“Since today in her office.”
“You sly dog.”
“Nothin’ sly about it, she initiated it.”
“And you’re tellin’ me because?”
I sigh. “Because it might make you shut the fuck up about us gettin’ back together. It’s happenin’.”
“Right, when hell freezes over. Willow isn’t the same girl you fell in love with.”
His words hit me harder than he could know and I look away. “I know… She’s better.”
“You know what I mean,” he goes on as if I’m dumb. “She’s harder now, not just in a cop way.”
She’s always been a hellcat, but I know what he means. “Seein’ what she sees all day long will do that to a person.”
“I get that, just this time, bro, you need to be sure you know what you’re doin’.”
I glance at him. “I know what I’m doin’.”
“Good, because I’m not gonna deal with another five years of you mopin’ around like a little bitch, got me?”
“Says you, the man who couldn’t be tamed until Erica came along.”
He shrugs, unashamed. “I met the right woman and everythin’ changed.”
I hear his words, and I also feel it somewhere deep inside. “Do you think I was a schmuck for leavin’?”
“Yes, and if I were her, I’d make you beg.”
I roll my eyes. “I did it to set her free, you know the reasons why.”
My brother, for all of his annoyances, is my best friend. I tell him everything. He was one of the few people aside from Logan who were rooting for us. He likes Willow, and Brew doesn’t like anyone.
“Yeah, and it was stupid.” Trust him to give it to me straight. “And I’m tellin’ you now, if she finds out you and her dad are conspirin’, shit’s gonna hit the fan.”
“I’d hardly call lookin’ out for her wellbeing conspirin’,” I say, aggrieved. “We both know what an asshole her father is, but I very much doubt he’d come to me if this wasn’t a dire situation. If it has him worried, then that makes me worried.”
“I get that, just be careful.”
“I’m not afraid of Sinclair.”
Brew sighs, then flicks my ear with his finger.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“I meant Willow, dickhead. She’s the one you have to be afraid of.”
More truth to his words, but it isn’t anything I don’t already know. “It’ll be fine. I’m doin’ a job, and that’s my cover story. If I wanted your opinion, I’d ask for it.”
He snorts. “Nah, you’ll get my opinion whether you want it or not, asswipe. I just don’t get a good feelin’ about Sinclair.”
“That’s because he’s an asshole,” I remind him. “I’ll keep tabs on him, in the meantime, we’ve got work to do.”
“So Willow took the news of us gettin’ the fake job well then?”
“It’s not exactly fake,” I say. “We are doin’ security work, it’s just a little more niche than a normal job.”
