Page 161 of Breakneck Hockey

“And we’ll leave early so we can drop in on the Curtis brothers for a few days.” They live in Langley, Langley’s on the way to Hope, which is a stone’s throw from Camp Kawkawa.

“No fucking way, Sutter. I hate your friends. You have theworstfriends. Especially Lane. Lane can go fuck a cactus with his dick hole.”

I can’t deny that they’re pains in the ass, but they’re my brothers. I’m hoping Lane and Casey can come to a truce of some kind. It’ll be a mutilated version of the word truce, but it’d be enough.

“You can suck it the fuck up for a few damn days.”

Casey shakes his head. “Francisco loves me. I’ll hitch a ride with him to camp and you can hang out with your asshole friends without me.”

“Like hell, you will, Alderchuck.”

“Go fuck yourself, Sutter. Literally and figuratively.” He flips me two birds and heads into the house.

“I’m gonna kick his fucking ass.”

Logan laughs. “At least some things never change.”

Two days later, we’re at his place stuffing his duffel bag with clothes. It took a lot of convincing, but he’s coming with me to camp rather than Francisco, who he did ask for a ride, and we’ll stop in on the Curtis brothers, but I only get two days versus the four I wanted. Compromise is what Mercy Meyer called it.

“Compromise is a four-letter word around here,” Jack had said. Apparently, they do it a lot. Apparently, it’s what you do in a relationship, so you don’t kill each other. But no one likes it, and I get why. Compromise means that nobody gets what they want. We need a better system.

Stacey’s due back any time. He’s been gone for a couple of weeks. I want to get him out of here before Stacey arrives, he wants to wait. I don’t think there’s an acceptable compromise on that one.

“Hand me a penny, Alderchuck. Heads we leave now.”

“You’re the only psychopath who keeps pennies around. Hell, I don’t even have a quarter on me. Cash is what boomers and servers use. I haven’t served a table since last summer.”

A vehicle’s already rumbling into the driveway, though. It’s so loud that it might as well be fucking thunder shaking through the house. I move to the fridge to make enough food to keep Casey’s stomach from eating itself on the road.

His brother’s home, and he brought company. Two young blond men who can’t be much older than Logan. Shit. He’s supposed to be the responsible Alderchuck, but it’s clear he’s mid some kind of crisis.

Stacey’s shirtless, wearing nothing but a pair of board shorts, sandals, and a pair of Maui Jims. He’s got a few necklaces strewn around his neck and his hair’s seen a lot of sun—a lot. There’s a lot of blond mixing with the light brown and his skin’s shaded a golden tan.

“Hey, hey, guys. Goin’ somewhere? Alex, Trent, and I were gonna throw a party,” Stacey says. “You can head back there, boys. My room’s second door on the left.”

Casey doesn’t know what to digest first. The men, the sus way his brother’s acting. There’s also the too-many bracelets around his brother’s left wrist, golden skin, and sun-bleached hair. He looks like he’s been to Ayawaska, not Kamloops Resort.

“Holy shit, bro. Is that a Hummer?” Casey shouts, peering out the window to the driveway. “What the fuck did you do with our car?”

“Meh. We needed an upgrade. Not like we can’t afford it,” he says. “Well, aren’t you gonna give me a hug? I missed you, little bro.”

“I’m five minutes younger,” Casey grumbles, but he embraces his newly recharged brother.

“And, Sutter, it’s good to see yah. Looks like you’ve been taking good care of this guy.”

“Yeah, and it ain’t easy. Can I return him to you and get my money back?” I say to lighten the mood. Even though Stacey came in here as a ray of sunshine, he’s not brightening the place. Casey’s getting cagey, flicking his eyes to me, asking without asking,are you seeing what I’m fucking seeing?

Stacey’s far from okay, but he probably thinks the summertime twins back there make him okay.

Casey scowls on cue, but he ignores my jibe. “Who are they?” he asks, gesturing with his thumb.

“Oh, that? Not serious. I met a group of free-spirited types. They’re in an open kind of deal with their Daddy Dom.”

Kinda hot, but whoa. I imagine sharing Alderchuck for a hot second. Yeah, nope. Never. I’ll grind bones to dust. It won’t be pretty. Reaching out, I yank Casey to me by the waistband of his shorts.

“I’m not running off to find a Daddy Dom, Sutter,” he murmurs, reading my mind. He lolls his head into my neck, and I plant a kiss on his lips.

“Damn right, you’re not.”

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