“Nope. Dan told us you’d say that and said we weren’t to arrive without you, so move it,” Sawyer said.
“Dan also said you work too hard and need to lighten up. So shelve protecting the nation and go brush your hair,” Brody added.
“I’m fairly sure the nation’s protection is not my sole responsibility.”
“I know about that black Escalade arriving at your house once in the early hours of the morning, and there is other shit that all points toward you being important—not here, you understand—but out there,” Sawyer said, waving a hand about.
“Then there’s the private plane that came to pick you up two years ago. Only knew about that because Sybil Maynard was there picking up her niece from Accident, Maryland—love that name,” Brody added.
They weren’t wrong. Both those things had happened, but he thought they’d forgotten.
“So I’m not important in Lyntacky?” Jay asked.
“Importantish is all we’re giving you,” Brody said.
“Neither of you brushes your hair. How come I have to?”
“We’re not talking about us, and for your information, we both brushed our hair before coming out,” Sawyer said. “Plus, we’re in relationships. You’re not.”
“What does me not being in a relationship have anything to do with boys’ night?”
Jay was tall and no weakling, but these two could take him easily, and he knew they would simply carry him to the car if he didn’t do what they wanted.
“We’re socializing you, or we’ll never get you loved up with Ms. Day,” Brody said.
He studied them. “You know I socialize way more than either of you losers, right? I actually leave this town and go out into the world, and I’m not interested in Laurie Day.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure you have women all over the globe,” Sawyer said. “But no one that’s important and has stuck is our point. What’s wrong with Ms. Day? She’s perfect for you.”
“Oh goody, so glad we’re getting to a point,” Jay muttered, pushing thoughts of Blue Jay McAllister out of his head. “I don’t want to date Laurie Day, and that’s my last word on the matter.”
“We just want you happy, bud,” Brody added.
“Just because you idiots and the rest of your clan are loved up, it in no way means I want to be. So if you think now that Dan is in a relationship with Leah, I’m next on your matchmaking list, think again.”
They both folded their arms and smiled at exactly the same time. Dukes, they all had something of one another. Maybe Sawyer’s smile was more a snarl, but the similarities were there.
“Fuck off,” Jay muttered, walking away from them.
Once he was in his bedroom, he stripped off his clothes, washed up, and pulled on jeans and a clean button-down shirt. He located his brush and ran it through his hair, wincing as it caught on a knot.
Jay had to look professional when he left Lyntacky, so he tended to be the exact opposite when he came home.
He walked back out and grabbed his wallet and phone.
Brody wolf-whistled when he returned. The brothers were now drinking his beer and had opened a bag of chips. He didn’t comment, it was what they did at each other’s homes.
“Right, let’s go, pretty boy,” Sawyer said.
They headed out to Brody’s car, and Jay climbed into the backseat.
“Did Dan tell you that our DNA tests say we’re from Vikings?” Brody said.
“Sorry to burst your bubble?—”
“Here we go,” Sawyer said in his growling voice. “He’s about to burst our bubble with facts.”
“A DNA test can’t actually confirm you’re descended from a fearless longship-riding warrior. Viking wasn’t a bloodline, it was more like a career choice. If your ancestor hopped on a boat, caused a bit of trouble, and came home with a good story, awesome, but DNA tests can only show strong ties to places like Norway, Sweden, or Denmark. They’re basically the neighborhoods Vikings once called home. Sometimes they also pick up genetic markers from regions Vikings settled in after they finished roaming, raiding, and generally refusing to stay put.”
