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Declan let out a strangled sound that might have been a laugh. “Loyal? You’re fucking kidding me, right?” His hands were working, clenching into fists and then relaxing, like he couldn’t decide if he wanted to choke his brother or not. “You’ll stick your dick into any—”
“Enough.” Patrick drops his hand away from his mouth, slamming it against the table in front of him, hard enough to make me jump in my seat. “Leave it alone,” he says, splitting a look between them, his tone reverberating with more authority than I thought he was capable of. He and Conner measure in at well over six-feet but eyeballing him, Declan is even taller, his framed packed with an additional twenty pounds of muscle. Despite the size advantage, Patrick’s warning seemed to give him pause.
For his part, Conner seemed content to heed his cousin. He just takes a long drink from his pint and holds his brother’s glare.
“Fuck you, Conner,” Declan says before aiming his gaze at Patrick. “See you Sunday.” He turned away and headed for the door.
“Give Jess a big, sloppy wet one for me,” Conner called after him, refusing to let his brother get the last word. “Oh, and fuck you back.”
Declan flipped him off as he walked out the door.
As soon as he’s gone, Conner slouches in his seat and sighs. “Fuck,” he mutters, rubbing a hand over the top of his head. He turns toward Tess. “I’m sorry,” he says, uncharacteristically contrite. “It’s just—I got mad. Mentioning her…” He shakes his head, jaw clenched. “He’s such an arrogant prick sometimes.”
Tess looked at him, more shaken than angry. “As opposed to you, who’s an arrogant prick all the time?” she says, pushing her unfinished drink away like looking at it made her sick.
“I deserve that,” Conner says, seemingly at a loss for how to fix things before bumping his shoulder against hers, hoping for a smile. “Want me to take you to the bathroom and make you feel better?”
“Thanks, but getting Gilroyed isn’t going to make me feel better.” Tess cracks a smile, because where Conner is concerned, it’s impossible for her to stay angry for long. “It’ll make me vomit.”
Crisis averted, Conner grinned for real. “One of these days, you’re going to damage my self-esteem.”
“Here’s hoping,” Tess says, picking up her glass and hoisting it high and we all laugh, clinking glasses.
“I’d like to propose another toast,” Conner says, lifting his pint again. “To my devastatingly handsome and more than slightly uptight cousin, who almost, actually got some tonight. Kudos, Cap’n.”
Patrick’s shoulder stiffened against mine but he laughs and clinks his glass against Conner’s. “Sara was nice. Just not my type.”
“So, you don’t go for hot women who are inexplicably into you? Interesting...” Tess says, shooting Conner a perplexed look before aiming it across the table. “If she’s not your type, then who is?”
Patrick opened his mouth then clamped it shut, his jaw flexing hard enough to cause a vein to pop in his temple before he opened it again. “I—”
“I have a toast too,” I blurt out, picking up my glass. “My roommate gave me four days to move out and I caught James fucking his intern in his office this afternoon.” I force a smile and tip my drink in salute. “So, here’s to me.”
Eight
Patrick
We all sit here for a few seconds, trying to digest what Cari just said. For my part, I’m glad she walked in on James and his intern. Maybe her resolve to break it off with him will stick this time.
“If you take him back, I’m going to kill you,” Tess said, reaching across the table to dig an ice cube out of Cari’s glass. “Seriously. I’ll kill you.”
Cari laughed and the sound is easy, like taking James back wasn’t even under consideration. “If I even think of taking him back, I might kill myself.”
“Well…” Tess rolled her stolen ice cube across her tongue, eyes narrowed. “Then I’ll kill your roommate.”
The mention of her roommate deflated Cari’s good mood. “I’d pay you to kill that yogurt-stealing whore it if I wasn’t almost homeless and destitute,” she says, sitting back to press her shoulders into the back of the booth. “I have less than $200 dollars to my name and I’m not going to ask my parents. They’ve done enough for me. Too much, actually.”
“What about the new boss?” Conner says, spinning his empty pint in a slow circle on the table in front of him. “You could ask for an advance.”
“No way.” Cari shakes her head like her hair is on fire. “I’m not starting out what I hope is a long and profitable professional relationship with Miranda McIntyre by begging her for money.”
“Wait—your new boss is a woman? Why didn’t you say so?” Conner says, giving Cari what I’ve coined the Gilroy grin. “I’ll just fuck it out of her for you. By the time I’m done, she’ll be begging you to take her money.”
“First of all—gross,” Tess says, shooting the kind of look martyred saints always wear in religious painting in Conner’s direction. “And second—she’s right. She can’t ask her new boss for money before she’s even started her job.” She shrugs her shoulders and I know what she’s going to say next. She’s going to offer Cari a place to stay.
“Why don’t you just move in with me.” I blurt it out, drawing looks from around the table. “I mean, it’s not like I don’t have the room. In fact, I just finished putting up a fresh coat of paint in the spare room. It’s yours if you want it.”
Conner, tilts his head, mouth open, ready to ruin everything. I kick him under the table and he shuts his trap. I smile, hoping like hell I look relaxed and calm. Like it’s the perfect solution to Cari’s problem instead of the answer to my prayers.