Page 79 of Crave Me

“Fuck you, dickhead. Help me get the shit inside.”

Liam knocks his shoulder against mine as we open the trunk.

“We need to update his nickname, shithead aint cutting it anymore.”

“Crotchety old man seems like it’ll fit,” I say under my breath.

Liam finally cracks a laugh as we start hauling our duffel bags and gear out of the back to bring inside for the night. Once inside, the yells, grunts, and thumps coming from down the hall get our asses moving to find out what the hell is going on. Liam and I walk in on Sawyer holding Carter to the ground with his arm wrapped around his neck, Carter shifting his body weight to flip Sawyer.

“Tap, little bro. You don’t get the master bedroom. I’m the oldest and you’re still a little shit. Tap!”

“Ff-u-ck yooou.”

Sawyer squeezes a bit more, Carter’s face starting to drain of color. I lean back against the door frame and cross my arms, a huge smirk on my face, happy to watch from this side for a change. I’m surprised Liam and Carter break Sawyer and me up so quickly. It’s pretty amusing to watch.

“C’mon, Carter, just tap. You were never gettin’ this room. We got shit to unpack and stuff to do,” Liam says as he walks out and leaves me to my entertainment. Carter tries several more times to get out of Sawyer’s hold with no luck before he finally taps out. Sawyer’s a natural fighter, boxing is his thing, but he also has dabbled in mixed martial arts. Sawyer releases him and stands, fixing his clothes and reaching for Carter to pull him on his feet.

“We good now? Get your shit out of here and let’s get settled.” Sawyer runs his hands through his hair, pulls out his phone, and walks away, no doubt to call Ivy and let her knowwe made it. My fingers itch to call Blaire, but my brothers know I’m never on my phone and would get suspicious. Grabbing my things, I toss them into one of the rooms that isn’t Sawyer’s special suite and seek out my other two brothers to get a plan together.

Later that night, the four of us are sitting in the living room, drinking beers and talking when I decide to pull out the dice I brought with me for our traditional game of Cee-Lo. I drop them on the coffee table in front of us and sit back with a smug grin. We play this every year, and it gets heated when you’ve got four heavy-headed competitive fuckers putting money down like it’s on fire.

“Oooohhhh! You wanna do this, huh?”

“Pull out your cash you little shits, let’s go!” Sawyer yells while rubbing his hands together, moving to the edge of his seat.

I grin ear to ear, ready to get started. Cash is thrown onto the table and we take turns rolling, Sawyer, Carter and I sipping on the whiskey bottle like it’s water, the beer no longer cutting it. A few rounds of rolling happen, and money gets passed back and forth before it’s my turn to be the banker. I pull out a hundred-dollar bill and drop it in the middle.

“Like fuckin’ clockwork. Always the shit-stirrer,” Liam jokes, “alright, boys, let’s do this.”

Everyone matches my hundred, dropping the cash they came prepared with on top of mine.

Shaking the dice in my hand, I drop them on the table, the dice bouncing and spinning before coming to a stop. A four-five-six.

“Motherfucker!” Liam yells as I snatch up the four hundred dollars.

I wake to the blaring god-awful sound of “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley and cover my head with my pillow while I groan. It’s a bullshit hour and I know I have to get my ass moving but I wait until the smell of bacon travels through the air and I’m sure that Liam has food ready. Dragging my ass from the bed, I pull on my sweats and toss a hoodie over my head to go find coffee and sustenance.

“Plates already on the table, dickhead. How you feelin’?” Liam asks.

“Like ass. How are you so chipper?”

“I didn’t drink as much as you did. Didn’t want to puke the entire way down the slopes like you’re gonna do.”

“Well, here’s to hoping this grease soaks up all the poison then, yeah? Or I’ll be sure to blow chunks all over you.”

I search through a bunch of cabinets before finding the mugs and pour some much-needed coffee. After sitting down at the table with my plate of bacon, some sausage links, and scrambled eggs, Sawyer and Carter walk in, grabbing their plates and scarfing down their food in silence, Carter looking similar to how I currently feel. The alcohol is still sloshing around in my stomach and through my veins like sludge.

After breakfast, I pour a second cup of coffee and we go our separate ways, the adrenaline starting to kick in for our day ahead. I get ready, grabbing what I need to, and head outside to find Liam already packing up the car and Sawyer typing away on his phone. I double check that the boards are secured and take a seat in the back of the SUV. Sawyer finally gets off his phone and climbs into the driver’s seat, Liam joining us in the passenger.

“Who’s going to get him?”

The three of us throw our fists toward the center console while yelling, “Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!”

Losing, I say, “Best of three.”

“Fuck you, go get him!” Sawyer yells.

I jump out of the back of the car and jog back up to the house.

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