Page 1 of Rebellious Hearts

1

BEN

“What are we drinking?” I asked when we sat down on the deep blue velvet couches at Jester.

“We’re celebrating, man,” Luke said, clapping me on the back before he turned to the server with his immaculate vest and crisp shirt. “Vintage champagne for the table.”

“Yeah, good call,” I said.

The server nodded and looked at Amy so the lady could answer first. Amy ran her fingers through her beach-blonde hair, thinking about it.

“Champagne cocktail with a twist,” she said. “Elderflower liqueur and a few drops of bitters, if the bartender can spare it.” She smiled cheekily at the server, who smiled at her.Everyonesmiled at Amy. She was the kind of girl who turned heads, had men drool over her, and women were either jealous or they worshipped her.

To me, Amy was the sister I had never had. I didn’t see her as someone I could ever date. I’d known her since my college days,and she was the one woman who understood that my heart was as fucked up as my mind.

Love… that just wasn’t something that could work for me, no matter how hard I wished it could. No, it was easier to find bodies to warm my sheet for a night rather than have to put up with a girlfriend and always pretend it was an act.

I glanced around the room, checking out the talent that was present for the night.

Not much to work with. Except, maybe, the two girls who’d just come in.

In fact, one of them turned around and her gray eyes locked on mine.

It was just a second, but my heart skipped a beat. She looked away again, and I didn’t think she even noticed that she’d looked at me. It had just been a glance around.

“Yamazaki, 50-Year-Old,” Luke said to theserver, pulling my attention back to the table.

“Old Fashioned,” I said. “But with aged rum.”

“What rum, sir?”

I thought about it. “Ron Zacapa Centenario 23.”

“Jesus, bro.” Luke laughed. “Going all out, huh?”

“Shut up, Yamazaki 50,” I clapped back, and Luke snorted.

Amy rolled her eyes at us. “You’re both so dramatic, measuring dicks with expensive alcohol. You know, in the old days men used to duel.”

I barked a laugh. “This is safer.”

“And we both get to live in the end,” Luke pointed out.

“I don’t know if that’s such a bonus,” Amy said gravely to her brother, who playfully shoved her, and they both laughed.

Luke and Amy had the kind of sibling relationship I wished I could have with my brothers.

The four of us had all been adopted into the Blackwood family at different stages of our lives, and our dad, Thomas Blackwood,had given us that second lease at life that almost everyone dreamed about—a shit ton of money, an elite name, and a legacy that we could be proud of.

The four of us all owned a part of Blackwood Inc., a business empire that manufactured private luxury yachts and planes.

Alex was the CEO, Chris designed yachts, I was in charge of private plane sales, and Daniel was the one who flew all over and did shit that no one really understood but he was a part of the whole picture, anyway.

Alex and Chris were close that way, but I always felt a little like a third wheel when I was with them. They used to go off, having little adventures just the two of them, and I was on my own.

Daniel, my third brother, was always out of town, so we weren’t that close, although we got along just fine.

It was weird to say I felt like the odd one out when there were an even four brothers, but there it was.