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All I could do was smile. “It would seem the judge has taken his son’s punishment on with a vengeance. He’s no longer a member of the club, his trust fund on hold, and he’ll be doing grunt work for a construction company for a few months. Talk about community service.”
“It’ll be good for the brat.”
“Amen, brother.”
Before he had a chance to leave, both Grant and Lachlan stepped through my door. “A full house today, I see,” I said as I grinned at my friends.
Jagger winked at me before leaving.
“An unexpected surprise,” I told my college buddies.
“We thought we’d take the opportunity to meet the woman that turned you into a badass,” Lachlan said as he headed to the bar.
Grant shook his head. “This girl must be pretty damn special. I didn’t know you had it in you, buddy.”
I’d relayed the events briefly to them over the phone, amused at their surprise the country boy football star had it in him. “Maybe there’s a lot you don’t know about me.”
“Maybe so,” Grant said before turning his attention toward Lachlan. “Do you remember the first time we met this guy?”
I eased onto the edge of my desk, amused at both, curious as to what they did remember. Both arrived in fifty-thousand-dollar sports cars. I’d been lucky my beat-up old Chevy had made it to Pennsylvania at all.
“It was outside Gregor Hall. Jameson pulled up in some old Ford with a busted muffler,” Lachlan mused then handed us both a hefty tumbler of scotch before retrieving his.
“That’s right,” Grant said as he nodded. “He had no clue where he was going and I had to give him directions. We became his heroes that day.”
I lifted my eyebrows, trying to keep quiet. Heroes, my ass.
Lachlan took a sip of his drink then swirled the liquid in his glass. “He begged us to become his friends shortly thereafter. Then he threatened us that if we didn’t help him pledge the fraternity, he’d hunt us down with his big rifle.”
“I guess we were smart in taking him seriously, huh?” Grant teased.
All I could do was shake my head. “The two of you acted like I was some freaking redneck from a Podunk town. First of all, it was my beloved Chevy. You didn’t talk to me for thirty days, which was fine since you still had the silver spoons in your mouths. Only when you were failing your classes did you come to me for help.”
The truth was somewhere in the middle, although even after all these years, as I looked back it was hard to believe the three of us had become friends.
“Then you needed relationship advice since I had all the hot women,” I couldn’t help adding.
“Oh!” both chimed in.
We laughed for a few seconds then Lachlan looked away. “You took a risk, buddy.”
The very words I’d said to Alexandra. “Sometimes the risks are worth the rewards.”
Grant caught the meaning first. “She’s the one?”
“The beautiful but bratty Alexandra is absolutely the one.”
Lachlan lifted his glass first. “‘May you both be blessed with the strength of heaven, the light of the sun and the radiance of the moon, the splendor of fire, the speed of lightning, the swiftness of wind, the depth of the sea, the stability of earth, and the firmness of rock.’”
I turned my eyes, studying his expression. “That’s beautiful.”
“An old Scottish toast,” he offered, taking a sip. “Usually for weddings.” His eyes twinkled, his usual bad boy attitude returning.
“Hold on. Are you getting married?” Grant chortled.
The question was one I’d thought about more than once. “Maybe. We’ll see. I just met the girl.”
“Trust me, lad. That’s all it takes.” Lachlan lifted his glass again. “To the woman who managed to capture Jameson’s heart.”
