. I thought your brother was a one-night stand I’d have to wrangle to give us some blood and DNA and then we’d be on our way. I never dreamed of finding a man who loves our daughter. Another fact about me, Denver, is that I grew up in foster care. I’m going to stay here and give my daughter what I didn’t get. If Rome wants her to be part of his life, I’d never deny that. It’s one reason I thought we shouldn’t get together because if we don’t work out, that jeopardizes my daughter’s future. So, I don’t really give one shit what you think because this is between Rome and I. You might be his brother and you are entitled to your opinion, but we don’t have to listen.”
I tip the beer bottle to my lips and swallow the cold liquid down my throat. I need to catch my breath after that rant.
Denver laughs.
What the hell?
“Let’s go,” Liam mumbles.
I narrow my eyes at Denver, and he holds up his hands. “You win that round. Good job. You’ll fit in just fine with the family.” He stands and slides between Liam and me on the couch and puts his arm around my shoulders. “Damn, I don’t envy my brother when he pisses you off. I actually thought you might jump me.”
I glance to Liam and then back to Denver as he squeezes me into his side. “Were you testing me?”
“A little. It’s more that I’m drunk and jealous that my brother wants to spend all his time with you. That makes me kind of an asshole, but I’m man enough to admit when someone schools me.” He rubs his knuckles on my forehead a little too hard. “You’re a tough ass. Shit. Foster care.” He shakes his head. “That must’ve sucked.”
“It did,” I admit.
“Does this mean there’s no competition on your side?”
“What?”
“Like I only have to beat out Austin and Kingston for the world’s best uncle spot?”
I stare at him with confusion laced in my features.
Liam must see it because he nods. “Yep, this is Denver. Able to flip a personality switch with one swipe.”
He’s right. He’s a totally different person right now than only minutes ago when he was accusing me of being an opportunist.
“Interesting,” I remark.
“It’s in the bag. I’ll be her favorite.” And then his head falls to Liam’s shoulder on the other side of him and he passes out.
Both Bailey boys are down for the count. Lightweights.
I wake up the next morning with Rome in my bed fully dressed and smelling like vomit. One hand is on my breast and his hard dick is pressed against my ass through his jeans.
I slam my hand on the alarm and he groans next to me, but the monitor says there’s no hitting snooze.
Dislodging myself from him, I open the door to go into Calista’s room. She’s standing up in her crib, happy with her pacifier moving in and out of her mouth. She’s such a morning person. No idea who she inherited that from.
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