Page 48 of Doubling Down

“There’s no one out there,” Eric said. “I’m talking about my brother.”

Dane snapped his head toward him. “What?”

Fuck! Why did he have to drag this out of his best friend? “Dane?”

“Yeah?” Oh, look at Dane’s pissed-off face. That wasn’t going to stop Eric though.

“Are you in love with my brother?”

Dane jerked back like Eric had just punched him.

“Because if you are, then you might want to come by the house. He’s missed you and I promised that he could meet Maverick.”

From the back seat, the dog perked up.

Dane rubbed his hands roughly over his face. “Fuck, man!”

“I’m not the only one that needs to make a move,” Eric told him.

“You know my past,” Dane said. He stared at Eric hard. “How could you want me anywhere near your brother.”

“I trust you with my life. With my brother. It’s because of your past that I know that you would never hurt Brandon.” Being truthful was the only way to handle this.

“He’s been through so much,” Dane said.

“My brother is a fucking survivor. He is strong. Smart. And deserves the world. You need to really think about what you want. He’s healing. Either tell him how you feel or let him down easy.”

“What if he’s not ready?” Dane questioned quietly.

Eric shrugged. “I don’t know. But it’s up to him to decide if he’s ready or not.”

Dane looked away before he eventually nodded. “You’re buying dinner.” He fumbled out of the truck before slamming the door closed.

“Good talk, asshole,” Eric mumbled as he exited out of the passenger side. At least he knew Dane would be thinking about his words.

* * * * *

Ezra

“This night is never going to end,” Dominic whined.

Ezra hip-bumped his friend. “Twenty more minutes and then we’re out of here. You shouldn’t have come in anyway. You looked like you went ten rounds with a boxer.”

Dominic’s huff amused Ezra.

Ezra had tried to talk to his friend about the events the night before, but Dom had been unusually tight-lipped.

“I don’t think you should take up boxing,” Lake said.

Ezra snorted a laugh. Mr. Lambert had assigned Lake to stand guard over the coffee shop until Joey Collins was caught. Ezra was aware that Lake was former military, but he also knew that Lake hated any kind of violence. His presence was supposed to be enough to deter anyone from hanging around the shop too long. He could also contact security if he suspected any trouble.

Ezra was just happy spending the day with two of his favorite people. And Brandon was picking him up so he could totally push Dom at Brandon and put his plan of introducing them into action.

“It was a cheap shot,” Dom defended himself.

“I saw the video,” Lake said. “Itwasa cheap shot. Can you even see out of two black eyes?”

No wonder Dom had been in a mood all day.

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