19. Handling It Quietly
NINETEEN
Handling It Quietly
CALEB
“Seriously, Nicksy?” Caleb asked, tucking his loose hair behind his ears. “You said that asshole was halfway to Mexico.”
The headband slipped every time Caleb touched it until Luke offered something called hair wax, to which he gamely submitted because he was the youngest and already drained of the particular energy he needed to stand up to his brothers. In the mirror, the result wasn’t bad. He didn’t look like the reflection he was used to, but maybe that was what he needed. Maybe it was what she needed.
“I thought he was gone. You think I want him here?” Evan Nicks shook his head and uncovered a plate of burger patties. He bounced experimentally on the deck, and it wobbled only a little under the weight of half a dozen teammates and a large grill. Satisfied, he handed the burgers to a friend. “But I am this close to making Paige see me as her forever and not a childhood-bestie football bro, and I will not piss her off making a scene about Hammy.”
“Wait. She still doesn’t think you’re serious? ”
“You know me. One step forward, then two steps back every time I shoot myself in the foot.” He grimaced. “But she’s here. There’s a chance.”
“There’s a chance, brother. You heard about Hammy heading for the draft?”
“It’s no secret since the combine. It makes the program look solid if he does all right, so thanks and good riddance, I guess.”
Caleb raised his beer.
“I want to meet him,” Luke said, filling a red cup at the keg. “The last time I saw him, I stuffed some grass in his face mask.”
“You fools stay away from him.” Nicksy gestured at all four brothers. “Three out of the nine guys who live here still like him all right, so I won’t kick him out unless he causes actual trouble. You boys are okay with me for tonight, but I don’t have to live with you.”
Caleb stuck his head in the kitchen and spotted Hayden standing at the island counter, sneaking his arm around a statuesque brunette who nearly matched his height in her high heels. He either didn’t notice or didn’t care that she was edging away from him, pouted lips twisted uncomfortably. Hayden propped a hip on the edge of the counter and surveyed the room like he owned it, eyes lingering here and there on a girl before returning to the one at his side.
“Fields, grab the blue plate out of the fridge,” Nicksy called. “Paige has a vegetarian friend coming tonight, so I have some of those black bean burgers made up.”
Vegetarian burgers. Caleb’s heart pounded at the thought of Shannon, and he wondered if she had a friend named Paige. He handed Nicksy the plate and turned to his brothers. “ I’ve got some work for you and you,” he said, pointing at Eli and Luke. “Go work some twin magic on the lovely lady our boy is trying to seduce. She looks uncomfortable with his moves. Smile at her from both sides and see if she’d like to get out of there.”
Nicksy squinted in the window. “That’s Paige’s friend Nina. She doesn’t look too happy. I wonder why she’s talking with him.”
A friend called Nina, then. Not Shannon.
“Who knows, and who cares?” asked Justin Berkley, the senior defensive lineman manning the grill. Everyone jolted; it was the first time he’d spoken since they arrived. “He can take his trouble somewhere else, if you know what I mean.”
Nicksy nodded.
“Not. In. My. House,” Berk said, flipping a burger with each word. He and Nicksy shared a sideways glance that set Caleb on edge.
Eli didn’t notice the exchange as he downed a burger in four bites, dabbed his chin with a napkin and checked his breath. He turned to the grill master. “Then, with your permission, gentlemen, we’ll have a word with the damsel in distress.”
Luke walked into the kitchen first and stopped. Eli ran into his back, and Caleb bumped into him. Isaac stood behind them and gawped.
“Did I just see the thing I thought I saw?” Luke asked, his silver tongue failing him as he looked to his brothers for words. “Was that the thing I think he was thinking? Doing? With the thing he just did?” He turned to Isaac, who glanced back at Nicksy.
“Did you see Hayden drop something in that cup?” Isaac asked, careful to put the words in the right order for Luke, who bobbed his head gratefully.
“Goddammit,” Nicksy said. He squeezed his forehead and his face took on an angry flush so red his freckles disappeared. “Yes, I saw it. It’s happened before, but that was not at my house and definitely not with someone I know. Both times he’s been confronted, then a cup gets spilled and there’s no proof of anything.” He turned to his housemate. “Berk, were you looking?”
“I saw nothing, big man. But I’ve got you.”
“You’re kidding me,” Caleb whispered.
“I wish,” Nicksy said. “What do you do when there’s nothing to prove it? Everyone knows if you see something like that, you help the girl out first. It’s the right thing to do. But if she hasn’t drunk anything, no test on her will show anything, and the bad guy walks away.” Peering back inside, he confirmed Nina’s hand was nowhere near the cup. He didn’t turn his gaze from the window.
“I heard Hayden got caught once his freshman year and didn’t have any more on him, so there was an argument it was someone else.” His veins pulsed at his temples. “We can tattle all we want, but he will never get in trouble without evidence. A cup knocked over means the proof is in the carpet.” He pushed his hair off his sweaty forehead and nodded to Berk. “But no one’s said anything to either of them yet, so right now, he thinks he’s getting away with it. This doesn’t stand in our house.”
Berk flipped three more burgers. “It. Does. Not.” He finally looked up. “And I don’t want to fucking guess what all’s in that carpet.”
He plucked the red plastic cups from Luke’s and Eli’s hands and set them next to Caleb’s on the porch railing. “Our boy in there is the only one I want getting into any trouble.” He pointed at Caleb. “That includes you. I know you’ve got a problem with him, but don’t make this shit personal.”
Isaac seethed, muttering curses about who had the best reason to make things personal.
“Why would he do that?” Caleb stared at his friend, dazed. “That guy could have almost any?—”
“Power trip? Who cares why?” Luke asked. “It’s a federal felony worth years if he’s caught with roofies on him. That’s why nobody ever carries more than one thing. Pill or whatever it is.” He yanked his brother’s arm.
“I don’t want to know why you know that,” Caleb said.
“Every decent person should know how this happens and what to do,” Nicksy interjected, not taking his eyes from Nina as she nudged her drink toward the center of the counter. “You never go out, freshman, so I’ll forgive you. But one day, this glorious dump and everything in its nasty-ass carpet will be yours, and I expect you to reign over it with decency.”
“And handling it quietly doesn’t work?” Caleb asked.
Berk wrangled three more burgers, one on each word. “Not. With. Him.”
Nicksy pulled Caleb and Isaac aside. “I’ll get Paige up here recording. We’ll wait until you guys see Hammy try to get Nina to take a drink or something, so she’ll have that to show which cup it is. Then you’ll go in there. Remember that a counter full of unspilled drinks can be tested. The spilled ones are useless. Berk and I will jump in if we see anyone go for it. He’ll call the cops now.”
“Why do you already have a game plan for this?” Caleb asked, still baffled .
“I’m sick of protecting that asshole,” was Nicksy’s only explanation.
“What’s your approach?” Isaac asked.
Berk turned from the grill and considered his three guests. “Talk ball. Work the rivalry angle. That’ll get him riled up and distracted so he doesn’t notice her or us.”
“Oh, I’ll rile him up.”
When he saw Paige in the shadows by the door to the basement, phone in hand, Nicksy gave Isaac a shove.
Isaac approached Hayden with a disarming smile. “Hayden Hamilton, right? You had a standout season.” Isaac had the height advantage by two inches and weight by forty pounds, and forced him to turn away from Nina when he cranked his arm.
Hayden narrowed his eyes. “Have we met?”
“You could say that. I strip-sacked you last year and was on the Sports Center highlight reels for that touchdown.”
Hayden didn’t make the connection and glared before looking back at Nina. “I’m a little busy.”
“My friend Cameron Porter asked me to say hi.”
Hayden froze, his face darkening with fury at the name of the rival he never managed to beat—the quarterback of Isaac’s team. Luke moved to Nina’s side and whispered that he and his brother needed a private chat. Charmed by his smile and eager to make an exit that wouldn’t prompt Hayden to follow her outside where she was certain Shannon was still waiting, she nodded when she watched Luke lift her cup into an empty one and slide it among several others on the counter.
“You’re a long way from Indiana. If Cam wanted to gloat about the win, he should have joined your little road trip. Who are you?”
“Isaac Fields.”
The furious flush drained from Hayden’s cheeks.
“And Eli Fields.” His brother waved, leaning on the counter.
Another wave. “And I’m Luke Fields.” He smirked at Hayden’s confused glances between the identical twins.
Another rivalry—one that left Hayden punching walls two years in a row. “You’re Cory Thatcher’s boys from UM. You’ve got some balls showing up in this town.”
“They’re visiting their little brother.” Caleb sauntered out of the kitchen with a boldness his teammates didn’t know off the field. His limp disappeared as he stared down his nemesis. “That’s it for introductions. You just dropped a roofie in that lady’s drink, and you must be exceptionally stupid because five of us saw you do it.” He gestured broadly to the room. “Intoxicated minors, please show yourselves out. The police will be here shortly.”
“No one saw shit, and this is a joke.” Hayden said as murmurs filled the room and the under-twenty-ones sidled toward the exits.
“This a felony,” Caleb said, grateful for the primer.
Hayden nodded at the air cast on Caleb’s ankle. “The injured reserve showed up to talk trash and name-drop tonight. Had to bring your big brothers because you can’t handle yourself, freshman freak?”
“Still trying to get under my skin with the nickname. Maybe that’s why I don’t see anyone at your side,” he said.
Hayden gritted his teeth at the observation. His teammates trained watchful eyes on him—not leaving, but not coming to his aid. The noisy confrontation was new. No one ever stopped the party to confront him, and while no one wanted to get involved, no one wanted to walk away.
“I’ve got a couple more exes for you to hook up with, if you’re bored, Fields.”
“No thanks,” all four brothers chorused, rewarded with snickers from the gathering crowd.
“Well, there’s nothing to see here,” Hayden said, reaching for a red plastic cup half-full of untainted beer—a cup that Luke placed in the same spot Nina left hers.
Eli shot out a hand and grabbed Hayden’s wrist. The double-layered cup from Nina waited, untouched, where Berk kept a watchful eye.
“Then chug it,” Caleb said, ignoring the jibe about Shannon as he picked up the harmless cup. “There’s nothing to see here if you chug this beer and prove me wrong. And if you drop it instead of drink it, that tells everyone in this room an interesting story for the cops.”
Hayden didn’t respond, and all conversation ground to a halt as his chest heaved with labored breaths. Thumping bass from cheap speakers vibrated the floor and filled the house with audible tension while he glanced left and right, reading a field where half a dozen cell phone cameras recorded every breath, and no one would make eye contact.
The clack of the plastic cup on the countertop echoed.
“Chug it, Hammy!” Caleb shouted in his face, then dropped his voice to an ominous growl. “I bet you look pretty when you sleep.”
Struggling in Eli’s grasp, Hayden lunged to swipe the cup with his hand outstretched just as Caleb drew back his left arm and nailed the bridge of his nose. It had barely begun gushing blood when he swung his right fist into his temple and sent him staggering to the floor.
Before Caleb looked up from his victim to respond to his brothers or the onlookers, a black motorcycle boot slammed into the side of Hayden’s head.
Twice.
“That’s from Delilah,” a familiar voice said. “Hi, Ryan. I guess we’ll see who was your biggest mistake.”
Caleb caught Shannon’s gaze. A vacuum of silence sucked all sound from the room, save their breathing and his pounding heart. Jags froze behind her, still reaching for her arm, when she bolted inside after Paige’s text. Out of the corners of his eyes he saw people clustered around the room begin to stir and whisper, but his only conscious awareness was the storm on Lake Michigan, surrounded by bright blue streaks highlighting the thunder in her satisfied smile.
Caleb paced in front of the yew bushes, yanking at his hair. “What am I looking at?” he demanded. “Assault? Disturbing the peace? Attempted murder?”
“Easy there,” Isaac said. “How much did you have to drink?”
“Half a beer.”
“Good. You burned it off punching. That’s the only thing that would have complicated this. They might hold you for a few hours until they test the cup and talk to all of us. After that, you’ll end up with a fine or something, and it’s case closed.”
“What about Shannon?” Caleb nodded to where she sat on the steps with Nina. “Shouldn’t she get out of here? She literally kicked him when he was down and he was conscious. He’ll tell them she did. People were recording.”
Luke elbowed him and pretended to whisper. “Roll up your sleeves.”
“Huh?”
“You dropped the bad guy, and she’s looking at your arms right now, if she’s not looking at your pretty hair.” Luke sniffed Caleb’s head. “That hair wax is rosemary and mint, and better than any cologne. You’ll smell good all night.”
“What about this situation makes you think I need to worry about how I look and smell to her?”
Luke smacked his brother’s chest. “You’re the guy who boned in the library. These magic moments can sneak up on you.”
Caleb heaved a deep sigh but reached for the buttons on his cuffs as soon as Luke turned his back.
“I am so, so sorry I left you out there,” Nina said, placing her arm around Shannon. “I didn’t know what to do. He kept saying he wanted to leave, but I knew you were waiting out here, so I couldn’t let him. His stupid party girls kept pulling him to the door, so I had to try and make him stay. Someone grabbed Paige to play pool as soon as we got there. We didn’t think it would take so long.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Shannon said, leaning on her friend’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry you were in that position with that creep. I should have just gone inside and ignored him instead of hiding out here like a baby. I should have kicked him one more time for you.”
“I knew what to look for, thanks to your little summary earlier. Hayden is quite the charmer.” Nina scrunched up her face. “And it sounds like he’s made that impression on a few other people. Is Caleb going to get in trouble? Are you?”
Luke situated himself on the steps next to them as though he’d been invited.
Shannon looked him up and down. “They can arrest me tonight if they want to,” she told Nina while staring at the familiar-faced interloper. “Hayden will not press charges. Anything they try and slap on him is another story.”
“Why did you kick him?” Luke asked.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Luke Fields. Caleb’s brother.”
“Shannon. This is Nina.”
“Nina and I have met.” He shot Nina a charming smile. “And Shannon, I’ve heard about you pretty much every day for weeks. Thank God you’re real.”
Shannon folded her arms. “He told me you were funny.”
“He did?” Luke brightened.
“No.”
“Well, compared to him I am.” He leaned back on his elbows and stared at the night sky. “Are you certain this guy won’t press charges against you? What about my brother?”
“Hayden is aware it is in his best interest to send me on my way. I’ll drag Caleb along.”
“Sounds like he knows not to mess with you. Hey, have you made any extravagant purchases recently?”
“What? No.”
“Are you from Tennessee?”
“Excuse me?”
“We just wondered if—I mean, why did you kick the guy? ”
“Because he sucks. Why do you care why I kicked him?” Shannon asked Luke. “Or what I’m purchasing?”
He shrugged as he stretched his legs, then tilted his head with a flirtatious wink. “I’m curious. My little brother has some big feelings about that guy, and I wondered about yours.”
“I have big feelings about him taking advantage of women.” Shannon pointed at Paige, Nicksy, and several other witnesses clutching cell phones and waiting. “I think some people know more than they’ve said in the past. This was only the latest.”
“From what I heard, it sounds like there wasn’t any proof before,” he said. “People did the right thing stopping trouble before it started. In this case, I’d say a few extrajudicial kicks are warranted.”
“You had better not be making fun of me.”
Luke sat up and faced her, his hazel eyes earnest and so uncannily like Caleb’s she blinked to refocus. “I would never make fun of a situation like this,” he said. “It’s dangerous, and it sounds like he’s gotten away with enough to feel bulletproof. He needs a wake-up call.”
She exhaled, blowing out a breath through pursed lips. “I guess this isn’t what you expected when you came to visit your brother.”
“Caleb doesn’t go out much, so we knew it was entirely possible we’d end up eating takeout and watching the basketball games,” Luke said. “We nagged him and ended up here, where we were promised a low-key evening with good burgers. We did enjoy the burgers.”
“This is where I met him,” Shannon said, suddenly wistful .
“That was also not a low-key evening. I think this place should reconsider its advertising.” Luke winked again as her cheeks flushed bright red with the realization that Caleb’s brothers might know all about that night and everything since.
His warm gaze went blank as flashing blue and red lights surrounded them. The same look fell over his brothers’ faces like a white curtain, blanching their cheeks as their hazel eyes shone gray in the reflections of two police cruisers. Isaac shook off his daze and approached an officer, pointing out people to talk to. After shoving a folded piece of paper in Caleb’s pocket, he led one officer inside to where Eli monitored Hayden and the untouched beer.
“Hi. I’m the one who punched him,” Caleb said as he approached the two remaining officers. “Happy to help however I can.”
“And I’m the one who kicked him,” Shannon announced, striding over from the steps. “Also happy to help with whatever you want to know. I might be the only person here who knows his full name, which I imagine you’ll need for medical treatment and attempted rape charges, or whatever you give a guy for this.”
The two goggle-eyed officers conferred as Caleb stared at Shannon. “You shouldn’t even be here,” he whispered. “Why didn’t you just go home?”
“The same reason you didn’t,” she hissed. “He deserves this. He deserves us.”