Chapter 5
Colby
I open the passenger door to my truck and Ralph hops in without so much as a gesture from me. He knows the drill. As I walk around to the driver’s side, my phone buzzes with a text from my brother, Ryan.
Happy Saturday, Cheese. You up?
I push the button to call him as I pull out of my driveway.
“Mornin’,” Ryan says, answering my call.
“I’m up,” I say. “I’m on my way to Casa Morgan now to drop off Ralph before heading into work.”
“Oh, you’re working today? Crap. I thought you had the day off.”
“I switched shifts with a guy so he could go to his parents’ anniversary party,” I say. “What’s up?”
“I’m fishing with Keane today. Thought you might like to join.”
“Oh, no. I’m so sorry to miss that,” I say sarcastically.
“You love fishing.”
“Not with Keane. He’s always so damned loud, he scares away all the fish.”
“When he was ten, maybe,” Ryan says. “Not when he’s twenty-two. But, regardless, who cares? Fishing isn’t about catching fish. It’s about hanging out and drinking beer. You know, making memories.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you feel that way, seeing as how you’re about to go fishing with a guy who scares away all the fish. Did you lose a bet or something?”
“Dude, you’re the one who asked me to talk to Peen at your birthday dinner,” Ryan says. “Were you drunk?”
“I didn’t mean for you to trap yourself in a rowboat with the guy for God knows how many hours on a Saturday. I just meant for you to pull him aside for fifteen minutes after dinner and ask him if something was bothering him.”
“You can’t just pull Keane Morgan aside for fifteen minutes and ask him if he’s okay. No matter what’s actually going on with him, he’ll say he’s ‘handsome and happy all the livelong day.’ Getting Peen to take off his mask and get real takes time. It’s a process.”
“Now see?” I say. “That’s why I always make you talk to him. You just get that fucker like nobody else.”
Ryan chuckles. “God help me. So, hey, you talked to Kat yet?”
“I left her a voicemail, but we haven’t connected yet. I’ll call her tomorrow after I get back from my shift.”
“Let me know what she says. If it turns out that new boyfriend of hers didn’t come to your birthday because he was being a prick, I’ll unleash the Morgan Mafia on his ass before he knows what hit him. What’s that bastard’s name again?”
“Jeff? Jason? I dunno. Something with a ‘J.’”
I can hear Ryan’s jaw clenching across the phone line. “Well, whatever that motherfucker’s name is, it’ll be ‘Please, Don’t Hurt Me, Captain Morgan!’ if it turns out he’s being an asshole to our little sister.”
I smile to myself. God, I love Ryan. “Down, boy,” I say. “All I said was she looked bummed out at my birthday dinner and I didn’t believe her new boyfriend had to work. Let’s not jump to conclusions about him being a prick just yet. So, hey, as long as we’re talking about our siblings, how was Dax’s show last night?”
“Oh, I didn’t wind up going,” Ryan says. “Olivia and I got distracted and never made it out of my house.” He snickers.
I roll my eyes but remain silent. I was with Ryan when he met his current distraction in a bar about a month ago, and I told him that very night the woman made my psycho-bitch radar go off like gangbusters. But did my younger brother listen to his Master Yoda? Nope. On the contrary, he took that smoking hot blonde with crazy-as-fuck eyes back to his place that very night and banged the fuck out of her. So now, as far as I’m concerned, my brother is on his own with that one, come what may.
“I heard that, Cheese,” Ryan says.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You rolled your eyes about Olivia. I could hear it.”
I laugh. “Speaking of bat-shit crazy girlfriends, I broke up with mine this morning.”
“Are you sad about it?”
“No.”
“Then, congratulations. You’re single and ready to mingle, yet again.”
“No, just single. I’ve had it with the mingle. I hate that shit, man.”
“Yeah, I know. It totally sucks out there, doesn’t it? It’s painful. So what happened with Candice? Did she turn out to be a mean girl underneath that perfect face?”
“Exactly. How’d you know?”
“Just got a vibe that time I met her.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You didn’t ask. So what triggered the break-up?”
“It turns out she’s got a lead foot.”
“Uh oh. Now that’s a shitty combination: mean and in a hurry. Biological clock ticking?”
“Yep.” I tell Ryan about my conversation with Candice this morning and he gasps and groans at all appropriate intervals.
“What’s the damned rush?” Ryan asks.
“I have no idea. No sane person would even think about marriage and children that fast, let alone want to have a conversation about it.”
“I blame Disney,” Ryan says. “They’ve brainwashed an entire generation of little girls into thinking love at first sight is not only real, but to be expected.”
“Frankly, just between you and me, I’m not even sure I believe that shit happened for Mom and Dad.”
“Agreed. The more likely scenario is that Mom was so damned hot, Dad was willing to say whatever he had to say to bone her.”
I grimace. “Dude. Don’t use ‘bone’ and ‘Mom’ in the same sentence. Please.”
“What? You’ve seen Mom’s college photos. She was hot as fuck.”
“Stop.”
Ryan laughs.
“Okay, fucker,” I say, “I’m pulling up to Mom and Dad’s now, so... Oh, hello. Guess whose motorcycle is sitting in the driveway?”
“Sounds like someone got his ass up early to ask to borrow his oldest brother’s truck.”
“Again.”
“Actually, he must have spent the night there,” Ryan says. “There’s no way in hell Dax would get his rock star ass up this early on a Saturday, even to sweet-talk you about your truck.”
“Shit. The last time Daxy borrowed my truck, he was an hour late to pick me up the next day at the end of my shift.”
“Don’t even try to pretend you’re gonna say no to him, Bee,” Ryan says. “Daxy could finger paint with his feces and you’d be like, ‘It’s a Picasso!’”
I chuckle. He’s right. “I’m just impressed with the guy’s work ethic. He’s working his ass off to make 22 Goats take off, plus he’s got a full course load at school. And let’s not forget he’s the one who made me the best damned carrot cake I’ve ever had for my birthday last week. What did you do for my birthday?”
“Get you drunk on the finest tequila.”
“Exactly. And I felt like shit the entire next day, so thanks for nothing.” My phone pressed against my ear, I get out of my truck and walk around the back to my passenger door. “Come on, Ralphie.”
Ralph lurches out of the cab and bounds toward my parents’ front door and I amble behind him as Ryan continues talking in my ear.
“All right, Big Brother,” Ryan says. “I’ve arrived in front of Peenie Weenie’s apartment building. Time to storm the castle and drag my quarry out of bed.”
I fumble for my parents’ house key. “Keane doesn’t know he’s going fishing with you today?”
“Of course not. Dragging Peen out of bed at seven on a Saturday morning is the best part of fishing with him.”
We both laugh.
“Have fun,” I say. “Call me tomorrow to tell me about the fishing trip.”
“Will do. Be safe out there today, Cheese.”
“Always.”