Page 58 of Hazel and Elijah Find Out: First They F*cked Around

Hazel and Nora clung to each other, both laughing too hard to support their own weight. Cat calls erupted, which varied in levels of decency. Brooks weathered it good-naturedly, seemingly unembarrassed. He sipped his beer and waited, with only a slight smirk on his face.

Nora’s twin sister, Olivia, called out, “If you promise to work shirtless, I’ll bid.”

His head turned in her direction, his eyes laser focused on her.

“Oh shit…” Nora muttered to herself. “God, can she stop leading him on?”

“What? No one’s gonna take her seriously.” Hazel reasoned. “Her and Brooks, can you even imagine?”

An irritated lift of her eyebrow was Nora’s only response.

Holding up a hand to slow everyone down, Ben said, “Bidding hasn’t even begun.”

Without shifting his focus, Brooks passed his drink to Ben, then took hold of his belt buckle. My eyes widened.

Shocked. Floored. Incomprehensible.

“No way!” Hazel screamed.

The crowd between us and the stage moved like particles heating up, spastic and frantic. With one quick pull, Brooks freed the leather strap from his belt loops.

“Jesus Christ,” Ben exclaimed. “No one had money on Brooks taking his clothes off tonight.”

Still focused on Olivia, Brooks’ belt clattered to the stage.

Someone just started bidding, without being prompted. “One hundred dollars!”

Amounts continued to climb as he started with the button at the base of his neck.

“One hundred and seventy-five dollars!”

“What the fuck is happening right now?” I asked in disbelief.

With her face pressed into her hands, Nora groaned. “How does she not know? Sometimes she is too dumb to live.”

Brooks pulled the tail of his shirt out of his slacks, letting it hang open over his white undershirt for a few seconds before freeing one arm, then the other.

Bids were shouted in a frenzy, and the numbers piled on top of one another.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Ben said, “Brooks, you move your hipsat all, and I need a cabaret license.”

Brooks bundled his shirt into his fist and let it fly over the crowd. It landed on Olivia’s shocked, blushing face. He hooked his thumbs into his pockets and lounged while standing.

She peeled it off her eyes and screamed, “Four hundred and fifty dollars!”

“Sold,” Brooks’ voice called out loud and clear, cutting off the bidding. A second round of gasps rippled through the bar.

Hazel’s draw dropped. “Brooks and Olivia?!”

“Looks like it,” I agreed.

Nora just shook her head. Throwing her hands up in disgust, she proclaimed, “Too dumb to live.”

Chapter 18

Hazel

“I’mgonna…I’llbeback.” Nora pushed off the wall and disappeared, moving toward her sister.

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