Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
“Did you break other rules?” he asked. My breath caught, and I was glad he could be proud of me for not touching myself at least.
“No. I did exactly what you asked.”
Lance was in the next room, but I was sure he was still listening. He liked to stick his nose in everything.
“So you just got drunk enough to pass out before you were too tempted to get yourself off?”
“That wasn’t… I mean, yeah, but Lance asked if I wanted to go out.”
“You could’ve had one drink, maybe two, and come home so you’d be rested and ready when I came to pick you up.”
“Have you been waiting for me to show up at the shop?”
“No, I’m at your house. I’m still sitting in front of your gate. Tell me where Lance lives, and I’ll come get you.”
I frowned as I looked down at my phone. “You didn’t start calling me until—”
“I ran into some shit myself last night, and I was running late.” His confession made me smile. “Where does Lance live?”
“Hang on. Let me make sure it’s okay with him if I send you here. He’s a little jumpy when people just show up.”
“Hurry up.” Beau’s voice was firm, but he didn’t sound angry. He must approve of me checking with Lance. It was the right thing to do, the mature thing to respect my brother’s privacy, to not think everything was about me. It was just that for so long, it kind of had been. I was tired of that. I was ready to really grow up and do things for myself instead of letting others do them for me. Maybe that would be enough to show my brothers I’d changed.
“Hey, Lance?” When he immediately stepped back into the room, I knew I’d been right. “You were listening to everything, weren’t you?”
“That’s my job. I’m our eyes and ears. You know that.”
I didn’t bother to argue. “Beau wants to pick me up here. Is that okay?
Lance grinned. “I was going to offer to take you to work, but I like the idea of Beau coming here where I can interrogate him.”
“No. You can’t talk to him.”
“I need to see how he’s treating my baby brother.”
“No, please. I’ll just go out as soon as I see his car.”
Lance took the phone from me. I tried to grab it back, but Tony scolded me and swatted at my hand. “This is Lance. You can pick him up here.” He gave Beau his Julia Street address, then said, “Come to the door. We need to talk.”
“I don’t want any trouble,” I heard Beau say. “Corbin’s paying off a debt by working at the shop.”
“Be that as it may, I’d like to check on how that’s going.”
“Fine. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
Lance ended the call without giving me another chance to talk.
“This is what I mean when I say you and Remy treat me like a kid. I’m not some precious little virgin whose virtue you need to protect.”
“You’re my little brother, and I want to keep you safe.”
“You take me out to clubs and let me wander off with randos. Since when do you need to—”
“This is different. Pop and Remington may not be ready to put you in charge of missions, but I’m confident you can hold your own against some rando from a club. I’m not worried about who you hook up with, but this is more than that. I don’t want you to get your heart broken. Also, I want to scrutinize Beau’s loyalty a bit more. Remington trusts him, and that means a lot, but you never know what secrets are going to come out.”
“Leave him alone, Lance. I don’t need you checking into him. I don’t need you doing any of this. I had a problem. I found a way to solve it.”
“You’re working at the shop to solve the problem. That has nothing to do with the rest of it.”
“It’s my fucking business.”
“If Remington comes home and finds out I let you get yourself into trouble—”
“You don’t let me do anything. I can get myself into trouble just fine.” I realized what I said and blew out a harsh breath. “You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I do, and that’s why I look out for you.”
How the hell was I ever going to change if they wouldn’t let me?
There was a knock at the door a few moments later. I tried to beat Lance there, but I didn’t manage it.
He answered the door with Tony on his shoulder, and before either of us could say anything, Tony started chattering away and holding out his hand as if he expected Beau to give him a treat. At least Beau had met the monkey, so he wasn’t as shocked as most people were to be greeted by Tony.