Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
“ W hat do you think of this? I’m not sure about the color…”
Malcolm did his best to hold on to his temper as he looked up from his phone and pretended to consider the suit Evan was wearing. It looked exactly like the first three his brother had tried on, but he knew better than to say that.
He should have known better than to think “getting lunch” with Evan would be anything less than awful or just consist of eating food—which they were supposed to do forty-five minutes ago, but Evan had wanted to stop and grab something from the department store really quickly.
Ha.
Malcolm’s stomach growled, but Evan was too busy admiring his thin frame in the wall-length mirror to notice. “Looks great.”
“I don’t know…” Evan said, turning so his body was in profile and studying his nonexistent ass. When the store worker stepped closer, he didn’t even bother looking at her as he barked, “Bring back the last one. The lines on this one are off.”
Malcolm rolled his eyes and looked back down at his phone. It was a ninety-dollar, off-the-rack suit. What did his brother expect? He pulled up his texts and shot one off to Dahlia.
Malcolm
why did I agree to meet with him? My one day off this week and I’m stuck watching him try on suits while my stomach eats itself.
Even though he knew she was at Bo’s, her response came almost immediately, making him grin.
Sally and Bull were super chill about letting them have their phones on them as long as it didn’t interfere with taking care of customers, but he had a feeling Dahlia had been waiting to hear from him.
She’d told him to cancel as soon as she found out he’d agreed to the lunch, and, of course, she’d been right.
LBF
I tolllllllld you.
Malcolm
I know, I know. I wish I could leave but he picked me up and is holding me hostage. I’m seriously so hungry I could cry. Why would he torture me like this?
He knew why though. His brother had always been all about the power moves.
When he’d called Malcolm a few days ago and suggested they have lunch his next day off from the restaurant, he’d made it sound like Malcolm was being the terrible brother for keeping his distance and how much Evan—and their parents—missed seeing him.
So he’d caved. Like always.
But the parade of cheap suits was at least half for Malcolm’s benefit, rubbing it in his face that not only did he not need one—being only a server—but that even if he wanted one, he couldn’t afford it.
He couldn’t even afford to fill up his gas tank until his next shift, assuming he got some decent tips.
As Evan stepped out of the dressing room while still doing up his pants, he finally glanced over at Malcolm. The look in his eyes was familiar, so he braced himself, not wanting to give Evan the satisfaction of seeing him flinch no matter what he said.
“I proposed to Cathy last week.”
Malcolm stared at him, confused for a second by Evan’s nonchalant tone. “That’s great,” he said carefully. “What did she say?”
The smile Evan gave him wasn’t nice. “I don’t have your trouble with girls, baby brother. She knows she can’t do better than this.”
He could feel his face flushing, but he did his best to smile as his phone vibrated in his clenched hand. “Congratulations. I’m happy for you both.”
LBF
Where are you?
He told her the name of the store, knowing she would have offered to come and get him if he were in town.
Unfortunately, Evan had driven them to Ridgewood for some reason, and there was no way even Sally would be cool with letting Dahlia leave for over an hour to come and save him from his obnoxious brother.
He should have insisted they eat somewhere in Knotting Pine so he could have at least walked home or to Bo’s when things went up in flames.
“We’re thinking of doing a destination wedding,” Evan was saying, back to examining his figure in the mirror.
“Okay.” He pulled up Google and quickly typed in food near me . If Evan wanted to keep trying on hideous suit after hideous suit, then Malcolm could just walk somewhere to grab a damn sandwich.
Wait. Did he say destination wedding?
He looked up from his phone to find Evan staring at him, nose scrunched in annoyance. “Can you pay attention for ten seconds?”
The sharp reprimand threw Malcolm back to when he was a kid and teenage Evan constantly screamed shit like that in his face. Neck flushing with annoyance, he set his phone on his leg and held his arms out. “You have my full attention.”
Light brown eyes, completely different from his own dark blue ones, narrowed on him. “Did you hear what I said?”
“Yes, Evan. You want to do a destination wedding.” Why was the question. Malcolm had always thought the idea of making all your friends and family travel somewhere expensive just for the privilege of seeing you get married was a bit selfish—though that was completely on brand for Evan.
“Yes, but Cathy won’t agree because she doesn’t think you can afford it.”
The heat from his neck raced up to his cheeks, his teeth clenching so tightly he worried he’d crack a molar. He didn’t say anything though. That wasn’t a question—it was Evan fishing for him to confirm how broke he was so he could launch into how Malcolm was ruining his wedding already.
The fact that Cathy —a woman Malcolm had met less than a half dozen times—was the one to consider it might not be feasible for Evan’s own brother to travel wherever he ended up wanting to get married wasn’t lost on Malcolm.
As sad as it was, he’d bet Evan didn’t really care if he came, but didn’t want Cathy to know how shitty of a brother he was.
His phone vibrated on his thigh a couple of times as they stared at each other before Evan finally turned away and said, “If you had a real job, our family wouldn’t have to bend over backwards to accommodate you and your finances.”
Direct shot.
Sucking in a breath, Malcolm pushed to his feet and did his best to stand as tall as he could. He didn’t want to give his brother the satisfaction of knowing he’d made him feel about two inches tall with that jab, but being eight inches shorter than Evan sort of negated the effect.
“Being a server is a real job. I make real money and everything. If it’s easier for you, then just don’t invite me.”
Malcolm caught his eye roll in the mirror before Evan whipped around and crossed his arms over his narrow chest. “God, don’t be so fucking dramatic. I’m sure Mom and Dad would loan you the money to come if you asked nicely.”
Pushing his tongue between his bottom lip and teeth, he tried to rein in his temper before he went off on Evan in public and ended up as a viral video.
He was probably right. If Malcolm asked their parents to help him pay to attend the wedding, they’d grumble about it for a few days or maybe a week, make a few shitty comments about him needing to grow up, and then agree to front him.
He wasn’t about to do that. Not for something inane like a wedding in Mexico or wherever. He’d have to be on the verge of homelessness to swallow his pride and put himself through months of passive-aggressive comments and disappointed looks.
His brother wasn’t worth that on his best day.
“Whatever, Evan. I’m going to go get some food, then head home.
This was… yeah.” He opened his phone as he turned away, ignoring the texts from Dahlia for the moment and pulling up a rideshare app.
He’d have to put it on his emergency credit card—that he’d been so good about not using—but it would be worth it to not have to be in the same space as Evan for another minute.
“Jesus, always such a drama queen.”
He heard the muttered words but ignored them until a tight grip on his upper arm jerked him to a stop. “Ouch! What the fuck?”
Evan bent down so their faces were only a few inches apart, looking more pissed than he had just a minute ago. “Stop being a goddamn baby. Cathy will lose her shit if you don’t come, so maybe think of someone else for a change and figure out how you’re going to pay for?—”
Evan’s eyes widened as a shadow fell on them, his head tipping up and jaw slackening.
Confused, Malcolm looked behind him and felt his stomach flip at the welcome sight of Sally and Bo’s son, Bull. He wasn’t sure why he was there, but his pissed-off face had Evan dropping his harsh grip and stumbling backward, so Malcolm was just going to be grateful.
“Hey, Bull.”
“Hey.” The big guy didn’t look away from Evan until he huffed and stomped back over to the area they’d been occupying by the changing rooms. Once he was gone, he looked down at Malcolm, and his face shifted to the polite smile he was used to from the restaurant. “You ready to go?”
Malcolm scrunched his face in confusion. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Lia said you needed a ride…” Bull swallowed and took a step back, smile dropping away.
“Oh!” Malcolm swiped out of the rideshare app, pulled up the unread texts from Dahlia, and started to grin. “I can’t believe she sent you to save me.”
LBF
Bull is in Ridgewood picking up an order for Bo’s. Hang on a sec and I’ll ask if he’s still in town.
And then a couple of minutes later…
LBF
Success! He said he’ll be there in like five minutes. You’re welcome
He quickly typed out a message for her, thanking her and letting her know he owed her big-time, then tucked his phone in his pocket and grinned at Bull’s cautious face. “Sorry, I’d missed those texts. I really appreciate this though.”
Bull nodded slowly, eyes flicking back to where Evan was probably still preening in front of the mirror. “It’s no problem.”
Malcolm believed that too—right up until they were pulling out of the store’s parking lot and he realized they had a thirty-minute drive back to Knotting Pine and he’d never had a conversation with Bull outside of work.
Hell, the man barely spoke at work either.
Clearing his throat, Malcolm glanced over at the giant next to him and blurted out, “Um, so why do people call you Bull? Because you’re so big?”