Chapter 10
The dive bar is exactly what I expected—sticky floors, neon signs that flicker like they’re having seizures, and the kind of clientele that makes you want to check your pockets twice before leaving. Perfect place for a cheating asshole to hang out.
I spot Tom immediately. He’s sitting in a corner booth with some blonde draped across his lap, his hands wandering places they definitely shouldn’t be wandering when you have a girlfriend. The girl’s giggling at something he’s saying, probably his same tired pickup lines.
“There’s our boy,” I murmur to Jake and Nick as we approach the bar.
“I’m going to grab a beer while you do your thing.” Nick gestures to the bar and heads over.
Jake and I survey the scene. Tom’s got that cocky musician vibe going—leather jacket, artfully messy hair, the kind of confidence that comes from never having felt the consequences of his actions.
That’s about to change.
I walk over to Tom’s table, putting on my most charming smile. The blonde looks up at me with interest, which makes Tom’s grip on her tighten possessively.
“You must be Tom.” I slide into the seat across from him. Jake doesn’t bother sitting, just watching the man silently. While Ethan and Jake may be completely opposite personalities, both have the death stare down pat.
Tom looks between the two. “Who the fuck are you two clowns?”
My grin widens as I glance at Jake. “He’s such a charmer. I wonder if his foul mouth is what Megan sees in him?”
“Megan?” Tom frowns now, stiffening. “How do you know Megan?”
I pretend to look shocked, my hand on my chest. “Oh, I’m sorry.
Didn’t we introduce ourselves? We’re Megan’s older brothers.
I’m Caleb. This here is Jake, and that ‘clown’ over there is Nick.
Nick!” Nick looks over from the bar, and I shout over the music, “Say hi to Megan’s boyfriend! ” Nick gives him a cool stare.
Tom’s face goes through several interesting color changes before settling on a sickly shade of oh-shit. “Megan’s... brothers?”
I beam at him. “Megan didn’t mention us?”
Tom swallows. “I… Well, she said she had four brothers…”
“And we’re three of them,” I say brightly. “We thought it was high time we met. I mean, Megan is always talking about you. So we were curious.”
“S-she is?” Tom stammers weakly.
My smile is pleasant. “Oh, yeah. We thought we should get to know you. I didn’t know you would have company.” I glance pointedly at the blonde perched on his lap. “And you are?”
The girl opens her mouth to answer, but Tom practically launches her off his lap, suddenly having realized the girl was still there. She nearly stumbles to the ground before righting herself. “Nobody,” he says quickly. “She’s nobody. Just a friend.”
“Just a friend who was sitting on your lap?” I keep my voice light, conversational. “That’s some friendship you have there.”
“It’s not what it looks like—”
The blonde—who clearly isn’t nobody—looks between us with growing confusion. “Tom, who is this?”
“Nobody,” Tom says, which seems to be his favorite word tonight. “Just go, Candy. I’ll call you later.”
“Candy?” I can’t help but smile. “Your parents actually named you Candy?”
“It’s short for Candace,” she says with wounded dignity.
“Of course it is.” I turn back to Tom, whose Adam’s apple is bobbing like a fishing lure. “So, Tom. Care to go for a ride with us?”
“A ride?” The boy looks uneasy. “Ah. Can’t we just talk here? I have some friends coming…”
“No. My brothers and I want to take you for a little drive. We’ll get you back in time to meet your friends. Won’t we, Jake?”
Jake shrugs. “Depends.”
“Depends on what?” Tom chokes out.
“Are we doing this or what?” Nick shows up with a beer in hand, looking vaguely annoyed.
“Come on, Tom.” I’m out of my seat and forcing him out of his. Jake grabs his other arm as we drag him outside.
“Really, guys, is this necessary? I don’t like going for drives. I don’t even like cars. I get carsick.”
“It’s okay.” I shove him into the passenger seat as Nick opens the door. “If you throw up, I’ll send you the bill for the detailing.”
The others get in, and I make sure to lock the doors once I slide into my seat. Winking at a terrified Tom, I say, “Relax. We just want to talk.”
“T-that’s not as reassuring as it sounds.” He fumbles with his phone. “I’m going to—I should let Megan know I’m with you guys.”
I pluck his phone out of his hands and toss it to Jake, who pockets it without a word. “Now, why would you go and do that?”
I start the engine and immediately floor it, tearing out of the parking lot like we’re being chased by the cops. Tom’s hand shoots out to grab the door handle as we screech around the first corner.
“Jesus Christ!” he yelps as I take another turn without slowing down. “Slow down!”
“I’m a very safe driver,” I say cheerfully, running a red light and earning a chorus of honks from other cars. “Ask my brothers.”
“He’s terrible,” Jake says conversationally from behind us, his voice perfectly calm despite the fact that I just cut off a taxi. “Got his license suspended twice last year.”
“Twice?” Tom’s voice cracks as I weave between lanes like I’m playing Grand Theft Auto.
“Would’ve been three times, but Jake got me out of the last one.” I grin at Tom, who’s gone pale. “Perks of having a lawyer in the family.”
Behind us, I hear Nick open something—probably his beer—followed by the most obnoxiously loud slurping sound I’ve ever heard.
I glance in the rearview mirror and nearly laugh out loud.
Nick has found a straw somewhere and is making direct eye contact with Tom while slurping his beer like he’s trying to drain an ocean.
SLURP. SLURP. SLURP.
The sound fills the car, rhythmic and maddening.
“What the hell is that noise?” Tom twists around to look at Nick, who just keeps slurping without breaking eye contact.
“That’s just Nick,” I explain, taking a corner so sharp that Tom slides across his seat. “He’s the quiet one.”
SLURP. SLURP. SLURP.
“Can he stop?” Tom pleads.
“Can you stop cheating on our sister?” Jake asks mildly.
Tom whips back around. “I’m not—I wasn’t—”
“Oh, come on,” I interrupt, swerving around a slow-moving truck. “We just saw you with Candy. Or Candace. Whatever her real name is.”
SLURP. SLURP. SLURP.
The slurping intensifies, if that’s even possible. I catch Nick’s eye in the mirror, and he gives me the slightest nod. The sound is driving Tom absolutely insane—I can see his jaw clenching with every slurp.
“Look, that was just—She’s just a friend—”
“A friend who sits on your lap?” Jake’s voice is calm, like he’s discussing the weather. “That’s interesting. I have friends, too, but I don’t grope them in public bars.”
I slam on the brakes at a stop light, sending Tom lurching forward against his seatbelt. “Oops. Sorry about that.”
“You did that on purpose!”
“Did I?” I give him my most innocent look. “Jake, did I do that on purpose?”
“Hard to say,” Jake muses. “Caleb’s always been a bit of a chaotic driver. Accidents happen all the time with him behind the wheel.”
The light turns green, and I gun it again, the engine roaring as we speed down the street. In the back, the slurping finally stops—Nick must have hit the bottom of his beer.
“Thank God,” Tom mutters.
That’s when Nick starts slurping air through the straw, making an even more annoying sound.
SLURP-WHISTLE. SLURP-WHISTLE. SLURP-WHISTLE.
“Oh, come on!” Tom spins around again. “What is wrong with you?”
Nick doesn’t say anything, just keeps making that god-awful noise while staring at Tom with dead eyes.
“He’s processing,” I explain helpfully, taking another turn that makes Tom grab the door handle again. “He gets like this when he’s thinking about violence.”
“Violence?” Tom’s voice shoots up an octave.
“You like your kneecaps?” Nick speaks for the first time, his voice completely flat.
Tom blinks rapidly. “Uh... Y-yeah?”
Nick nods once. “Good. Keep it that way.”
Then he goes right back to slurping air through his straw.
“What does that mean?” Tom looks between all of us frantically. “What does that mean?!”
“It means whatever you want it to mean,” Jake says with a warm smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “See, the beautiful thing about language is interpretation. Take legal terms, for example. Did you know that infidelity isn’t technically illegal?”
“That’s... That’s good, right?”
“But fraud is.” Jake’s smile widens. “And technically, telling my sister you’re exclusive while sneaking around could be construed as fraudulent misrepresentation. Emotional damages, breach of trust... Judges really hate that sort of thing.”
I can practically see Tom’s brain trying to process whether that’s actually a real law or not.
“Is that... Is that real?”
“Want to find out?” Jake pats Tom’s shoulder in a friendly gesture that makes him flinch. “I know some great judges. They owe me favors.”
SLURP-WHISTLE. SLURP-WHISTLE.
“Can he please stop that noise?”
“Nick?” I call back. “Tom asked nicely.” The slurping stops. Nick reaches over and adjusts Tom’s seatbelt, pulling it tighter across his chest.
“Wouldn’t want your neck to snap too easily,” Nick mutters, then settles back into his seat. Tom looks like he’s about to hyperventilate.
“Relax,” Jake says cheerfully. “We’re not here to hurt you. Unless of course you give us a reason to. And you wouldn’t do that, would you?”
“I swear I wasn’t cheating—”
“So you admit you knowingly engaged in conduct with another woman while in a committed relationship,” Jake cuts him off smoothly. “Got it. That’s going on the record.”
“What record?!”
“The one I’m keeping.” Jake pulls out his phone and starts typing. “For documentation purposes. You never know when these things might come in handy.”
I take a particularly sharp turn, and Tom grabs the dashboard. “Where are we going?”
“Nowhere special,” I say. “Just driving around. Having a chat between men.”
“Do you like hospitals?” Nick asks suddenly from the back.
Tom twists around. “What?”