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. . .
Romeo
Burping.
Farting.
Giving one another shit.
It was what we did best.
Me and the guys sat in the same seats we sat in every week for what seemed like forever. Creatures of habit or superstition—maybe a little of both. Boxers aren’t like race car drivers in that way, though. No, you won’t find stinky socks that a guy’s been wearing for a year, but we do have our own beliefs that some may think are quirky, thus the seating arrangement. We’d been meeting at Knockout, the gym I now owned, where we’d been coming since we were kids. I’d grown up here.
Hell, in a way, we all had.
“Lots to talk about today.” River quirked a brow at both Kingston and Nash. He took no shit and was the first to call you out if he had a problem with something.
“Are we still whining about the fucking coffee shop?” Kingston groaned. Kingston and River were the only biological brothers in the group, but we were all brothers in our own way.
In the way that mattered most.
Nash barked out a laugh. He and Kingston owned ROD Construction, which stood for Ride or Die, the words we’d all marked on our skin years ago. “Dude, it was a job. What were we going to do? Turn her down? We’d look like dicks if we refused to work on the project. We’ve done every renovation downtown since we opened the doors four years ago.”
“Newsflash, assholes. You still look like dicks. That has nothing to do with the jobs that you take.” River chuckled. “But I think you’re just afraid of pissing off the Crawfords.”
The Crawford family owned most of the real estate in Magnolia Falls, the small town we’d all grown up in. Their name was on the main drag street sign—also the schools in town, the library… the list was endless. They were rich as fuck, and we had our reasons for hating them.
But I’d sided with Nash and Kingston when it came to working on the building. The money was good, and their company was thriving. I wouldn’t let my personal issues get in the way of them building their business.
Demi Crawford, who’d come home after being away at school for years, had decided to open a coffee shop right next door to my gym. The guys were there to do a job, not hang out with her. River didn’t quite see it that way.
“I’ve told you that Saylor became friends with her while she was away at school, and according to the ray of sunshine who I somehow share DNA with, Demi’s a cool girl. Her words, not mine. Obviously.” Hayes rolled his eyes, referencing his younger sister, whom he adored and who was much friendlier than her broody older brother. “The Crawfords are no friends of mine, but it doesn’t mean we won’t occasionally have to work with one of them, seeing as we live in the same small fucking town as they do. I did have to put out that fire in their guesthouse last year, and you didn’t shame me for not letting it burn down.”
“Whatever. The job is finally done.” River sipped his coffee and leaned back on the leather couch in the back room, where we always held our meetings. “We can stop ass-kissing the devil now?”
“Correct. But I’ve got to tell you, she isn’t the rich, bitchy girl you think she is,” Kingston said, holding his hands up to stop River from jumping down his throat. “I’m not defending her. I’m calling it as I see it. She renovated the apartment above the shop, as well, and she’s going to be living there. Not quite the princess in the tower that you seem to envision. That’s all I’m saying.”
“Oh, let me guess. You’re going to try to date a fucking Crawford now?” River hissed.
“Take it down a notch, dickhead. King was out with me last night, and I can assure you, he’s not looking to date anyone,” Hayes said over his laughter. “He’s looking to dateeveryone.”
“Well, don’t make me sound like an asshole. I just like to keep my options open. And no, I’m not looking to date Demi Crawford. She’s far too sweet for me.” Kingston waggled his brows, knowing he was getting under his brother’s skin.
The disdain for the Crawfords ran deep for all of us. Rightfully so. But Demi wasn’t really involved in that, and none of us knew her all that well, seeing as she attended the fancy private school in town, and we all went to public school.
On the days that we actually attended.
None of us had been scholarly, but we’d made it through.
River and I had both gone through a hard time after those months we spent in juvie, but we’d worked hard to get our lives back on track.
Once you’d been labeled a bad kid, it was tough to turn things around.
People love to judge—and judge they did.
“Those Crawfords have evil running through their blood. But we’ve wasted enough time talking about them. Let’s move on tothe elephant in the room, shall we, Golden Boy?” River turned his attention to me.
