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“Thirty-six?”
“You’re taking me to Benny’s for pancakes.”
“Ask your awesome cat to take you for pancakes,” Con teased back, even though we all know he’s going to do what she says. He always does.
“I’m not asking, Gilroy,” she yells. “Pan. Cakes.”
Conner laughs again, the sound of it followed by a sigh loud enough to hear from across the bar. “Yes, dear.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” Tess did a fist pump, like there was ever a question she’d be eating pancakes an hour from now. “How about you, Cap’n—pancakes?”
Their exchange eats at me. Maybe it’s the ease between them. Something Cari and I will probably never get back. If Cari was around, we’d go to Benny’s with them. We’d all talk and laugh over questionable food choices and too much coffee. Afterward, Cari and I would walk home and talk. Sometimes, if she was still tipsy, even after eating, I’d give her a piggyback ride. Her legs wrapped around my waist and her head on my shoulder, the highlight of my night. The thought makes me laugh but there’s nothing humorous about the sound.
“Don’t you mean Predictable Patrick?” I say quietly. One of the glasses in my hand is chipped and I throw it in the trash can, on top of the bottles Tess tossed in there. The sound of breaking glass makes me feel better, but only for a moment. When I look up, I find Tess watching at me, a pained expression on her face.
“That was 100% me, Patrick,” she says, shaking her head. “And we both know I’m a complete asshole, which means you can’t hold me responsible for what comes out of my mouth.” Despite what she’s saying, she looks sorry. “Please don’t be mad at her because I’m thoughtless and shitty.”
I dump the load of glasses I’m holding into the sink, careful not to break anymore. “What’s to be mad at, it’s true isn’t it?” It is the truth. That’s why I’m mad. From the corner of my eye, I can see Tess shaking her head at me, her mouth open to argue with me.
It’s 12:20AM and Cari still isn’t back.
Fuck it.
“Sara, want to help me and Tess get this place cleaned up?” I say, shooting her the same grin Conner uses when he’s working co-eds. “I’ll pay you in pancakes?”
Sara perks up and hops off her barstool. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
Thirty-five
Patrick
“Hey.”
I knock on the door jamb of the office before pushing it open. Declan doesn’t even lift his head from the ten-key, his fingers flying over the keys while he sifts through a pile of credit card receipts, wrangling the total fuckery of tonight into some semblance of order.
“What’s up?” he says, shooting me a quick look before gathering the pile of receipts and paper-clipping them together in a neat, orderly pile. It’s what he does best. Declan is an expert at keeping things neat and orderly.
I open the door on the dryer and pull out the load of clothes I threw in there more than twelve hours ago. It’s a hopeless, wrinkled mess that will have to be re-washed at some point but right now, I don’t care. “I thought you had dinner with Jess’s parents or some shit.”
“I left them at the restaurant with my credit card,” he says, swiping a hand over his face. He wouldn’t say it but I knew the deal. He hated Jess’s parents. Almost as much as the rest of us hate Jess.
“We’re heading to Benny’s, you want to come?” I ask, even though I know what his answer is and why. The answer is no. Because we includes Tess.
A frown creases the thin skin of his brow and he looks away, tucking the bundle of receipts into a zippered pouch. “Thanks, but I’m gonna head home,” he says, shaking his head. “We’ve got a game in the morning, remember?” He sounds pissy when he says it and I jam a pair of waded up jeans into my basket. This time we is him and me. We coach a little league team sponsored by our contracting company. The fact that he thinks he has to remind me, like I’m suddenly irresponsible or thoughtless, stiffens my jaw.
“No shit, Declan.” I laugh, shaking my head, grabbing a bunch of clothes from the dryer to jam into my basket. “We’ve had a game every Sunday for the past two-and-a-half-years—you think I magically forgot?”
“I don’t know what the fuck you remember or don’t anymore, Patrick,” he says, finally sitting back in his chair to glare at me. “You’ve been acting weird all damn day, and if I’m honest, I’m getting sick of trying to figure you out.”
Declan sounds like I feel. Amped up and touchy. Angry and quick tempered. Looking down at the clothes in my hands, I see Cari’s red lace thong, peeking out between my fingers. The one I nearly ripped off her last night, seconds before I fucked her with my tongue. She must’ve snuck it into my laundry at some point during the day. I almost laugh, which is crazy because nothing about this is even remotely funny. “Same here,” I mutter, shoving the clothes in my hand into the basket, because I’m hoping to start some shit. Maybe if I get punched in the face enough times, I’ll snap the fuck out of whatever the hell is happening to me.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he says. I don’t have to look at him to know he’s been spoiling for this blow-up all day, almost as much as I have, but I look anyway because I want to see his face when I say what comes out of my mouth next.
“I’m not fucking Tess,” I say, dropping my laundry basket on the floor at my feet. “Not that it’d be any of your business if I was.” I kick the basket across the floor and it sails through the open door and into the hallway. “You dumped her, remember? A long fucking time ago.”
Declan’s head snaps back like I sucker punched him in the face. All that’s missing is the blood. “That’s about as much your business as it is my asshole brother’s,” he says, the warning in his tone ringing loud and clear. “Which, in case you forgot, is none at all.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I say, fighting the urge to crank my hands into fists. “It is my business. Tess is my business.” I have no idea why I’m stirring this shit up. What happened between Tess and Declan happened a long fucking time ago and it’s never been any of my business before. I’ve always stayed out of it except to break up fights between him and Conner whenever Con gets his dick in a twist over it. Now it’s my dick in a twist and I can’t seem to keep my mouth shut. Conner would be so proud. “She’s my friend and you broke her.”