Page 92 of Vegas with my Brother’s Best Friends

Even when my first club was about to go bankrupt before I landed an angel investor, I didn’t feel this much panic.

A baby is going to change the rest of my life.

“You know, I’m about to say fuck it and just tell Ryan the truth about Derek,” Jackson says after a few minutes of silence.

“No, you’re not,” I mutter, resting my forehead against my hand. “That’ll piss her off.”

“Well, Ryan is all pissy that we lied to him. If he wants honesty, she should give it to him and stop protecting that jackass following him around like a puppy,” Jackson replies. “Ryan thinks Derek is perfect. If only he knew.”

“It’s not our problem to deal with. Cassidy made that clear,” I remind him.

Of course, I want to put Derek on blast because he deserves that, but we have to put Cassidy’s feelings before our own. Our anger toward Derek wouldn’t justify our actions.

It would just make us look like hotheads who can’t control their own emotions.

“Well, Derek is a problem to us. He’s probably whispering things in Ryan’s ear, making him hate us even more,” Jackson replies, tapping the side of his glass with his forefinger angrily. “If the baby was Derek’s, Ryan would probably be over the damn moon.”

“It’s different. He knew they were dating. It was never a secret,” Marcus tells him. “Our relationship with Cassidy was built off a secret that turned into lies. That’s all he sees.”

“Well, he should look past the surface and see that we treat her better than Derek ever did,” Jackson mutters. “He should stop being so damn close minded.”

“He’s not the enemy,” I sigh. “He’s just hurt.”

“He should talk to us instead of giving us the cold shoulder. How is that mature?” Jackson questions me. “We could fix this and settle things, but he just wants to simmer in his own anger.”

“He does have a wedding coming up,” Marcus points out. “I’m sure he has other things on his mind.”

“We’re his groomsmen. I think patching things up with us would be a priority before the big day,” Jackson replies with a faint scoff. “And you don’t think he should know the truth about his best man before then?”

I flash him a pointed look. “We can’t blow up every bit of his life before his wife walks down the aisle. Do you know how upset he would be with us?”

Jackson shrugs and takes a sip of his drink and stares into the glass. “What do we have to lose now? He’s not going to forgive us.”

Marcus gives him a pointed look. “We still have a lot to lose. We can still win him back.”

Jackson lets out a bitter laugh. “Win him back? He’s not the girl I have feelings for. He’s just…he’s…”

“He’s our best friend,” I tell him. “It would suck to lose him. He’s family.”

Marcus nods in agreement. “They didn’t have much growing up because of their parents, but Ryan always made it a point to help us however he could.”

Jackson doesn’t say anything.

“Maybe we can try to talk to him before the wedding. At least get back on speaking terms,” I suggest, hating the feeling of the guilt gnawing away at my soul.

“Yeah, we should try,” Marcus says. “We can’t just sit around and do nothing.”

“Or maybe that’s the way to stop us from doing even more damage,” Jackson replies before taking another long sip, his eyes sliding shut.

If we push too much, things can go wrong. If we don’t act enough, it’ll seem like we don’t care.

How can we walk a fine line that we can’t even see?

I take another shot of tequila, finally starting to feel the hazy buzz from the first few. I motion to the bartender again, not wanting to hear my thoughts any longer.

Honestly, right now, I don’t want to feel a thing.

Chapter thirty-two