Page 12 of Enemies with Benefits (Finding the Right Brother #1)

But it was fun as hell to tweak his nose and piss him off further.

His hands balled into fists at his side, and for a moment, I wondered if he was finally going to swing at me again.

He had always struggled with his temper, and it was clear that, with me anyway, he was still having a hard time well into adulthood.

Yet instead of losing his temper, he sucked in a breath and his hands unclenched, relaxing at his side even though he continued to glare furiously at me.

"I know!" came Moira's sharp hiss, bringing Jace and me back to reality and our attention back to them.

Jace, who clearly hadn't known the two were talking, turned to frown at them in confusion.

Moira was sucking in a breath and ran a hand through her hair, staring intensely at the ground for a moment.

Kayden's goofy smile had disappeared, and a troubled crease had formed in his brow. I had missed their conversation, but if their behavior was any indication, I could guess what they’d been discussing.

Neither of them looked happy, but Moira especially looked troubled as she looked at us and flinched, guilt written across her features as she said something too soft for anyone but Kayden to hear.

He gave her what I thought might have been an apologetic smile before starting to walk back to us.

Jace's eyes never left him, narrowed as he watched Kayden, who didn't even look at him, just continued walking before sitting at the bar and beaming at me. "I understand you're not a fan of cops, so I guess there's no discount. But...can I trust there won't be an extra charge for pigs?"

"Only when they're cute and smart enough to try to charm me without insulting my intelligence," I said with a snort.

"Kayden," Jace growled. "What was that about?"

"I know you're used to yelling and shouting as a means of communication, but your average person would call that a conversation," I pointed out to him, smirking when he shot me a dirty look.

"Why does it smell of busybody interference?" Jace growled at the back of Kayden's head.

"Is there a house special?" Kayden asked, completely immune to the dour energy seething from Jace, or he was basking in it. "Or maybe a bartender special?"

"I'm sure I can come up with something," I said, looking him over. "Actually, I have an idea."

Jace let out another warning noise. “Kayden, I swear to?—"

"Jace," Moira interrupted softly, "can you come with me, please?"

Jace looked at her in confusion, clearly not expecting his ex-girlfriend to want a word with him. "What?"

"Can you come with me?" she repeated, looking up at him steadily. "Somewhere private."

Jace glanced at me with a look of furious expectation.

He probably expected me to make some comment about how my sister wanted him alone, but I had a feeling I knew what she wanted to talk to him about.

Even I wasn't going to make light of the situation.

I met Kayden's gaze, and he winced briefly when Jace turned his back to us and slowly walked toward my sister.

Moira jerked her head in the direction of the lobby, and I wondered where she was going to take him.

She wasn't the sort for a public spectacle if she could help it, but I briefly wondered if it was a good idea to drop such significant news on someone who clearly had temper problems. Then again, Moira wasn't a fool, she would know if there was a problem she needed to address and wasn't afraid to call in help if necessary.

I tried not to think too hard about the potential for that conversation to go badly and focused on the drink instead.

I had to dig through the supplies in the bar, but it wasn't that hard a search.

My father had apparently been very enthusiastic about bartending, and my mother had insisted on keeping his touch on the hotel intact by making sure our bar was well stocked.

It didn't matter if a drink was only popular for a little while, she had always made sure to have the stock necessary for it, and she liked to hire bartenders who weren't just well-trained and experienced but innovative and experimental as well.

As far as she was concerned, it was important for the person making the food and drink to have as much imagination as they did skill.

"Here you are," I said, sliding the glass over and dropping an edible flower on top, then I dropped a small curly straw into it with a wink. "And before you ask, no, I'm not telling you what's in it, and if you have allergies, you should have told me before I made you a drink."

Kayden hunched over to look at the drink and snort at its soft pink color. “Now, what about me gives off girly drink energy?"

"Usually, the guys who don't take themselves too seriously are the most honest about liking drinks that are fruity or sweet, because I don't make manly or girly drinks, just drinks."

"How very modern of you."

"Plus, if there's anyone that I figure is going to come in and take a double shot of tequila without hesitation or chaser, it's usually the girly girls."

"Mmm, and for guys who take themselves seriously?"

"What, like your partner?"

"Mhmm."

"Well, for him, I might be willing to part with a beer that was left open in the summer sun for a week. Otherwise...they're generally the first to grunt they want a beer and give you a look if you dare to offer them something as 'pretentious' as an IPA."

"What is it with you two?" Kayden asked, taking a drink, and his brow quivering slightly. "Alright...that's good. Dangerously good."

"In my experience, the best things in life have an element of danger to them," I leaned forward with a smirk. "And that includes drinks."

"I notice you admit to having a potential adrenaline junky problem and are avoiding the question."

"Look...have you ever met anyone you just couldn't stand?"

"I'm a cop, and I was in the Marines. Both can give you examples of some of the worst people in existence...or the most insufferable at least."

I snorted. “Fair. But I'm talking just..

.because. Not because they're a pompous douchebag who thinks being a Marine makes them a god among lesser, wimpier men, or because they're some lowlife who gets off on pushing drugs on the desperate, or because they're a raping murderer.

I mean...you meet someone and you just can't stand them.

Anything they do just...pisses you off."

"What like...look at that motherfucker, standing there...listening to music...that kind of thing?"

"Basically, yeah."

"Can't say I have. Ever."

"Maybe it's just one of those things only some people experience. And maybe most of them just feel it toward one person and it...sits quietly and festers, or they avoid one another."

"But not with you and Jace."

"Nope, completely and absolutely mutual.

We didn't have a reason to hate each other, but it took us no time to find reasons.

He's so insufferably serious about everything and takes every little thing personally.

He treats me like an insufferable bastard who can't take anything seriously and who thinks the sun shines out of my ass. "

"You, uh...are very familiar with what he thinks of you, then?"

"Well, I did, but I doubt it changed much over the years. You saw us, the thing that's changed is that we're older."

Kayden snorted, stirring his drink thoughtfully. "You two can't stand each other, but you seem to know him pretty well...as much as someone who hates him can."

"That's the funny thing about hate, you notice more about someone than if you liked them," I said with a shrug. "We couldn't stand each other from the start, and we just kept finding and giving one another reasons to hate each other."

"Interesting."

"Is it?"

"Yeah. In a fucked-up kind of way, that almost makes you his longest relationship with someone...even longer than me."

I leaned back, staring at him. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, it's a toxic as hell kind of relationship, and yet the two of you probably know each other better than most of the friends you've had, and previous partners.

..well, your sister excluded, of course.

I'd hope your twin sister knows you better than the guy you've hated on sight from the start. "

"One would hope. But finding a 'cute' way to call our hatred a relationship is a quick way to find something slipped into your next drink that won't let you leave your bathroom for a couple of days."

"Tsk, threatening an officer, off duty or not, is pretty bold."

"I've never lacked for boldness."

"Clearly. Speaking of...were you the biker who pissed off my partner to the point of obsession?"

"Wow, are you trying to goad me into incriminating myself in an obvious crime by using my desire to piss Jace off as leverage?"

"I don't know, is it working?"

"Mmm, is this...off the record?"

"Definitely."

"Mmm...I'll exercise my right to remain silent."

"Damn," Kayden said with a huff, leaning back in his seat and sighing.

"I mean, we're not supposed to treat that as an admission of guilt, and technically, officially, I'm not.

But person to person, that was definitely you and you're probably crowing in your head knowing you got under his skin without him even knowing it was you. "

"If I did do what he accused me of without outright accusing me of it, I could picture myself finding some amusement in the whole thing," I said with a shrug.

In fact, I was having a hard time not bursting into laughter again.

Of all the cops I could have possibly given the slip, it was the most delicious coincidence, if not outright trick of fate, that it would be Jace.

"At least he can't add accusing me of doing it on purpose on top of everything else, though.

I can't stand the bastard, but after we no longer had to see each other all the time, I stopped thinking about him.

I had no idea he'd become a cop. Considering his obsession with 'the right thing' or at least his version of it, and his temper, I shouldn't be surprised. "

"That's...a way of looking at it, I guess," he said, looking uncomfortable.

I rolled my eyes. “Don't look like I'm being mean to him."

"You kind of are."

"He's a full-grown man who's capable of defending himself."

"True."

"Ugh, fine, quit looking like a scolded puppy. If it makes you feel better, his old man also makes it make sense."

Kayden stared at me for a moment before clearing his throat. “What do you mean?"

"You know about him...right?"

"I know...enough."

"Right, then you know he was a bastard. Which is putting it mildly, but it's not right for me to talk about his old man when he's not around.

We know what kind of monster he was, and we should both know he was a cop too.

In a twisted, fucked up way, it makes sense that Jace would follow in his footsteps.

Maybe it's to erase whatever his dad was, to prove that someone in their family could be a cop without being an abuser, or maybe he just wanted to have some real justice in the city.

I don't know, I'm not a shrink, just a bartender turned club owner who learned a few things about people and how fucked up they are when they have daddy issues. "

Kayden's brow rose slowly. “Wow, that was...almost nice. Well, not nice, but...understanding. A little nice, though, because you're clearly not a fan of his dad and aren't putting them on the same level."

I scowled. “Jace is an insufferably arrogant asshole who thinks he's the sole keeper of what is right and wrong, and who thinks he’s above anyone else so should be taken seriously at all times despite being just another clown in a world of clowns...but he's not evil."

"Just annoying."

"Right."

"So...you aren't worried about your sister talking to him alone?"

At that, I laughed. “Of course, I had a moment of it.

Jace has always had a temper, but Moira is.

..I don't have to worry about her. She's mostly got a good head on her shoulders.

Plus, you can't blame a guy for being worried.

She's about to drop some heavy news on him, and reasonable or not, that's my sister, and I worry about her sometimes. "

"I've got a couple of younger sisters," Kayden said with a shrug. "I know how it goes."

"Try sharing a womb with one."

"Mmm, I'm good. I saw what it was like for them to share a room for a while there, and that was ugly enough."

"We did that until we were about twelve. Our choice, though, not our parents."

"Really? I’m not sure at twelve I would have wanted to share a room with any sibling."

I shrugged. “Despite our differences, we've always felt...comfortable with one another. More than with anyone else. It just came easily to us. Even now we're older, we've got our separate lives, our own problems and...secrets, but for me, she's just...Moira."

"Secrets like...who the dad of your nephew is?"

"Yeah, that one...well, that'll take a little longer for me to figure out how to deal with it. That's...a lot."

"Just imagine being him."

"True. Speaking of, why did you push her to tell him? Would he even care enough to step up, or what? I don't know him like that, and obviously I'm not the person to come to if you want a fair assessment of his character."

Kayden chewed his bottom lip for a moment before shrugging.

"Because...he didn't get a choice, she made that choice for him.

Whether those reasons were good ones or not, she still took that choice from him.

And I think it's time she gave that power back.

..even if he will be pissed that she took it from him. ..but understanding why she did it."

"You think?"

"I've been his partner for ten years, and his best friend for that long. I don't just think, I know. He won't know who to be madder at, her or himself."

"Hmph."

"I don't blame you for not being convinced."

I stared in the direction I'd last seen them. “I guess we'll find out soon enough."