Nathan grabbed my arm and frog marched me out of the condo. “We’ll bathe by the light of some neon signs. Oooh, maybe we should hit a strip club then.”
“You seriously think he’s interested in seeing any woman other than Indy right now?” Ryan scoffed.
“Good point,” Nathan returned.
Twenty minutes later, I found myself sitting at some random bar with a pint of beer in front of me. The bubbles were hypnotizing. Calming. Unlike our raucous setting. A football game blared overhead as groups of guys talked and shouted at each other on the tv while rock music screamed from a different corner.
The only good part was that it made conversation with my brothers nigh on impossible.
“Hey aren’t you guys the brothers with that show? The one with the motorcycles and you all fight each other?” A curvy brunette shimmied up to the bar between Nathan and me. She ran a hand down my brother’s arm while batting impossibly long eyelashes at him.
“That’s us.” Nathan lifted his beer and smoothly shifted her hand off his arm with the movement.
Her clawlike hand landed on me. “What’s the deal with that? Why are you guys so angry all the time?”
I wasn’t as nice as Nathan. I literally shook her off me then swiveled slightly on my barstool to face her. “When we were kids, our father murdered our mother while we hid in a closet. I think it’s fair to say that fucked us up physiologically.”
Her eyes widened and she blinked those lashes at us again.
She looked from me to Nathan.
He tipped his head and then nodded slowly. “That’s probably it.”
“Oh-kaaay.” She blinked a couple more times then shuffled away while looking at me like I was a lunatic.
Ryan snorted. “Fucking legendary.”
“He ain’t wrong.” Nathan shrugged. “Dad fucked us all up.”
I lifted my beer. “I’ll drink to that.”
As I slammed it down, I lifted my hand and gestured at the bartender for another one. Since I wasn’t driving—or paying—I was going to take advantage of this shit.
A few minutes and another beer later, Nathan pulled me off my barstool while Ryan led the way to the other side of the building where they had a restaurant, and unfortunately for me, it was quieter.
I should’ve known I wasn’t going to get away without an interrogation.
Since we came over with drinks, all our busty waitress wanted to know was our food order, and my brothers were quick to pick theirs. I just blindly pointed at something. It didn’t matter; I wasn’t going to eat it anyway. I had big plans to drink my dinner tonight.
It wasn’t like I had anyone to go home to.
Nathan leaned forward with his hands clasped on the table. “Indy heard back from her advisor. She’s all set to go next semester.”
I downed the rest of my third beer then lifted my empty glass as the waitress passed by. “Can I get another Sierra Nevada?”
“Just a water for him!” Ryan shouted at our waitress. “No more beer until he’s had some food.”
She gave Ryan a thumbs up.
“Fucker.” I scowled at my brother, crossing my arms over my chest.
“You did everything you could for the girl.” Nathan shook his head. “Getting her college sorted out. Her phone. Gave her a roof over her head. You got an attorney for her scumbag of a dad. No one is doubting your love for Indy.”
I looked away from him with a huff. “Indy is.”
“I mean, the timing was unfortunate.” Ryan pulled a face.
Nathan winced. “Yeah. In hindsight, it could’ve probably waited another day or two.”
