Page 57 of Part & Parcel

Nick nodded a third time.

“And for tonight, I mean, Ty and Zane are probably having the same problem, what do you want to bet?”

Nick sighed quietly. “I’ll call Ty.”

Kelly merely nodded, just like Nick had. He flopped to his back as Nick reached for the phone. It vibrated in his hand, nearly scaring him into dropping the damn thing. Ty’s photo and name lit up the screen as it vibrated again.

“Hey,” Nick answered with a laugh.

“So,” Ty drew out.

“You want to switch sleep partners?”

Ty gave a relieved laugh. “How’d you know?”

“It’s hard,” Nick drawled, and Kelly started snickering at his side.

Minutes later, a very disgruntled Zane knocked at the door, and Nick let him in. He was about to give Kelly one last chaste kiss good-night, but Kelly stepped back and held up his fist instead. Nick stared at him, brow deeply furrowed in confusion, before he remembered their deal. He pressed his fist to Kelly’s, feeling like an idiot as Zane watched with one eyebrow raised, and then he grudgingly headed for Ty and Zane’s room, right next door.

Ty was sitting on one side of the queen-sized bed with his phone in his hand when Nick walked in.

“Hey,” Ty grunted. He held up his phone. “My Pandora app is going nuts, do you know how to fix it?”

Nick stared at him, a shiver running up his spine. He shook his head. “Not really.”

February 14, 2003

“Hey Red, did you know berries ain’t a fruit?” Eli asked.

Nick glanced up from the poker chip he was rolling over his fingers, scowling. Eli was sitting at the other end of the table reading some sort of Valentine’s Day special pamphlet. “What?”

Eli seemed troubled when he lowered the paper. “This says they’re not a fruit.”

“Berries?” Kelly asked.

Owen plunked four beers on the table and sat to Nick’s left. “Berries have to be a fruit.”

“This says they’re not,” Eli insisted.

“You’re getting fruit facts off a casino bar menu?” Ty asked. He was lounging on the long bench against the wall, resting his feet on the bench beside him and using Digger as a backrest.

“It’s not a menu, it’s a pamphlet.”

Ty made a gesture with his hand, as if asking what the difference was.

“What are they if they ain’t fruit?” Digger asked.

“They’re berries!” Eli told them. He waved the paper around.

Nick shook his head and looked back down at the chip, turning it over. It was a thousand-dollar chip he’d won at the blackjack table.

“But berries are a kind of fruit,” Kelly insisted.

“No, this thing,” Eli said as he handed the paper to Kelly. “It says ‘avocados are not only a fruit, they arealsoa berry.’ That means berries aren’t fruit.”

“No,” Kelly grunted.

“Yes!” Eli shouted. “Look it!”

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