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Holden lifts his glass of whiskey. “It’s okay. I’m too busy working to notice anyway.” Holden is a doctor at Hamilton General in Manhattan. It’s a minor miracle he managed to get time off for Charlie’s christening.
We’re sitting in the basement den of Myles’ house. The air conditioning is on full blast, thanks to the still-warm evening. As soon as he’d bought the place Myles had this basement fully remodeled. Now it has a bar, a full size pool table, plus a mini-cinema complete with a game station, where Brooks and Linc are currently trying to smash the hell out of each other. At least it’s on screen for once.
“What about your investments in New York?” Holden asks. “Who’s going to be looking after those?”
“I’ve got a good team there,” I tell him. “But I’ll be splitting my time between both locations. I just want to make sure these initial investments here in West Virginia go smoothly.”
“He doesn’t trust me,” Myles says, wryly.
“Not true. I trust you. I’m just a little more ruthless than you are.” That’s the strange thing about us. Myles looks like an asshole but inside he has a heart of gold. And when people meet me they think I’m the nicest guy but I don’t have a heart at all.
“Maybe he has other reasons for being in Charleston,” Eli murmurs.
“Like what?” Holden asks, as though I’m not sitting right in front of them.
“Like Ava’s friend.” Eli cocks a brow. “Did you see the way he was looking at her?”
Here we go. “Not interested,” I say dryly. “Don’t try to make something out of nothing,” I tell him.
“She’s pretty,” Eli says, completely ignoring me. “And she has a body to die for.”
“Did you see Linc trying to eat her up?” Holden laughs.
“Linc’s a child.” I’m trying to not get annoyed. Why can’t we just talk about sports?
“I’m not a child,” Linc shouts out. “You’re just an old man.”
Eli sniggers. “He’s kind of got you there.”
“Get outta here.” I stand to grab another beer. I love my brothers to death, but they’re annoying as hell sometimes. “Who wants another game of pool?”
“Not me,” Eli says. “I’m heading to bed soon.”
“Me too.” Myles shrugs. “We have a big day tomorrow.”
I put the beer back in the cooler, unopened. I didn’t need it anyway. Myles is right, tomorrow is important. For him and Ava, but also for me. He’s trusting me to be Charlie’s godfather, I’m not going to let him down.
“Like I said,” Linc mutters. “Old men.” He looks over at us, his oldest four brothers. There is a gap between Holden, the youngest of the first set of us, and then Linc and Brooks who came later. But I was only trying to rile him when I called him a kid. He’s in his twenties, after all, not so young these days.
“You coming?” I ask Holden and Eli. The three of us are sleeping in the guest bungalow. Linc and Brooks are sleeping in the house, along with all our parents and baby sister.
“Be out in a minute,” Eli says, lifting his glass. “Just going to finish this first.”
“Try to not make too much noise when you come in,” I warn him.
“Yeah right.” He grins. “Like you haven’t kept me awake over the years.”
Linc laughs, pausing his game. “Oh Liam, right there,” he calls out, his voice falsetto. I shake my head at him.
“Oh Liam,” Brooks joins in, fluttering his eyelids. “Nobody ever made me feel this good.”
Ignoring their laughter, I walk out of the den and leave them behind. Myles is waiting at the top of the stairs for me, and he looks almost sorry for me when I reach him.
“They’re a lot,” he says, sounding almost sympathetic
“Yep.” I can’t help it if I always make sure the women I sleep with have a good time. Except that one time. I shake off that thought because it was an aberration. It’s important to make it a mutually enjoyable event. Linc and Brooks could learn something from me.
Myles presses his lips together and nods. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
