I hummed, not bothering to fill in the blanks. They could do the rest. Let them think the worst of me. I deserved it. Sure, her words were cruel, but I provoked them. I snatched my beer from the table, but the flat, cool suds did little to quench my thirst because it wasn’t what I wanted. Getting pissed and going on a bender this weekend wouldn’t solve things.
“You know what Dad would do, right?” Maverick said, moving to rub his right temple.
“He’d ask for help fixing something not broken,” I said.
“Yep. Then tell a story about him and Mom.”
“My favorite was the one about him always making sure he’d open the door for her,” Mark said. I leaned against the railing, remembering that story well. “So she could always walk in first with his hand on her back.”
“Mom once told me it was because he liked to check out her ass,” Magnum said, suppressing a shiver.
“Gross.”
“Yuck.”
“Really, dude?”
Magnum laughed, leaning forward and bracing his hands on his knees as the three of us reached for beer bottlecaps and pelted them at him. He raised one leg off the floor, trying to cover his head, but failed miserably as almost a dozen caps came barreling toward him.
“Hey. Hey. Cut it out. Jackasses. We are here to save Miller’s sorry ass from whatever hole he’s dug himself into. Not maim my handsome face.”
“Then stop commenting on our mother’s sex life,” Maverick said, taking two cookies off the plate and throwing them at Magnum since the bottlecaps had already been used as ammunition.
“I need to fix this, guys,” I said quietly. I scratched my chin and frowned, seeing the dirt under my nails. What a pathetic fuck-up this was.
“So, apologize,” Mark said, shrugging. He picked up the bottle of bourbon from the table and read the back, letting out a low whistle and staring at Maverick. He nodded toward the rocks glasses lying on the small table by the porch swing, and Mark grabbed them before opening the bottle and pouring us each two fingers of the amber liquid.
I finished the last swig of beer before accepting the glass from my youngest brother, swirling the liquid around as the caramel and smoke aroma rose high enough for me to smell.
“It’s going to take more than an apology. She deserves more. Much more.” I stared at the floor, leaning back against the railing on the porch and crossing one ankle over the other. The bourbon burned as I took a sip, holding the liquor in my mouth like I wanted to punish myself for how I treated her. Swallowing the gulp down, I sighed.Damn.
“How badly did you fuck things up?”
I raised an eyebrow, staring at Maverick. The smooth flavor and rich aroma did nothing to squash my unease.
“Ah. I see,” he said, leaning back in his chair and resting his glass on his right knee. “You love her, don’t you?”
“What?” Magnum said, jerking his head from the ground where he’d been searching for the rogue bottlecaps. “Miller? Is that true?”
Taking another sip, I pressed the glass to my forehead and nodded. Murmurs and groans filled the space, drowning out the crickets chirping in the evening breeze. I dragged my boot against the porch, kicking a pebble lodged between the boards.
“So, we need something more than an apology?”
“Yeah,” I said, raising my head to face Mark, who nodded and sipped his bourbon.
“Do you know when her next work thing is?”
I shook my head, stuffing the hand not holding my drink into my back pocket to keep from fidgeting. “But I could find out.”
I tilted my head, removed my hand, and rubbed my lips, wondering how many trips to the bakery it would take before Mrs. Bella divulged the details of the next event. It was some sponsorship, right? Lacrosse?
She would need a date.
Someone she would be proud to have on her arm.
Someone who knew not to bring her appetizers with cheese and who remembered she had two left feet.
“I think I know how to fix this,” I said, finishing the drink in one gulp and setting the empty glass on the railing. “But I’m going to need to dig my tux out of the closet and get some help.”
