Page 55 of The Spider & the Storm

Tommy and Rob walked into Tony’s then. It had been years since I’d laid my eyes on either of them, and with just one glance, they reminded me instantly of my brother.

Only twenty-four, yet they bore the look of men ten years their senior. Tall, muscular, and I bet they each had their fair share of women. But their skin crinkled where mine didn’t, andthey laughed with a throaty rasp, like people who’d spent the past ten years of their lives sucking on cigarettes and guzzling down booze. Because they had.

“Holy fuck! Is that little Lukey Corbin?!” Rob crowed from the door.

I suppressed my eye roll. Dealing with Dumb and Dumber had never ever been on my list of plans for my twenty-first birthday. But neither had been Tony's Bar to begin with.

Tommy whooped at Rob's side before quickly barreling in our direction. He wrapped his arms around my brother’s shoulders and gave him an enthusiastic shake.

“Zero! What the hell happened to you, man?! You fuckin’ disappeared!”

Luke laughed in a way he never did with Melanie or me, clapping his hand against Tommy's arm. His eyes twinkled with happiness and mirth, like he'd spent this past year hibernating and finally came back to life in the presence of his shitty friends.

Displeasure coiled tightly in my gut, and I palmed my phone in the pocket of my jeans, readying myself to call Melanie to tattle on her fiancé.

“Life, man,” Luke answered with a shrug and a plastered-on grin. “You know how it goes.”

Rob came to join the reunion at the bar when his eyes landed on me. He tipped his head, his lips curling upward in a smile that didn't quite meet his eyes.

“Charlie?” he asked as if he wasn't sure it was really me. Like he couldn't believe that, as he'd aged, so had I.

“Last time I checked,” I muttered, rolling my eyes away to stare at the half-empty bottle of beer in front of me. I was surprised Luke hadn’t finished it.

Tommy glanced in my direction, suddenly aware of my presence. “Whoa, is Charlie boydrinking?”

Charlie boy. The nickname pierced my skin and hit a nerve that made me flinch. Memories of Tommy’s brother, Ritchie, and the fucked-up shit he'd done to keep me away, to keep me scared and quiet, came rushing in like a tidal wave I had no chance of escaping.

God, was he coming too? Would I have to face my mortal enemy after I'd managed to keep his shadow from falling over me for so many years?

“Charlie's twenty-one today,” Luke said, grinning with pride in my direction.

For just a second, he was back, my big brother. Not the guy who put on a persona for his friends. Not the alcoholic who'd depended so much on poison to get through his days and nights.

He was Luke, and for the faintest glimmer of a moment, I thought,God, he looks so much like Dad.

I could almost hear my father in his voice. The inflections I'd nearly lost in the worn, faded memories. The gruff, throaty tone I'd spent so many nights reminding myself I'd never hear again. They were there now, all of it, living inside my brother.

Then, it passed, that bright moment of comfort and clarity, andZerowas back with his stupid fucking nickname and his stupid fucking friends.

They ordered another round of drinks, and Luke never protested. He clinked the neck of his second bottle against those of his friends’ before glancing at me with a silent plea.

Don't tell Melanie, it said, as if she wouldn't figure it out herself when he came home, stinking of Budweiser.

Please, it said again and again when that second bottle turned into three, then four, and by the fifth, I was tired of meeting his gaze with mine. I was tired of this night. I was tired of checking the clock, watching the minutes and hours tick away, knowing damn well that Melanie was wondering and worrying and making herself sick while dinner grew cold.

He's such a piece of shit, I thought to myself as I left my barstool.But I am, too, for letting it go on for this long.

Luke grabbed my arm. His eyes weren't his anymore; they had lost all focus, lost their clarity. I shook him off.

“Where are you going?” he asked as his sixth bottle was placed in front of him.

“The bathroom,” I snapped louder than was maybe necessary.

God, I was somad.

“Why?”

I scoffed with a roll of my eyes, shaking my head. “To piss, Luke. I need to fucking piss. Is that okay with you? Am I allowed to fucking piss?”

---