Page 3 of Slash & Burn

“Yes, that’s exactly what my fear is,” I snapped, grabbing my things and spinning away.

He reached for my arm, a laugh rumbling out of him. “Wait, wait. I was just kidding.”

I turned back to tell him off, but my words died in my throat as our old high school science teacher, Max Downey, walked around the corner and came right for us.

“Joey, hey. I saw your mom the other day and she told me LeAnn is expecting?” The old man stretched out his hand, and Joey took it, giving him a warm smile.

“Thank you, sir. She is. Due this fall.”

I turned toward the street, holding my coffee in front of me, like I wasn’t even there. My brother tended to draw attention and I could never shrink away from it fast enough. If we weren’t in the middle of a conversation, I’d have just slipped around the corner and caught up with him later.

“That’s great. The Jordan clan grows. I bet your dad is just proud as hell.”

“He is. He’s excited. We all are.”

“Cash didn’t want to be the first, eh? Decided to let his little brother take the lead on that one?”

Max meant well, but my oldest brother’s refusal to conform to normal society was a sore subject for my family, and Joey in particular. I’d never gotten either of them to admit it outright, but I was fairly certain Cash had been arrested more than once by my brother’s colleagues. They could not have been more different. And the image of him as a father was almost laughable.

“I’m sure my brother doesn’t want anything to do with kids, Max. You had him in school, you know.”

I looked back to see Max shrug good naturedly, a glint in his eye like he knew something we didn’t. “I don’t know. I think he might surprise us all one of these days.”

“Well, if he’s going to surpriseus, let’s just hope it’s not a surprise tohimtoo.”

I slanted a look at my brother. The suggestion Cash would be that reckless was a bit much, even for him. He caught my glare, his jaw muscles working as he fought to keep his mask in place for Max’s sake.

Max laughed, as if what Joey had said wasn’t at all offensive. “No, no. I’m sure he’d do better than that. Your mother would kill him and bury him in the backyard if he made that big of a mistake, I think.”

Now Joey smiled for real and I curled tighter around my coffee. If only I could dip out without drawing attention to myself.

“Alright, Max, it was great seeing you. I’ve got to get to the station,” my brother said, using his innate charm to get out of the conversation.

“Of course, of course. Tell LeAnn I said hi.”

“Will do,” Joey called as Max tugged open the door to the café and disappeared inside. When he was gone and I finally let out a breath, Joey took a couple of steps toward the center of town. “Walk with me?”

I looked behind us at his cruiser sitting in a parking spot two feet away.

“You just said you had to go?”

He nodded. “I know. Walk with me first.”

It felt like he was about to have some sort of heart to heart and I braced for the guilt trip. Joey was as good at those as our mother.

“I don’t need you to walk me to work,” I protested, my eyes landing on the massive brick library two blocks away.

It wasn’t a pretty building—too modern and out of place among the rest of the historic downtown. But it used to feel like a fun place to play among books, and people who loved them as much as me.

Unlike some of the others, I wasn’t there for the events we did or the social support we offered, though both of those were needed and amazing. I just liked books. Reading them. Sharing them. Spreading the word about new authors and helping folks appreciate the classics. Our romance section was woefully small, considering it was my favorite genre. But I’d managed to get a few more shelves added since I’d joined.

Thinking about having to start that journey all over again at a new library was enough to make me want to rip open the bag in my hand and eat my Muddy pie right there on the street.

“I get that you don’t like public speaking.”

I stopped short, glaring at him so long he finally relented.

“Okay, fine, you hate it. And I get that?—”

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