MAX

“Give me that phone!”

Lexi takes off running, and flings it over the back fence. It goes flying. We all stare at it and listen to the thump on the other side. Flipping around Lexi crosses her arms and has the balls to give me this innocent look. “What?”

I’m speechless, dumbfounded, pissed the fuck off, but astounded even more than that. “You just threw your phone over the fence so I wouldn’t see it!”

“No I didn’t!”

“You did!”

“That’s so weird, Max. I would never do that.” Her green eyes flick to Samantha’s wide brown ones. “Did you see me throw my phone, Sam?”

I turn my head to watch my sweeter sister lie to my fucking face, “Why would she do such a thing, Max? That’s weird.”

I leap onto the fence, climbing it as both of them claw at my legs. “Get down!” “Stop it!” I kick them off but hear one cry out in pain. Real pain. Looking back from the top, her phone spotted just two seconds away—so close!—I see tears in Lexi’s eyes and her mouth covered. “You kicked my tooth out!”

Dropping to the ground I reach for her. “Let me see. I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to. I wasn’t looking. Let me see.”

She pulls back her hand, teeth all there, but her lip is cut. She really did get kicked. With liquid eyes she asks, “Is it bad?” like only I can help her. “My tooth is pounding. Are you sure it’s not loose?”

My heart melts and I tug on her tooth as fresh tears rise. “No, it’s just a little cut. I’m sorry, Lex.” Cupping her face with both hands I ask for her forgiveness again, “I’m so sorry!”

She sniffles, “It’s okay,” and goes in for a hug, burrowing into me. Kissing the top of her head I look over at Samantha who’s frowning with concern, too.

I feel like such an asshole. That I took it this far. All of us acting like children. I’m almost twenty-seven. Lexi is only twenty-two. Samantha’s twenty. She’s not even able to legally drink yet.

Releasing Lexi from the hug I realize it’s a metaphor for letting her out of her cage too. “Look, it’s your business. You have a right to your privacy. My bad, okay?”

From her profile she looks at me, unsure if I mean it. “Yeah?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you.”

Samantha echoes, “Thanks, Max.”

At Caden’s voice overheard from inside, I brighten up but point a finger at them. “You keep quiet about my kicking your face and I won’t tell Mom and Dad you ditched your phone after you said it was from work calling.”

“Fine,” she grumbles. “But it was!”

“Bullshit, but I’ll drop it.” We walk in the house and I call out, “Caden! What the fuck took you so long?”

He laughs, “I’m lucky they let me out of there,” and gives me a hug, slapping my back before his eyes land on Lexi. “What happened to your lip?”

“Max kicked me.”

The room freezes. Dad’s wine bottle hovers above Mom’s glass while she blinks from her chair. Hunter joined us just in time, and his feet are frozen mid-entry into the dining room.

Caden’s eyebrows are up.

My mouth is wide open.

Sam looks sheepish.

This all happens in the span of three seconds.

The spell breaks as Lexi laughs, “He didn’t mean to! A lizard ran up the fence and he tried to chase after it. His legs flailed and bam.” She knocks her head back. “Heel right in my face!”

Everyone relaxes except me who gives her the death stare as she prances to the table, loving making my blood curdle.

Hunter practically flies into his seat, mumbling, “I’m starving, let’s eat,” his shaggy strawberry blonde hair hanging over his eyes.

Mom picks up a biscuit and tosses it at his head. “Just because you turned eighteen doesn’t mean you don’t give your mother a hug when you see her!”

He laughs and jumps up, embraces both her and her chair before dashing back for the chicken platter. “Am I good now?”

“No,” she wryly smiles. “Jason, I blame you for our rude children.”

Pouring his own wine he chuckles, “I’m the nice one in this marriage.”

“Whatever makes you sleep at night.”

“You happy makes me sleep at night.”

Her grin sneaks out and he winks at her, locking eyes with me next. “Max, how’s the film coming along? Hey, you want a beer or something?” He glances to Caden and I, skipping Lexi. None of us are big drinkers. Our parents have wine with dinner, and Dad drinks beers with his brothers sometimes, but I’ve never seen him drunk. It just makes his story with Bernie Lancaster all the more compelling to me. Such a polar opposite from the woman he chose to be his forever.

Shoveling broccoli onto my plate I tell him, “Found a producer.”

“Oh?”

Mom’s eyes soften with encouragement. “Does he have experience, Max?”

“It’s a she, and no, but she’s more than willing to learn.” As I set the serving spoon down I explain, “Her name is Natalie, and I kinda met her by coincidence. Someone gave me her number, tried to hook us up. I never called and then she crashed my interviews because she happened to be in the building. Crazy, huh? She hates her job, but she runs several businesses. Brought them a huge profit. Great with numbers, so I decided to give her a shot.”

Caden is watching me. “You slept with her.”

My fork hovers before my mouth, and I deny his accurate guess with a head shake. His eyebrows shoot up and he nods. I shake my head again. The rest of our family is darting looks between us.

Dad wants to know more, so he casually asks, “What business does she help run?” He takes a bite of chicken.

Without emotion, I answer, “Swinging Richards.”

He chokes and grabs a napkin. “The male strip club?”

“Yeah. And a couple of ladies ones, too,” I shrug, not thinking it’s a big deal. “Southern Comfort. The Dollhouse. You know ‘em?”

Mom holds Dad’s eyes a moment, a silent conversation happening before she asks, “Max, you really think that’s a good person to have for a film producer?”

My mouth stops working on my meal and I stare at her, then him, then her, then rake a glance around the faces of my amused siblings. Swallowing more than is comfortable to, I ask, “What’s wrong with a strip club? I didn’t say she was dancing at one. And even if she was, who cares? I get paid tips at the bar. I’m clothed, but it’s practically the same thing. She’s doing the books, helping them budget. She even came up with marketing strategies, exactly what I need on my film. Someone who can run payroll so the crew gets paid on time. Someone who comes up with new ideas about how to get eyeballs on my film. Handles contracts so that the Screen Actor’s Guild doesn’t shut us down mid-shoot. Natalie will handle all of that so I can do what I’m good at.”

The family is silent and I lean back in my chair, scanning their unconvinced faces. Only Hunter is still eating like nothing is happening. When nobody says anything I lose my temper. “Stripping is the same as any kind of performance, and she’s not a stripper anyway. Dad, you produce music. You’ve been to tons of shows in your career—people were half-naked in a lot of them! At the strip clubs they’re just…a little more naked.”

Caden chuckles, “You’re digging yourself into a hole, man.”

“She just does their books, and does them well.”

“You don’t think she hasn’t done one of the male strippers?”

I stand up so fast I knock my chair onto the ground.

Dad shouts, “Max, sit down!” and Mom says something I can’t even hear.

“Yo Caden I’ve seen some of the girls you’ve taken home. They were no saints. And you Lexi, your bad boy addiction is out of hand. Hunter, we’ve never even seen anybody you’ve been with, but with the way you hide I wouldn’t be surprised if you had some cougar in your apartment!”

“What about me?” Sam asks, feeling left out of the list.

We all look at her for a second, then resume the argument.

Dad motions to the chair. “Sit down, Max!”

I steady my temper as I lower myself into it.

Leaning back in hers, Mom grumbles, “He’s like Justin.”

“No, he’s not,” Dad barks before focusing on me. “But you kind of are. Look, you want to spend all that money without my help, fine. It’s yours, you made it on your own. But do not—I repeat, do not!—think with your dick on this one, Max. It’s every cent you’ve saved since you started working for my brother at fifteen. You took on so many jobs. No, listen, I need you to remember how far you’ve come. You’ve invested well. Ethan gave you good advice in the stock market. But this is your company now, not some Fortune 500 with years of stability and shareholders behind it. Be smart.”

Sucking on my teeth I mutter, “Okay.”

“Alright?”

“Yeah. I’ll be smart.”

Dad huffs through his nose and glances to Mom.

She’s locked on me. “Max, check this girl out at least. Make sure she is who she says she is. Don’t just take her word for it that she’s good at business. People lie.”

“Yeah, Max, people lie,” Lexi says with meaning. I glance over to see real concern in her eyes. She frowns and blinks to her food. “Let’s eat before Hunter scarfs it all.”

He reaches for a wing. “No, you guys go ahead. Tasty goodness in my mouth.”

We hurriedly fill our plates to our satisfaction. But everyone’s silent. To blow off some steam I jog my chin at Lexi, “I’m going searching for that lizard later.”

She cocks an eyebrow. “I would advise against that.”

Tearing off a chunk of biscuit I tell her, “I think he might still be out there.”

“He’s gone by now.”

“Let’s hope so. For his sake.”