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“And then some,” both Duncan and Beckett said at the same time.
A faraway look entered Izel’s eyes. “I was just like Cormac when I was alive.”
“You had a stick up your ass your entire life?” Duncan asked.
“Wait, you used to be a person?” Beckett asked, his eyes slightly wide.
Duncan’s heart broke at the hurt look in Izel’s dark eyes.
“You’re a dick,” Duncan snarled at his brother. “Why don’t you go join Cormac before I tell Santee how you wet the bed until you were seven?”
Beckett narrowed his eyes. “You know that isn’t true.”
“Yeah, but if I plant that seed in his head, he’s always going to wonder if it’s true.” Duncan chucked his thumb toward the bar. “Now get the fuck ghost, asshole.”
After flipping Duncan off, Beckett walked toward the bar, taking a seat next to Cormac and whispering something to him. When Cormac gave Duncan a death stare, Duncan knew he was going to bury Beckett’s body.
“Sorry about him,” Duncan said. “Beckett was dropped on his head on a daily basis as a child. Broke his ability to buffer shit from his brain to his mouth.”
“His shock is understandable,” Izel replied.
“But he also missed his sensitivity training.” Duncan took a drag of his beer. “You had brothers?”
“Three,” Izel replied. “They got into a lot of mischief growing up, and since I was the oldest, it was my job to rein them in. It’s not a job the eldest sibling wants, but it’s a responsibility they are burdened with.”
Duncan glanced toward the bar. He’d never thought of it that way. He just assumed that Cormac had come out of the womb a snarly individual with no sense of humor. He never thought about the fact that the eldest of them never wanted that job in the first place. Come to think of it, their dad had put a lot of pressure on Cormac to keep Duncan and the others in line, and they’d made it their life mission to get into as much trouble as possible.
“Damn, now I feel like I owe Cormac an apology.” He looked at Izel. “Did you hate being their wrangler?”
“Wrangler?” Izel frowned.
“Herding them all the time and making sure they stayed out of trouble.”
A soft grin touched Izel’s lips. “An apt description, and, yes, it was burdensome. I wanted to go off and do my own thing, but I knew my father expected too much of me.”
Although Duncan liked learning about Izel, no parent should put that level of responsibility on a child. If Duncan had to run behind Hayden and Beckett when they were younger, he would have tied them up with duct tape and thrown them into a closet.
Orion came to the booth, sweaty and grinning, his skin flushed. “How’d we do?”
“Fucking fantastic,” Duncan said.
“A superb performance,” Izel chimed in.
“Really?” Orion looked toward the bar where Santee had joined Beckett. “Maybe we’ll do a few more songs before the night is over.”
“You don’t want to strain your voice.” Duncan got up so Orion could sit between them then sat back down.
“You look flushed. Why not rest for a while?” Izel added. “I’ll order you a refreshment.”
“Nothing with alcohol.” Duncan wiggled his brows at his mates. “Can’t have our way with Orion if he’s drunk.”
“One drink isn’t going to make me wasted,” Orion protested. “I’m going to the bar to get us refills.”
“But you’ve had more than one drink.” Izel nodded toward Orion’s empty shot glass on the table.”
“Don’t be a buzzkill,” Orion replied. “I sweated off my last shot. I’m stone-cold sober right now.”
Duncan had a bottle of beer. Izel had a glass of water, and sitting in between them was Orion’s empty shot glass. Liquid courage to sing.
