CHAPTER 19
JONATHAN
Fuck. This can't be happening. How is it that things always go to shit when I need them to work out? Cassie Hale. Damn it. I slam my fist into the bathroom wall and swear. The old guy seated with the towels in the corner acts like I don't exist. I lean into the wall, curling my arm, and rest my head there for a second. It's fucking pounding.
Cassie. The last time I saw her, she screwed me over. I spilled my guts to her one summer when we were kids, and she told me all this shit and I believed it. Obviously, I got played worse than I thought. She's a goddamn stripper. The thought makes me sick. Even though I know she stabbed me in the back, I can't stand the thought of the other guys seeing her naked. It feels like someone reached into my chest, grabbed hold of my heart, and ripped the fucker out. I can't breathe.
Why is she here? It's been years since I've seen her, years since she pulled her shit, so why is she sliding around on the floor? And why now? Fate's a bitch, a goddamn bitch.
Pushing off the wall, I walk over to the sink and wash my face off. I need to pull it together. She can't see that she has any effect on me at all. I take a towel from the guy and hand him a fifty, and say, "You didn't see anything."
"Of course." He smiles at me and pockets the cash.
When I hit the hallway, Trystan falls in step beside me. "So, Peter and the strippers..."
"There's only one left and he can take care of her."
Trystan looks at me weirdly, but doesn't say anything. He doesn't know about Cassie or any of that shit. All that stuff happened before I met him. I glance over. "Sean wants to rip your heart out."
Trystan laughs, "Sean needs to relax."
"Like that'll ever happen." I shove my hands into my pockets and push into the main room, looking for Peter.
"We need to get Pete to the private party room." A plan forms in my mind. I want to humiliate her and crush her like she crushed me. Maybe doing it this way is a dick move, but I'm an asshole, so it's okay. The truth is, I can't fathom why she stabbed me in the back. I thought she cared about me, but as soon as she had the chance, Cassie bit me on the ass like a rabid dog.
I grab a few more guys as I track down Pete. Bryan Ferro is a cousin, and a couple of years older than me, and he falls in step with Trystan. The two of them will get me in more trouble than I'm already in, but what the hell. I mean, you only live once, right? Bryan is the kind of guy that can make anything sound like a great idea. The man has a golden tongue. He's a snake charmer. Any bitch will fall on her knees just to hear him talk. And Trystan is frequently followed around by a slew of topless women. Who wouldn't like that? Our group collects more guys as we walk through. The Trystan, Bryan, Jon trifecta is too much to pass up. Everyone knows, if you want to be where it's at to hang around with us.
Everyone except Sean. Where the hell did he go? I glance around, but there's no sign of him. Sometimes I wonder if he has ovaries, he's so damn moody. But then again, I'd probably be moody too if I got dumped by a hooker. Peter told me this crazy ass story and I'm seriously wondering what the hell Sean was doing. The guy is brilliant, and utterly insane. When he gets an idea in his head, there's no way to smack it out. Sean's taken too many shots to the heart. He's a walking corpse like the rest of us, well, except for my other brother—Peter—who's sitting in the middle of a group of guys, smiling like he's king of the world. Dumb fucker, has no idea what he's in for.
After living with my parents, I don't know how anyone could think marriage is a good idea, but Peter's over there smiling like a fool.
"Jaded much?" Trystan says so only I can hear. I smile at him and shake my head, like he's crazy. "Just pointing out the obvious. The scowl on your face says too much man. Keep your thoughts to yourself, especially if you like this brother." He smacks his shoulder against mine and nods once. It's a warning, telling me to pull my shit together.
Wiping the bitter look off my face, I throw myself into the crowd. "Peter! My favorite brother!"
Pete smiles and hands me a beer. "Jonny! You weren't supposed to throw me a party. Sidney will kill me if she thinks I had a bachelor party."
"Do you see anything in here? No titties, no poles, no lap dances. It's utterly boring." I grab his phone and take a pic of the room. It looks like an ad for an old time bar, the kind where women weren't welcome. I shoot it over to his fiancée. "And you picked Sean to be your best man."
Peter laughs and has no idea what he's in for. "Sean can be a bitch when he doesn't get his way." All the guys around us laugh. We do a few rounds of shots, and I make sure Peter is off guard when I make the transition. "You're the best brother a guy could hope for, which is why there's no way in hell I'm giving you a boring-ass party like this."
"Jonny?" He gives me a look that says he'll tear me a new one later, but not now.
That's all the permission I need. I love Sidney, I really do, but she has to understand that this isn't personal. Grabbing his arm, I stand on one side and Bryan stands on the other. We flank him and pull him toward the door, saying, "Peter, I love you, man, but you're not marching into marriage without doing one last crazy thing, and that's why we're heading to the private party room."
Peter protests, but he won't make me feel bad. I'm an asshole. I shouldn't do this to him, but I have to crush Cassie for what she did to me. I can't let it go. She's trapped, and I intend to make her suffer.