Page 8 of The Winslow Brothers

Flynn just shakes his head, taking a sip from his Mountain Dew.

Remy continues to stare at me.

And I stare at the phone.

Okay. Just call her. Just call Char and let her know about the, uh, mishap. Yeah, the boxer mishap…

On a deep breath, I man the fuck up, grab Rem’s phone, and pull up Char’s number. One tap to the screen and it starts to ring.

Be sleeping. Be sleeping. Be sleeping…

“Hello?”

Son of a bitch.

“Hey, Char,” I greet. “It’s Jude.”

“Jude?” she questions, confusion apparent in her tone, followed almost immediately by panic. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine, but—”

“Oh my God! Do not tell me you guys are in jail or something,” she demands, and her voice rises in pitch. “I swear on everything, I will be so pissed if you got my fiancé arrested!”

Okay. Okay. I can work with this. She thinks he might be arrested, and I have great news that he’s not. This is good…

“Char, no one has been arrested,” I say, and a huge breath of relief is exhaled into the receiver.

“No one has been arrested?” she repeats just to be sure. “You swear to me?”

“I swear,” I answer honestly. “Everyone is perfectly fine. Currently sitting inside Taco Bell enjoying a little fourth meal.”

“You guys are spending Rem’s bachelor party at Taco Bell?” she asks on a shocked laugh.

“It’s just a quick pit stop,” I answer, even though, after this, I haven’t a fucking clue what we’re going to do. I’d estimated a good four hours to spend at the strip club.

You know, like any normal bachelor would want.

I should have known, though. My big brother isn’t normal.

“Oh, okay… Jude, hold on real quick, okay?”

“Sure thing.”

The muffled sounds of voices echo inside the receiver, and if I had to guess, even though Remy said her presentation itself was over, Charlotte is still in the middle of something work-related. I wince.That is not going to make what I have to say go over any better.No one wants to get stressful news in the middle of work shit.

“Sorry about that,” she says a moment or two later. “So, were you just calling to check in with me or…?”

“Mostly,” I answer, but Rem narrows his eyes. I don’t think he can hear his fiancée’s end of the conversation through thephone, but his message is clear.Tell her the fucking news or die.“And, well, I just wanted to let you know there was a little mishap with Rem’s underwear…”

“Huh?” she questions, understandably bewildered.

“See, the thing is, it’s actually a pretty funny story…” I pause, searching for the right words, of which, in this case, of course, there are none. So, instead of beating around the bush, I just get right to the point. All in the name of Remy lightening the fuck up and enjoying the rest of his big bachelor party night.

“A funny story?” Char questions. “What are you talking about, Jude?”

After a final deep breath, I stare down the barrel of the gun and let my response come out in a rush. “So, we were at a strip club, and, well, the strippers, they got a little crazy and did this whole dance thing, and one might have, kind of, sort of, torn Rem’s boxers with her shoe, and so, yeah, his underwear are kind of destroyed, but he’s good. No injuries at all. Not even a scratch.”

Quick and to the point. Perfect.

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