Keep being braver than me.
Yeah. I’m definitely not sending this. I sound like that Dr. Phil guy your mom used to love watching.
Love,
Dad
“This blows,” Stef announced from his bar stool.
“I’d rather be home with Daze and Way,” my brother grumbled.
“You’re not getting married without a bachelor party,” Lucian said. “Even if you wouldn’t let me hire any strippers or flash mobs.”
“Or flash mobs of strippers,” Nolan added.
We were bellied up to the bar at Honky Tonk, drinking beer and bourbon in what really was the lamest bachelor party in Knockemout history. I’d once had to arrest half of the Presbyterian congregation when Henry Veedle’s bachelor party fight club got too rowdy and spilled out onto the streets.
Lou, Knox’s soon-to-be father-in-law, harrumphed. “In my day, we didn’t need bachelor parties or ice sculptures or engagement brunches. We showed up at the church on a Saturday, said ‘I do,’ someone fed us some ham salad sandwiches, and then we went the hell home. What the hell ever happened to that?”
“Women,” Lucian said dryly.
We raised our glasses in a silent toast.
I’d had a long day, and going the hell home to Lina sounded a hell of a lot better than anything else. That morning, I’d formally fired Dilton after making sure every t was crossed and every i dotted. It had been ugly, as predicted, but there hadn’t been time to celebrate the win thanks to a tractor trailer losing its load of Alfredo sauce on Route 317.
I’d spent the afternoon helping with the cleanup and had just enough time to squeeze in a shower before showing up at the rehearsal only a few minutes late. There had barely been time to drag Lina into my brother’s dining room and kiss the hell out of her before it was time to head out for drinks.
I wanted time with her. I wanted normal with her. I wanted to make up for the near disaster I’d caused. But the wedding was tomorrow. I still didn’t know who’d thrown that rock through Lina’s window. And the clock was ticking down with the “hometown hero” article set to run on Monday.
“After” was nearly here. The only thing standing between us and “after” was Duncan fucking Hugo. I’d end this. I’d put him behind bars. And I would do whatever it took to convince Lina that I deserved a place in her future.
I thought about my father’s letter that I’d read after Dilton’s official firing.
“Did Dad send you a letter?” I asked Knox.
“Yeah. You?”
“Yeah.”
“This open family communication is so touching,” Stef quipped, pretending to wipe away fake tears.
“He might come tomorrow,” Knox said.
I blinked. “Really?”
“Yep.”
“And you’re okay with that?” We’d both had our own version of a strained relationship with our father over the years. Knox cut his hair every few months and gave him cash. I checked in on him and supplied him with essentials he couldn’t trade for oxy.
He shrugged. “It’s not like he’s ever showed up for anything before.”
Silver appeared with another round of drinks. She frowned and wrinkled her nose. “Does anyone else smell garlic and cheese?”
“That’s probably me,” I said.
Everyone leaned in closer to sniff me.
“I’m suddenly craving Italian,” Lucian mused.
“It’s Alfredo sauce. A rig full of it tipped on the highway.”
“Sorry I’m late.” Jeremiah strolled up, shoving a hand through his dark, curling hair. “Why are we smelling Nash?”
“He smells like Alfredo sauce,” Stef supplied.
Jeremiah dropped a kiss on Stef’s cheek and they both smiled shyly.
“Whoa. When did that happen?” Knox demanded, pointing back and forth between the two of them.
“Why? Are you gonna give them shit too?” I asked my brother.
Knox shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Why don’t you want anyone to be happy?” Stef teased.
“I don’t give a shit if you’re happy. I just don’t want to deal with you if you’re fucking miserable,” Knox clarified. “Take this dumbass. He looks at Lina with wedding rings in his eyeballs, and she’s gonna rip his heart out and accidentally stomp on it with those stilettos when she walks out the door.”
“I might walk out the door with her. As long as she doesn’t hold my dumbassery against me.”
The silence was deafening as seven pairs of eyes landed on me. “What?” Jeremiah asked, recovering first.
I picked up my beer. “I fucked up after a shit day.”
“How did you fuck up?” Knox demanded.
“I tried to break things off,” I admitted.
“You’re an idiot,” Nolan said helpfully.
“No. He’s a fucking idiot,” Knox said.
Lucian merely closed his eyes and shook his head.
“That’s an interesting approach,” Jeremiah volunteered.
“I thought he was the dumbass in the family,” Silver said, dropping a drink in front of Jeremiah and nodding her head at Knox.
“Need I remind you who signs your paychecks?”
“Apparently dumbass number one of two,” she quipped.
“But you had your tongue down Lina’s throat after the rehearsal dinner,” Stef pointed out.
“She didn’t let me push her away. She stuck. And then she made me jump out of a plane.”
“Jesus. Why in the hell would you jump out of a perfectly good plane?” Knox asked, looking bewildered.
“Because when the woman you’re going to marry asks you to do something, you fucking do it.”
Lucian was rubbing his temples now. “You barely know her.”
“I know her. She’s too good for you,” Nolan said.
“I agree with porn ’stache,” my brother said.
“Lina’s a peach. You planning on having more shit days?” Lou demanded.
“No, sir,” I assured him.
He nodded. “Good. Back in my day, shit days happened and we didn’t try to give our ladies the boot. We just drank too much, passed out on the couch watching Jeopardy, and woke up the next day trying to suck less.”
“God bless America,” Stef said into his drink.
“She’s the one,” I said to no one in particular.
“You can’t possibly know that,” Lucian argued. “I’ll admit, she’s a pretty package. But better men than us are fooled by pretty packages every day.”
“Don’t talk about my girl unless you’re prepared to face the consequences, Rollins,” I warned. “Besides, Knox is the one getting married. Why aren’t you heaping shit on him?”
My brother frowned. “Hang on. Why aren’t you?”
“Besides the fact that Naomi is perfect in every way and you’re the luckiest man on earth to have found her,” Stef prompted.
“Hear, hear,” Lou agreed.
Lucian rolled his eyes. “It’s not Lina. It’s you.”
“What the fuck is wrong with him?” Knox demanded with an irate kind of brotherly loyalty.