by Terry Towers
I didn’t bother knocking on Sam’s bedroom door, instead opting just to go in. Stepping into the dimly lit room, I cringed when I saw the bandages over Sam’s nose and the black bruises under his eyes.
“Sam,” I said in a tone just above a whisper.
He didn’t respond. Instead, he turned to his side, back facing me, and he began to snore.
“Hey, Sam.” I said a little louder.
“Gawd. Huh?” Sam groaned, slowly rolling to his back. “What’s going on?” Either he was over our fight or still groggy enough he’d forgotten about it. I preferred the former.
“We need to talk, man,” I said, coming into the room and standing beside the bed, looking down at him.
“Eric?” Slowly, Sam opened his eyes, but as soon as he laid his eyes on me, he frowned. “What do you want, Eric?”
“We need to talk,” when he didn’t respond, I added, “about Andrea, and what happened between us last night.”
“Fuck, man, now?” He looked over at the digital alarm clock on his night side-table. “You realize I just fell to sleep less than an hour ago?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“You broke my fucking nose, you asshole.”
“You attacked me, not the other way around,” I defended myself.
Sam pulled himself up into a sitting positon, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and grimacing when he realized he was rubbing badly bruised eyes. “Fuck you, man.”
“We need to sort this out before Andrea wakes up. I assume you talked to her last night.”
“Yeah, we talked on the way to the hospital, and then while I waited for my nose to get x-rayed. Thanks again, by the way.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “And what did she say?”
“She’s messed up, bro.”
“I don’t follow.”
“She’s in love with both of us.”
I ran a hand through my hair, not sure what to think about what he’d just said. “of course she loves us.”
“No, I mean, she’s IN love with us.”
“Shit…”
“Yeah.”
“And what did you say to her? What does she want?”
“She’s not sure what she wants. I didn’t know what to say, I was kinda distracted with a broken nose.”
Crossing my arms across my chest, I cocked a brow up at him and waited for him to continue.
“It’s not like we can chop her in two and each of us gets half. I wanted to talk to you before making any type of decision. Honestly, I’m not sure what to think.”
“I really don’t either. I left here so damned angry and hurt. I don’t know if I’ve ever been that angry.” Sam and I had gotten into a number of fist fights in our days, all brothers come to blows at one point in time or another it’s pretty much guaranteed, but this one had been the worst. Because this time, it really mattered. It was over someone that meant more to me than virtually anyone else on this earth— it was over Andrea.
Sam rested the back of his head against the headboard. “Where do we go from here?”
“We figure out who’s going to be with her,” I answered, “that is, if she even wants to be with either of us after all this. I’m still trying to figure it out for myself.”
“Or we both let her go.”
I shrugged. “Or we let her go, yeah.”
“I don’t think she meant for things to go down as they did. She’s just not thinking straight. The girl’s a mess.”
“So we need to come to an agreement on how to deal with the situation.”
“...I do want her.”
I nodded. “So do I. But I think we should go and focus on the bar, and after that’s taken care of, then we focus on Andrea. That will give us both time to evaluate our feelings towards her. If she’s confused, then some time is what she really needs.”
“Yeah. So are you seriously considering the whole strip club option?”
“As I said earlier, it’s really her call. Quite frankly, I’m not convinced it will work. But the truth is, the bar is going to die one way or another. Maybe it’s a last kick at the can.” I’d decided last night as I tossed and turned on the single bed in the run-down motel I’d stayed in that we needed to do whatever it took, even if I didn’t think it was the best choice.
“And maybe it’ll work. You saw how busy that club was on a Tuesday night. Even if we got a fraction of the patrons they have there, never mind the cut from the dancers, the liquor sales alone would break us even, and we’d make enough to survive on.”
True, surviving financially was the priority when it came to the bar. “So, we’re going to do it. We’ll spend the afternoon getting together a plan for the renovations and post an ad to recruit.”
“How long do you think it’ll take to get up and running?”
“Hmm. We need to go fast—otherwise, we’ll be bankrupt before we can even take that last shot. I say we close the club Monday through Wednesday, work our asses off renovating, maybe invite some of the guys over for some drinks in exchange for labor. Then we open next Friday night for the first time as the new club.”
His brow creased as he thought. Sam normally wasn’t a skeptical person, but he looked uncertain right now. “Is it possible to get it done that quickly?”
I stood. “Not going to have a choice.”
“And what about Andrea?”
“We pretend like nothing ever happened.” Taking another look at the state of Sam’s face, I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Though looking at your fucked up face every day might make it more difficult than not.”
“Prick,” Sam said, laughing.
I breathed a sigh of relief. Things with Sam were good. At least for now.
~*~ TT ~*~
Andrea
When I came downstairs, I was terrified of what I would encounter with the brothers. Things seemed kinda okay between me and Sam by the time we got back from the hospital, but that could change. Besides, he was on some heavy painkillers.
Hearing them in the kitchen, I sucked in a deep breath and released it in an unsteady huff. I had to face the music and settle things. The truth was, I wanted them both, and there was no way I could choose between them. Eric and Sam were my everything: my friends, my family, and even though it may not be a possibility after the mistakes I’d made, a part of me still hoped they could be more. I’d wanted more for a long time, it was just this past week that I’d fully realized it.
“Oh, finally you’re up.” Sam, who was standing next to the countertop preparing food, gave me a bright smile as I walked into the kitchen. “You missed breakfast, but I’m making lunch now, so good timing.”
I cringed. His usual good looks were clouded by the bruises and bandage across his nose. I felt a tinge of nausea knowing I was to blame for that.
“Okay…” I turned to the kitchen table to see Eric sitting at the table, his laptop in front of him, his fingers moving furiously on the keyboard. “Morning, Eric.”
He looked up at me. He had a fat lip and looked as though he hadn’t slept in days. Despite his appearance, he smiled at me and winced, touching his fingertip to a deep cut in his lip. “Andrea, how are you doing?”
“Fine… thanks….” This was weird, certainly not the greeting I was expecting. It was as though nothing had ever happened. Walking over to the table, I pointed to the laptop. “What are you doing?”
“Making plans for the bar’s new look. It won’t be much of a remodel, but just enough to make it into a respectable strip club. If we turn enough of a profit, then we can look at doing more changes and upgrades.” He spun the laptop around so I could see the screen.
On the screen was a 3D view of our bar with his proposed changes. It looked good. “You’re really on board with the changes?”
Eric gave me a wry grin. “You were right, it may be our last and best chance.”
“We’ve already called some guys from school and recruited their help,” Sam added.
Turning to Sam, I asked, “How much is it goi
ng to cost—can we afford it?”
“They’re going to work for drinks and tabs at the bar, and I remembered out in the garage we had lots of lumber and materials left over from the deck expansion your father did a couple of years back. It’ll still cost some out-of-pocket money, but it should be manageable.”
I looked over at Sam in slight disbelief. Even though Eric had entertained the idea last night, after what had transpired, a part of me figured that… Well, I honestly wasn’t sure what I thought. I just wasn’t expecting this.
“That is amazing, Eric.”
“So you think it looks okay. No issues?” Eric asked.
“No. Of course not.” I wanted to give Eric a big hug and kiss, but thought twice about it. Not after last night. I had no idea where the three of us stood now. “I think it’s wonderful.”
“Grilled cheese sandwiches, coming up.” Sam nudged me out of the way with his elbow as he sat a tray of freshly grilled sandwiches on the table. “Tomato soup to follow.”
Going to the fridge, I grabbed three bottles of water and placed them at our respective spots at the table and took my seat, situated across from Eric. “So when are we getting started?”
“Sam and I were discussing it this morning and thought it would be best to close Monday through Wednesday and reopen for the weekend. Hopefully, Friday will be the re-opening.”
“Wow, like next week.” I took a half grilled cheese and took a bite. Sam made the best sandwiches. Swallowing, I continued, “Do you think we can find people that quickly?”
Sam sat down beside me and opened his bottle of water. “Fingers crossed.” He took a long drink, guzzling down half of the bottle.
“So Stephanie and Kurt will be working the weekend. I’d already talked to Kathy, and she said she wouldn’t feel comfortable working at a strip club, so this will be her last weekend with us.” Eric pointed out.
Shit, I hadn’t thought about how the staff—the few staff we actually had—would take the change in atmosphere. Kathy had two small children at home. She needed the job.
But she wouldn’t have had a job either way soon enough, a voice in the back of my head reminded me.
“That’s unfortunate. So not only will we need dancers, but we need to hire bar staff as well.”
“I don’t think we need to get ahead of ourselves. We’ll replace Kathy, and then hire a half a dozen dancers for now. And see how it goes.”
“But you’re not dancing.” Sam pipped in.
“I’m not dancing.” I focused my attention on Sam. “I never said I would dance.”
“Whoa,” he grinned, putting his hands up in the air. “Just putting it out there. Once was enough, there’s only so many times a guy needs to see his sister’s boobs.”
My mouth dropped open, but I didn’t really know how to respond to that. I mean, a part of me was happy that they seemed to have totally forgotten about last night, but I knew that wasn’t the case. So what was the deal? Why weren’t they pissed? I kinda wished they would scream at me, berate me, make me feel like the piece of shit I felt like.
I looked from one brother to the other and back again and decided to address the elephant in the room. “Why aren’t you guys angry with me?”
They looked at each other a moment and then shifted their attention back to me. It was Sam that spoke first. “Eric and I had a talk, and for right now, what’s important is the club.”
Eric added, “We all need some time to take a step back and take a breather.”
My gaze locked onto Eric’s. He said so many things. He was feeling what I was feeling, I knew it. So why was he acting this way?
“Everyone has been under a tremendous amount of stress, considering the deaths of our parents, school, the bar...we thought it was best if everything just reset to before things stopped making sense.”
I know I should have been happy over this. A reset. Exactly what I’d wanted. Who wouldn’t like a reset after what had just happened? But I didn’t, I realized. Despite my mixed feelings over what they’d decided, I knew I didn’t have a choice. The decision had been made. I just had to roll with it.
Chapter 15
Andrea
“This is going to be a lot more fun than I thought.” I looked over at Sam, who was grinning ear to ear as the first of our applicants for the dancer positons stepped up and onto stage. The stage had been built on Monday. It was now Tuesday and we were now sitting at a two-person table at the front of the stage. While there was still a fair amount of work to go, the place was looking amazing, especially considering the shoestring budget we were working with.
“Oh dear lord.” I rolled my eyes at him, but I couldn’t help but smile. This was Sam, regular old Sam before things got weird. To their word, it had been like a reset. They were acting as if nothing had happened, and I was left wondering if maybe I’d imagined the whole thing. The only thing that proved that I wasn’t going crazy was the bruises each man still wore, but they were beginning to fade and turn that weird yellow color.
“What?” he gave me a nudge with his elbow. “These women are talented.”
Raising my brow at him, I gave my head a little shake and focused my attention back to the dancer. “This is serious. If we don’t get a good staff, then we won’t attract customers.”
“I don’t think men are all that interested in how well she dances as much as…”
I gave him an elbow to the ribs.
“Ouch!” he rubbed his side, pretending to be injured.
“Please, I barely touched you.”
The dancer worked the pole like a pro, her golden hair whipping around her head and her large breasts bouncing with each step.
“The goal is to have a variety of talented women.”
“You mean a variety of hot pieces of ass,” Sam corrected.
I groaned out load. “You’re infuriating. Why can’t you take this seriously?”
His grin widened. “Yeah, like you won’t be drooling when the men come out to show their moves.”
Laughing, I pulled my gaze from the woman on stage and back to Sam. “The male strippers are what’s going to set us apart from the other strip club. Once a week, we have ladies’ night. The other strip club has been in business several months without a single mention of a ladies’ night. With the college not too far away, this is going to be a perfect spot for women to flock.”
“Well, selection of the male strippers is all up to you, little sister. I think I might be calling in sick those days.”
I cringed inwardly at him calling me ‘little sister.’ It was like he was rubbing it in that he didn’t want to be with me… That neither of them wanted to be with me for that matter. I refused to allow myself to cry. I’d done enough of it these past few months for one lifetime, thank you very much.
Just gotta move on, I coached myself. They don’t want me so I have to move on.
I shifted my attention back to the stage as the dancer finished her final swirl around the pole as the music stopped. Sam and I applauded as she took a bow and gathered her clothing.
“Thank you, Candy,” Sam shouted. “That was amazing.”
The next girl was a slender brunette with tiny breasts. I almost wrote her off, since she didn’t seem the stereotypical dancer to me. And I was right. She was so much better. This chick was incredible. Had to be a gymnast.
“Damn Sam, I’ve never seen someone so flexible! At least not in person, maybe on TV.”
“I have.”
I turned my head and stuck my tongue out at him, which made him to start laughing. “So I’m assuming this was a past intimate experience?”
He shrugged, wiggling his eyebrows at me. “Perhaps. It’s amazing how flexible a woman can be with the right motivation.”
I shifted in my chair to look at him directly. “So you’re saying that you’re that good, huh?”
He leaned over the table, and his gaze locked with mine. “Made you weak in the knees, didn’t I? And that’s with just a finger. Imagine if I re
ally tried.”
A surge of desire rushed through me, and I could feel my face growing warm. We were having a good time. Why did he have to ruin everything and bring that up? I wasn’t sure what I wanted more, to act on the desire to lean over the table and kiss him or run away. I opted for the latter.
“Excuse me, I gotta run to the washroom.” Getting up from the table, I quickly made my way to the women’s washroom and disappeared inside.
