Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Gemini
“Well,” Mercury says with grease dripping down his chin as he swallows the bite he just took. “They’re not Texas tacos, but they aren’t half bad.”
Riptide chuckles as he wipes his mouth with his napkin. “You’d think Tex Mex was the same no matter where you got it, but I agree, it’s not. Different seasonings and spins on it.”
“Taste the same to me,” I say, shrugging my shoulders before squeezing the lime over the brisket I chose as my meat filling and folding my corn tortilla around it.
“Be better with a Corona,” Rio mumbles as he drinks his water, not looking terribly happy about the drink options that were on the menu. “What is this, a dry town?”
“No, the establishment doesn’t have a liquor license. Those things are hard to get when you use a place as a temporary space since you’re primarily on the road,” Orion informs us.
“Speaking from experience?” Riptide asks.
“No, not personally, but I did help a friend out when he opened up a food truck and took it on the road. Being mobile and not having a permanent address to put on the paperwork meant he had a lot of red tape to muddle through,” Orion answers.
“Did he ever succeed?” Mercury inquires.
“Nope. It was too much bullshit so he threw in the towel and gave up on acquiring the licensing. It’s a BYOB situation nowadays,” Orion chuckles.
“And that works?” Rio questions.
“Yeah. People show up with coolers and call it a party,” Orion states as he wads up his trash and sits it on his red, plastic tray. “I go often.” I roll my eyes because that sounds about right. Orion is always looking for a good time and it’s even better if it’s at someone else’s expense.
I go to say something to him about quitters when the door opens and two women come strolling inside.
One of them catches my eye, and it’s not because of her beauty, even though she’s fucking gorgeous, it’s the familiarity of those damn cat eyes of hers.
The color is a marvel that you only usually see on felines, most people have to buy contacts to get that color but hers is natural.
“Holy shit,” Mercury mumbles, his eyes glued to the same person mine are. “Is that who I think it is or does Sutton Alexander have a doppelg?nger out there?”
“That can’t be Sutton because that woman right there is fine as hell,” Orion says, a little drool dripping from the corner of his mouth. “Sutton was… curvier.”
“It’s her,” Pisces says, holding up his phone where he’s Googled her. “She’s just grown up and has changed her appearance. Says here she’s a new employee at the hospital. Her specialty is risk management.”
“Not a career I would’ve thought she’d be interested in,” I mumble.
“Why’s that?” Pisces asks. “I think after all of the years she spent being bullied she’d be good at something like that.”
“Kinda made my point for me, Pisces,” I point out. “Wouldn’t the position she’s in mean she’s become the bully?”
“I think you’re trying to make a mountain out of a molehill, Gem,” Mercury accuses. “She’s in a field where she plays number games.”
“Risk management is more than that and you know it, Mercury. They nullify people who’ve been hurt at the hands of staff and doctors. They are the best bullshitters you’ll ever cross. That’s not Sutton. She’s a people pleaser.”
A throat behind me clears and I notice a feminine shadow looming over me.
Twisting in my seat I glance up and notice the closed off look she’s wearing on her face.
Oh yeah, this is a completely different person than the girl I once knew.
“Some people learn lessons and use them to their advantage, Gemini,” Sutton replies.
“And what I do is more than bullying people out of money. I think you should know the facts about things before spewing bullshit out of your mouth. Don’t you?
Good catching up with you. Hopefully, we won’t do this again anytime soon.
” She pats me on the shoulder before turning around and walking away.
“Oh snap,” Orion laughs. “Sutton Alexander just put you in your place.”
I’d spit out a retort at my asshole cousin, but quite honestly, I’m speechless right now.
I know risk management people do more, but at the end of the day, their objective is to protect the corporate entity they’re employed by, not anyone who might be harmed by their mistakes.
I’ve heard too many horror stories over the years where lives were lost by a negligent doctor or nurse, yet they got off with a slap on the wrist while the family was devastated.
“Shut the fuck up, dickhead,” I grumble, which sets off all three of my family members while Riptide and Rio have confused expressions on their faces. “What the fuck is she doing in Montana, anyhow? I know she moved away, but what are the odds she’s in the same town we’re now living in?”
Orion shrugs, totally nonplussed. “Gem, she obviously went to college then got a big girl job and hell, based on what Pisces just showed me, she’s making bank these days.
The way she was treated back in the day?
I’d have left as well, you know what I mean?
We all did the best we could but it was literally the four of us against all of them.
I think Merc had more in-school suspensions of his own than the whole senior class combined. ”
“You’re fucking serious?” Rio asks. “I mean, we never backed down from a fight in school either, but my paps would’ve worn his belt off on my ass if I had done that.”
“You got that right,” Rip adds. “The thing is, we tried not to get caught.”
“The problem is, our family genetics are so strong, while it wasn’t always easy to identify who it was, it was still not that hard to identify it was one of us,” Mercury admits.
“Of course, I’m never gonna stand for anyone bullying a female, so as far as I’m concerned, they deserved what they got and I don’t give a fuck that I paid the consequences. ”
“Yeah, but you said it was you a few times when it was me,” Pisces interjects. “I coulda stood with sitting in detention working on shit instead of being in English Lit, you selfish fucker.”
“Your family resemblance is strong. I can understand how you all could get confused for each other unless you know y’all personally,” Riptide states.
“But we’re not identical,” I point out. “There are some similarities, but the differences are there and you don’t have to look closely to find them.”
“You’re full of shit,” Rio says, laughing at my expense. “I think you’re too close to the subject to see others’ point of view.”
“You could say the same about you and Rip,” I state, purposefully looking between the two of them.
“That’s because we’re the perfect specimens,” Riptide jokes. “At least that’s what Van says.”
“Van’s pushing roses up your ass,” Rio snorts. “There’s nothing perfect about you, cousin.”
“I’ve got the perfect size thirteen to shove up your ass,” Riptide teases.
“What the fuck ever. You’re so full of shit which is why your eyes are so brown,” Rio counters.
“Pay the hell attention, Rio. My eyes are hazel, fucker,” Rip snaps, a sneer on his lips.
“Unless you’re talking smack, then they’re shit stain brown,” Rio continues.
“Like the skid marks in your underwear.” Rip smacks Rio with some force on the shoulder, causing Rio to jerk forward in his seat.
Their bantering is hilarious and breaks the tension between me and my cousins, which I think was the point of this show they’re performing.
“Looks like families are the same all over,” Orion muses, a smirk on his face. “Because we do the same fucking thing all the time. Now, what’s next on our list of shit to do?”
“We have a meeting set up with Midas in about an hour. We have some time to kill between then and now. I was thinking about taking a stroll through town and checking out the stores,” I tell him.
“In twenty feet of snow? Have you lost your mind, Gemini?” Orion spits out, reaching up with the back of his hand and placing it over my forehead. “He doesn’t have a fever so he’s not delirious.”
“Cut that shit out,” I mumble, shoving his hand away from my face. “And go wash your hands, they smell like you’ve taken a tumble in the sewers.”
“Ain’t been near no damn sewers, just you so that’s saying something,” Orion jeers.
“My bullshit meter is pinging,” I joke, giving him as much hell as he’s giving me. “You need to go empty your septic tank.”
“Bend over and open up,” Orion states, lifting his leg like he’s a damn dog about to release his load.
“That’s disgusting,” Mercury says, gagging. “Keep going. I’m waiting to see how far Gem is going to let you push him. It’s been a bit since you two have thrown down.”
“That’s because he’s still licking his wounds from the last time,” Orion says, knowing damn good and well that he’s the one who left that tussle with a black eye and I didn’t have a scratch on me.
“Watch yourself,” I order. “Today’s not the day for your antics.
I need a release and pounding your face into the snow would be a good way for me to do that.
Plus, because there is so much snow out there, it’ll save on having to get you any frozen peas to keep your face from swelling too much in case the moms decide to FaceTime. ”
Rio leans over and whispers to Riptide, “Do they remind you of anybody?”
“Yep,” Riptide answers. “LoneStar and BamBam whenever our clubs get together. LoneStar pushes BamBam’s buttons and BamBam reacts in kind by knocking LoneStar on his ass.”
“Good times,” Rio sighs, a homesick look on his face.
“Damn, I’m glad to get to know y’all even better now that you’re officially Kings and all that shit, but I’ll be fucking ecstatic when we finally go back home.
This is more snow than I’ve ever seen at one time in my entire life.
It’s a good thing we left our women at home because I’m positive that my balls are permanently frozen. ”
“So, what you’re saying is you’ve got blue balls,” Rip jeers, causing Orion to laugh so hard he spews tea out of his nose.
“And with that, I’m done,” I grumble as I grab a napkin and wipe off my side of the table. “Y’all clean your mess up, we don’t wanna piss these folks off before we’ve even gotten good and settled in. I’ll meet you at the bowling alley.”
With that, I get up and head out the door because otherwise, I’m going to kick Orion’s ass for everyone in this Podunk town to see.
Granted, it might send the message that nobody fucks with us, especially not each other, but it’s too fucking cold.
I hit the remote start on my fob and walk as quickly as I can without falling down and busting my ass with one goal in mind—to get warm.
Thank fuck I opted for heated seats on my truck, I think they’re going to come in handy living here in wintry hell.