I quirked a brow. “And the chances of it being here in the morning are probably zero.”
Pursing his lips, he agreed with me. “Good point.”
After holding my iPhone over the card machine, I paid the bill and then turned to Nix, handing him a Bud Light by the neck. We chinked them together in a salute.
“So, how does it feel to be back?” Nix questioned as we walked over to one of the spare booths. I could see my car from the table we took through the window, and there was already a group of boisterous youths surrounding it.
“To be honest, I thought it would be weird, but it feels like I never left,” I admitted, throwing myself onto the seat and placing my beer on the table.
“Is that a good thing?” Phoenix asked, negotiating his massive frame into the small area between the chair and the table.
“Beats me. Is Hudson on his way?” I asked, casting another glance around the bar. Thankfully, it was quiet. The place was usually full of college jocks, it being a sports bar. Maybe the place had gone downhill since I’d left?
Phoenix took a slug of his drink and then smirked. “Yes, but he won’t be alone.”
My intention of a guys' night instantly evaporated. Smiling, I nodded my understanding. “Molly?”
“Yep. He’s picking Harper up, too. Sorry, dude.” Fucking men and their bitches. Even our other brother Micah, who was currently in New York, was smitten, which made the fact that I was single piss me off even more. Our other foster brother, Micah, was seeing a girl called Sonia.
“How are you and Baby Sawyer?” I asked, using our nickname for our foster sister and Nix’s girlfriend. They were adorable together, especially with the size difference; Nix being a mountain and Harper the size of a fucking pixie.
His face lit up, his expression revealing how much he loved her. “Good man. Real good.”
“Hud and Mols?”
“Tighter than you and the key to your car,” he puffed, taking a long pull on his beer.
“That is tight. Dude should put a ring on her finger and seal the deal.” Hudson and Molly had been together the longest.
“Oh, he’s thought about it, but they’re going to get a place together first.”
“Where are they thinking?”
“Newport, this neighborhood. Molly wants to be close to her old man.” I got that. Molly and her father were tight. She moved to the States from England after her mother died in a car crash when she was only sixteen. “Have you seen Micah recently? Can’t believe he got promoted again.”
I was the closest to my brother Micah; as I mentioned, we were placed in the same foster home when we were five. Our foster mother passed away from a heart attack, and the cracks in our care started to show. Our foster father, Nathanial, was heartbroken when his wife died and couldn’t cope with two unruly boys, so we went back into the system. That was when I was placed in what was now being called The Horror House.
Micah, who used to take drugs during his teens, was now the head of a pharmaceutical company and worked as a Clinical Research Associate.
Phoenix was staring at me with an odd expression, and I realized I hadn’t answered his question. Nix was the shrewdest of all my brothers, and he must have seen my face change when I thought about those months with the Palmer family.
Sliding my mask back in place, I replied. “Yeah, he’s good, man. I see him every other week, and we talk most days.”
“How’s it going with that little blonde he was seeing?”
“Good, I think.”
“Nice ink. New?” my brother said with a flick of his head towards my new neck tats.
“Yeah. It’s not finished yet.”
“Anyway, what about you?” Nix questioned as he placed his beer on the table. Motherfucker looked even bigger than the last time I saw him. I wondered what he was benching now.
“What about me?” I asked, taking a huge gulp of air and mentally coaching my brain into safer waters.
He frowned. “Well, surely you don’t intend to live at the Bayberry?”
Shrugging, I lifted the menu from the table and opened it. Fuck, I was starving. “I haven’t thought that far. How’s life in your father’s pool house?”
