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Everyone was there, and I dropped down to sit on the chair where I sat every week when we met.
“What’s up? You look pissed off,” Romeo said, tossing me a bag with my sandwich in it.
“Fucking Cassie, man. She’s got to be advertising free consulting or something, because everyone is coming in now, and it’s completely out of control. Wendy fucking Slaughter showed up with no appointment, telling me she wanted to sue her husband for gambling a couple hundred bucks. And then Jimbo blows through the door, screaming at her for getting an attorney. The fucker thought I was a divorce attorney and started throwing things around the office.”
“What the fuck? What did you do?” Hayes asked, leaning forward and dropping his sandwich as he waited for an answer.
“I came over the desk and pinned him to the fucking wall until he calmed his ass down.” I reached for my soda and took a sip. “And then fucking Cassie comes in, flailing her arms around and screaming about calling the police, which had Wendy freaking out, and they got into it. I kid you not. It was a complete shit show.”
“Well, did she call the police?” Kingston asked, and the asshole had a smile on his face like he was enjoying himself.
“No. Wendy knocked the cell phone out of her hand, and now Cassie wants to file an assault charge against her.” I shook my head because you couldn’t make this shit up. “But I calmed them all down. Told Jimbo to pay her the money he owed her. Told Wendy to pull her shit together and go home. And I told Cassie that if she’d stop taking clients without appointments, none of this would have happened.”
“Damn. Look at you, brother. Taking the bull by the horns.” Nash reached for his sandwich and started eating again.
“Does Ruby know her mom came down there? I’m guessing she wouldn’t be a fan of her making a scene like that,” Romeo said. “She’s been hanging out with Demi a bit, and apparently, she doesn’t like to talk about Wendy.”
“Ruby’s a boss babe, and her mom is a train wreck, so I’m guessing that’s the issue. But speaking of the lovely Ruby… I noticed you two on the dance floor the other night.” Kingston smirked.
“Yeah? Why are you saying it like you’re some sort of fucking rocket scientist? We danced. Big deal.”
“But then you two disappeared for a little bit, didn’t you?” My brother made no effort to hide the humor from his voice.
I paused mid-bite and raised a brow. “What are you… a fucking stalker? I went to take a piss.”
Romeo barked out a laugh now. “It’s not a big deal if you like her. Hell, we all like her. Even if we’re a little scared of her.”
“The dude who just won the belt in a nationally televised boxing match is afraid of a girl who’s half his size,” Hayes said with a laugh.
“Hey, she had a good left hook that time she dropped me when we were kids.” Romeo glanced down at his phone when it vibrated before turning his attention back to us. “But I think she’s all bark and no bite. She’s riding with Demi and Cutler this weekend out at Demi’s parents’ ranch.”
I was glad she’d agreed to ride. I’d seen that look in her eyes when Cutler had brought it up, and I could tell she wanted to go, too.
“So, what’s going on there?” Nash asked as he studied me.
“Nothing’s going on there. She’s Lionel’s daughter. She hates me most of the time. And she’s just here until Lionel gets out of the hospital.” I shrugged. It was kind of true, minus the two best fucking minutes of my life. I needed a subject change before they figured that shit out. I wasn’t about to share what happened, because if Ruby found out that I told a soul, she’d probably cut my dick off. “How’s Saylor? Is she back for a while?”
Saylor Woodson was Hayes’s little sister. She’d just graduated from college and had gotten home last night, and he was already worrying about what she was going to do. He’d always been ridiculously protective over her, which I understood. We were all that way with the people we loved.
“Yeah. She’s staying with me for now, and she’s having lunch with Demi this week to talk about some business ideas.” Hayes ran a hand through his hair, which was always a tell that he was worried.
“That’s good she’s staying with you. You haven’t mentioned your mom in a while, and I haven’t seen her around. She doing all right?” Romeo asked.
“She’s back with Barry, so I want nothing to do with her. And I sure as hell don’t want Saylor being pulled into her shit, you know?”
“You know we’re here if you need us. If Saylor needs a place to stay or anything at all, we’ve got you,” Kingston said. The dude was rarely serious, but we all knew the shit Hayes and Saylor had been through, and there was no joking about that.
“I know you do. A part of me hoped she wouldn’t come back here, even though I miss the hell out of her, but I just need her to be fucking smart, you know?”
“She’s smart, brother. She’ll be fine. We’ll all be watching out for her,” Nash said, and Romeo, Kingston, and I nodded.
“Ride or die. Brothers till the end. Loyalty always. Forever my friend,” I said. It was our motto. The words we’d lived by since we were kids.
“Always.” Kingston balled up the paper from his sandwich and shot the basket into the trash can across the room, sinking it easily. “And I’m glad Saylor is home. I missed her.”
“Yeah? Well, she’s all grown up now, so keep your filthy paws off her.” Hayes raised a brow, and we all laughed.
Sisters were off-limits. It was an unspoken rule. It had never been a problem because only Romeo and Hayes each had one sister. Romeo’s sister, Tia, was far too young for anyone in the group, as she’d just left for college this year. And Saylor was Romeo’s age, so not much younger than the rest of us, but she’d always been shy, and we’d all looked at her like a little sister. Not to mention the fact that she’d come to live at our house when some shit had gone down with her family. I was gone at Fresh Start, but she and Kingston had grown close during that time. I was grateful they’d had one another to lean on when they were both going through tough times.
