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“My turn?” Hemlock asked when Truck sat down by him.

“Nope. We played without you. Razor won.”

Scrubbing a hand over his face, Hemlock shrugged. “Sorry.”

“That girl’s got you distracted.” Truck laughed, shaking his head. Before he could ask Hemlock what was bugging him about Charlie, Razor asked if they wanted another beer. “Grab us a bottle of Lalo. We need to loosen Hemlock’s lips.”

“Maybe he needs some lip gloss.” Razor winked at the kid, razzing him before walking over to the bar.

“She’s going to drive me nuts by the time she can move out,” Hemlock muttered.

Truck choked as he swallowed his beer. He coughed trying to catch his breath. Hemlock always managed to say something stupid when he wasn’t ready. “Fucker, you trying to kill me?”

What he wanted to tell Truck was that his dick liked her more than the head between his shoulders, but Truck would probably choke to death hearing him say that. “Nope.”

Laughing, Truck drew Hemlock’s attention while Razor was at the bar. “What’s going on with Razor and Lottie?”

“He refuses to admit he’s into her, but I see Razor watching Lottie all the time. I’ve even seen text messages between the two.”

“Are they scathing messages?” Truck waggled his eyebrows hoping for some juicy gossip.

“What are the two of you whispering about?” Razor asked as he walked back toward them.

“You,” Hemlock said without hesitation.

“Nothing,” Truck said, staring off like a guilty child as he chuckled.

“Which is it?” Razor said holding the glasses and the bottle of tequila.

Truck tried but failed and busted out laughing. “You and your denial about how you feel about a certain goth girl.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake. I’m not interested in my nurse.” Razor cut his eyes between the two men.

“If you say so,” Truck and Hemlock said in unison.

Setting down the bottle of Lalo and the glasses, Razor dropped down into a chair choosing to ignore Truck and Hemlock curiosity about Lottie. To take the heat off himself, he turned the conversation towards Hemlock and his house quest or guest, depending how the situation was looked at. “How’s Charlie?”

Hemlock lifted his head, which he’d just laid back against the chairs headrest. “She’s fine.”

“I noticed that.” Razor saw how quickly Hemlock’s head snapped around. Smirking, Razor stared at the kid and wanted for Hemlock to say something. When he received no response, Razor asked, “No comment?”

Glaring at Razor, Hemlock sneered at him, “Sometimes I think you’re a nice guy. Other times not so much.”

“Don’t be a princess.” Razor chuckled at the brother’s discomfort when talking about Charlie. He knew the feeling. Uncomfortable was one feeling he experienced regularly when talking about Lottie.

“Okay. Charlie’s sexy and pretty. She’s also the type of girl I’d love to be wrapped up in. Unfortunately, I don’t think this is the best time for her.” Hemlock heard Truck chuckle as Razor nodded his head. “Go ahead, tell me how the two of you would take advantage of her.”

“Not me. I wouldn’t take advantage of a girl like Charlie,” Truck said while he crossed his fingers behind his back.

Razor laughed pouring the drinks out. “Liar. You’d take advantage of her quicker than the rest of us, Truck.”

“Yeah, I would. Damn, you know me so well, Razor.” Truck laughed.

Hemlock picked up a glass. “Both of you are shits,” he said before tossing back the tequila.

Truck did the same, hissing as the tequila hit his stomach. “You need to stop worrying about things going sideways and put yourself out there. She did almost kill you.” Truck’s tone serious as he reminded Hemlock of the cinnamon incident.

“I’ll think about it.” There was no way he’d tell them that most nights he showed Charlie to her room and after closing the door, he stand in the hallway debating with himself before going to his room alone.They’d have a field day with that fact. Tipping back his beer he thought about taking the next step with Charlie. His phone ringing broke into his thoughts. Seeing it was Charlie, he answered it, “Hey, you home?”