Chapter 30
THIRTY
GET IT UP
Beckett
The bar was crowded, and I weaved through the patrons to one of the back tables. Andrew spotted me first, taking a sip of his nearly empty beer and waving me over.
It had been a while since I’d spent time with my brother and my best friend, Nathan, that wasn’t in a business setting. I was looking forward to a beer or a few with two of my favorite people.
I heard Nathan’s deep laugh before I saw him on the other side of the table.
“There he is!” Andrew exclaimed. “’Bout damn time.”
My brother slid off his barstool and wrapped his arms around me in a bear hug. Yeah, he was at least a couple beers in. He got all touchy-feely when he’d been drinking.
Extracting myself from his embrace, I reached over and shook Nathan’s hand.
“I’m not even half an hour late,” I said, and Andrew rolled his eyes. Turning to Nathan, I asked, “How many has he had?”
“He just finished his third.”
“But there were shots before that,” Andrew admitted, and I dropped onto the barstool next to him. The waitress appeared a second later, and I ordered a beer as did Andrew.
“You were serious about letting loose.”
Three days before Christmas, Andrew was in town for the holiday.
I’d suggested that we all get together while we were in the same city.
Especially since the last half of the year had been stressful for all of us.
With Nathan opening Abditory, and Andrew and I working to open the new office and trying to identify who might be stealing from us, we all needed a break.
At least we’d finally hired a forensic accountant and auditor.
It was weighing on us both, and we wanted to keep it quiet until we had more answers.
But it was weighing most on my brother. I was equally as worried, but I had a little more experience handling similar situations. So, I worried about him.
“Yes,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “I’m very serious. This is the first time in weeks I haven’t felt like I’m suffocating from stress.”
“What else do you need from me?” I asked immediately, but Andrew waved me off.
“Nothing. Right now, I don’t need a damn thing except for another drink.”
And like she heard the request, the waitress dropped our beers off and motioned to the menus in the center of the table.
I grabbed one for myself and shoved another one at Andrew. “You need to eat something.”
He took the menu and shot me a vulgar gesture. “Fine, Mr. Fix-it.”
While he perused the options, I looked over at Nathan.
“It’s been a while, man. How are you? Hopefully better than—” I glanced at Andrew with my eyes, and Nathan chuckled, setting his menu back in the center of the table. He spun his beer glass and slung his other arm over the back of his chair.
“I think we’re all doing better than Andrew,” he quipped.
“Fuck you,” Andrew eloquently added.
Nathan paid him no attention, though. “Businesses are going well. Abditory is doing better than I ever expected. You’ve gotta come back soon.”
“Yeah, we definitely will,” I said. The idea of taking Addison back to the club and spending another night in one of the rooms sounded perfect. Especially now that I was becoming an expert on her pleasure and all the ways she loved to be touched.
“We?” Nathan asked, his surprised smile widening. “Is this the blonde from Halloween night?”
“Yes,” Andrew answered for me. “Except she’s not blonde anymore. She has pink hair, but she’s still seventeen years younger than him.”
“You’re fucking joking,” Nathan scoffed.
“I didn’t realize.” God, it had been a while since we’d caught up.
Separate lives, separate, busy businesses—we couldn’t manage more than a check-in text most of the time.
I felt bad, but we were good enough friends that we just picked up wherever we left off. “What’s her name?”
“A—” Andrew began, but I shot him a look that made him rethink his response.
Looking back at Nathan, I said, “Addison,” and took a sip of my beer.
He nodded with his eyebrows raised like he was both impressed and shocked. “It’s been a while since you’ve been in a relationship. Wait, is this official? Have you had the talk?”
Taking another long, much-needed sip of my beer, I felt Andrew’s eyes boring into the side of my face. He dropped his menu and was suddenly very interested in our conversation. I’d told my brother a lot about me and Addison, but I hadn’t shared our most recent revelations.
Setting the glass back down on the wood, high-top table, I nodded. “Yeah, we had the talk. Boyfriend and girlfriend feels a little juvenile, but that’s what it is.”
Nathan and Andrew traded shocked glances then whooped. Nathan leaned over and smacked my shoulder while Andrew threw me in a headlock, ruffling my hair.
“Fucking hell,” I muttered, shoving my brother away and elbowing him in the side. My reaction didn’t lessen his elation, though.
“I’m sorry,” Andrew laughed. “But I’m just so proud of my big brother.” Although he sounded like he was joking, I could see in his eyes the honesty and truth in his statement.
“Do you have a picture of her? I need to put a face to a name. Halloween night, opening night, was a long time ago and a little hectic, so I don’t entirely remember. Except for the blonde hair.”
Knowing I wouldn’t get away with lying, I flashed him my phone lock screen.
“Holy shit, this is serious,” Nathan exclaimed. He grabbed my phone from my hand and peered down at the photo.
It was one I’d taken last week when we’d finally had that movie night we’d been talking about.
She was cuddled up on my couch, a blanket wrapped around her, and a bucket of popcorn in her hands.
She’d just looked so fucking adorable, I had to capture the moment.
She’d smiled over at me when I’d asked, producing a picture that made me so fucking happy every time I saw it.
Andrew held his hand out for my phone, and Nathan gave it to him quickly.
“Damn,” Andrew muttered. “You’ve got it bad, brother.”
I took my phone back but didn’t bother denying it. I was so far gone for her, if I looked behind me, the man I was before would be a little point in the distance I’d never be able to make out.
The waitress came back by, and we all ordered burgers and fries. The crowd got rowdier the later it got, and we had to speak louder to be heard over it.
“So, I’ve gotta ask: the age difference isn’t an issue?” Nathan finished off his beer, and I shrugged.
“Not necessarily. I mean, it’s a little more obvious sometimes, but overall, it’s not a big deal. It’s not like she’s partying every night or I’m looking at retirement homes.”
“You just have to forget about the fact that she was born almost at the same time you were graduating high school,” Andrew said.
Although his comment was unhelpful, it was also the truth. Like I said, most of the time it was a nonissue, but occasionally, both of us realized the difference.
They continued to riddle me with questions, most of which I answered. Except Andrew’s about our sex life and my ability to “still get it up.”
“I am not that much older than you, dickhead,” I reminded him. “I’ll ask you the same question in a few years and see how you feel about it.”
He waved me off, and we’d finally exhausted the topic. Only it was halfway through our meal, and we’d spent a good half an hour on my new relationship.
“Andrew, what about you, man? You’ve got someone new, right?” Nathan asked, and Andrew froze with his burger halfway to his mouth.
“It’s…umm…fine,” he muttered, taking a large bite. Neither Nathan nor I believed him, and we stayed silent until he groaned. “She ended things. We spent Thanksgiving with her parents, and it seemed to go well, but then shit went upside down.”
He gulped the rest of his beer, and I realized then that maybe his attitude didn’t have as much to do with work as I thought. He cleared his throat, obviously done talking about the topic and very uninterested in expanding, and looked at Nathan.
“Okay, man, fess up. We’ve gone over our relationship shit. It’s your turn,” Andrew said.
Nathan pushed his empty plate to the center of our small table and smiled at the waitress, who immediately came by to grab it. She looked at him a second longer than she had before, and Nathan’s smile widened.
I’d seen that look before. My best friend was a fucking flirt. Always had been, and likely always would be.
“There’s nothing to tell,” Nathan said.
Andrew laughed. “Have you been enjoying the rooms at your own club?”
Nathan narrowed his eyes at my brother, but there was a hint of a smile on his face. “Of course, I have. What kind of business owner would I be if I didn’t test it out before offering it to others?”
“A pretty shitty one,” Andrew agreed. “I feel left out now. I need to come see the place.”
“Hell yeah, you do. New Year’s Eve is our next event, if you want to join. You, too, Beckett. Bring your girl.”
Smiling, I glanced around the bar and nodded. I didn’t know what we were doing on New Year’s Eve, but I knew it would be perfect. As long as Addison was there, it would be.
And they were definitely right—I had it bad. Really bad. Yet, I didn’t care.