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“The hell you say? Asher’s gay?”
Dustin shook his head. “No, he’s Rylie’s ex. Not really pleased with me right now.”
“I would say not from the way he’s glaring at you. Why’d they break up?”
“He’s a dick.” Charlie raised an eyebrow, and Dustin muttered, “Like dad.”
Charlie stiffened. “You serious?”
“That’s what I got from the little I saw.”
Charlie grabbed his refreshed shot off the bar and tipped it back. Then he stood up and shouted, “Yo, Ash! You keep looking at me like that and I’m going to give you what you’re asking for.” He cracked his knuckles as the bar went dead silent. “Something to chew on.”
Asher stood up, but several of his friends grabbed his arms and yanked him back down.
Dustin was so floored he froze for a second before he grabbed his brother by the shoulder. “What the hell are you doing?”
“He’s the one picking a fight. I’m just giving him what he wants.”
“It’s directed at me, not you, idiot.”
“Well, I’m looking for something to hit. Besides, you’re my bro. Nobody dicks with you but me.”
Rod, the bartender, slammed his hand on the bar behind them. “You’re cut off, Charlie. You two settle your tab and get the hell out of here. I’m not having you stir up shit in here.”
“We’re gone, Rod.” Dustin tossed down a hundred, and guided his brother out the door. Charlie gave Asher two middle fingers and a full-on tongue-hanging-out-of-his-mouth face that would have scared Gene Simmons.
Once they were outside, Dustin pushed Charlie toward the car. “If I wanted to knock the guy out, I would have done it myself.”
Charlie’s eyes narrowed in the lighted parking lot. “Then, why don’t you? Why are you sitting around like a pussy letting that guy dog you?”
“Because I don’t care what that dumbass thinks of me. Not everything has to be solved with your fists. You’d think living with Dad would have taught you that.”
Charlie’s face turned an ugly shade of red that in the parking lot light appeared orange. “Fuck you, Dustin! I learned not to take shit from people.”
“You’re thirty-two years old and you walked out on your job because you lost your temper. Sounds like you need to grow up, Brother.”
Suddenly, Dustin found himself in a headlock, but even though his brother was bulkier, Dustin was fast and squirrely. He slipped out of Charlie’s grasp and when his brother threw a hard right, Dustin easily dodged the clumsy move.
“Knock it off, Charlie.”
His brother ran at him with his arms wide, and as fast as Dustin was, he couldn’t get out of the way of his brother’s tackle. Dustin hit the ground hard, the breath whooshing out of his lungs as Charlie’s fist connected with his jaw. Lights exploded in Dustin’s vision and then it all went red as he knocked Charlie off him and tried to pin his brother. Dustin and Charlie rolled around the parking lot, fighting for the upper hand, when the high-pitched chirp of a police siren broke it up.
Dustin climbed to his feet first, and when he tried to help his brother, Charlie shook him off.
Luke Jessup stepped out of the cruiser in his sheriff’s uniform, and nodded at Dustin. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, Luke, just a little brotherly bonding,” Dustin said, shooting Charlie a meaningful look.
“Definitely. Been a long time, and I just wanted to show Dustin I could still take his ass down, just like when we were kids.”
Luke crossed his arms over his wide chest. “How about you take the wrestling matches home? Less likely to get run over that way.”
“Absolutely, Luke,” Dustin said.
Once Luke climbed into his cruiser and was backing up, Dustin pointed a finger at Charlie. “I’m taking your ass to Mom’s house.”
“Bite me, you candy ass—”
