Page 29 of Smoke After Hours

Sleigh nodded, focusing more on me than Cross. But I knew my brother. He’d probably already talked to him before I made it back to New York.

“I want you to know that I don’t hold any resentment to her at all. It’s just, I realized that life is short, and I didn’t want to wait for it to pass me by without trying to find my brothers.”

I observed him once more, from his gold cufflinks to the name brand loafers on his feet. “You’ve obviously lived a good life.”

Frowning, he shook his head. “Don’t let this fit fool you. My life wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t easy either. I just landed a new job and I have to look the part, so I splurged a bit. My wife will probably kill me, but I plan on paying off the credit card before she realizes it.”

Cross laughed. “My wife has alerts set up on all that shit. She probably would have caught my ass before I even finished the purchase. I would probably have to lie and say it was something for the kids.”

Sleigh laughed. “That’s not a bad idea.”

“How many kids do you have?” I asked him.

“Three,” he answered. “I had a good role model growing up, so I work hard every day to be a good father.”

Cross and I shared a look as our thoughts shifted to our own dad. “We didn’t have that,” I answered. “Cross may have sharedthat already, but our dad … well, I guess your dad, too, wasn’t worth shit. We haven’t even seen him in years.”

“That’s like my adoptive mother,” Sleigh answered. “She dipped out on my pops and me when I became a teenager.”

“Damn, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Same,” he stated, shuffling from one foot to the other. “Look, I’m not saying either of you have to welcome me into your life, but now that I’ve found you, I’d love to build a relationship if you’re open. Possibly meet your mom down the line?”

“Our mom,” I corrected, surprised at how easy it was for me to accept him. I was typically a good judge of character, and he had a good vibe. “I’m sure Cross already told you he’s open, which is why we’re all here. I’d be down for hanging out again, too. Maybe not in a parking lot this time.”

He laughed, the tension between us easing a bit. “No parking lots. Got it.”

“And one other thing,” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest when something came to me. “How did you find us?”

He grinned sheepishly. “See, I hired my guy’s whack ass PI team because he decided to pursue being a private investigator. All my dad knew was that I was named Bob Sleigh and that the mother had been fourteen and figured that adoption gave me the best chance at a good life. I guess my friend’s PI team did do a decent job in finding out who you all were. Knowing your names is how I found LaCross. Plus, having unique sports names kinda stood out.”

“Mom loves the Olympics,” I told him, laughing when he expressed that Cross had told him the same thing. “And she gave our deadbeat dad way too many chances and he managed to knock her up twice more.”

Sleigh nodded. “Yeah, I thought I was reading something wrong when I discovered I had two brothers with the same father and mother as I had. At first, I admit I was angry ashell. How could they give me up, but keep you both? My wife convinced me to keep an open mind, and once I met Cross and we got to talking, I understood everything a lot more.”

“Well, you’re right about your friend’s team, too. I was out of town for work and all these random ass folks started following me and the group I was with.”

Sleigh pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, about that. I did get sent some random photos of you and a lot of other people at different airports. More of you with a woman you seemed close to than anyone else. Turns out, he outsourced his team. Just a bunch of creepsters willing to follow people around to make some extra cash.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at his words, thinking about how many times I had spoken with Jackie D wanting to make sure that Bentley wasn’t being targeted. The fact that it was me who they had been interested in was laughable. The only reason I hadn’t even mentioned the stalking to my brother was because I assumed it had to do with Bentley and no one knew the main reason we got thrown together.

We had to get to the 420 bash, so I couldn’t talk to Sleigh as long as I wanted to. We made arrangements to meet up at a bar later that night for drinks, only this time, we would bring our partners along.

Cross told me that him and Luxe had already met Sleigh’s wife, Chelsea. Yet, I didn’t mind Bentley coming with me even though I hadn’t built a connection with Sleigh and Chelsea like my brother had. To know me was to know Bentley. She was my future, and it took my newfound brother less than five minutes to start teasing me about how much I stared at her, watched her … followed her every move. Old habits died hard, and even after my job as her guard ended, I’d never stop being her protector and best friend.

Since the 420 bash at Heavenly Hash was mostly work and the bar we went to afterwards closed for a private event, we decided to end the day with an after party at Pot Palace.

Cross and Luxe had been to our co-op before, but Sleigh and Chelsea were impressed by the concept. Many of the residents at Pot Palace were already high as hell by the time we got there and since I was in a good mood, I started a hazy dice game in the middle of the living room.

Blunts were passed and drinks were plentiful as we played street craps. Of course we waged money, Sleigh and others learning just how I got the nickname, Ballerina.

“Y’all might as well buy yourselves a muthafuckin’ tutu,” I smack talked. “Because I can roll double twos in my sleep and I need a couple chumps for my ballet.”

I took my brothers for all their money, then watched them try and hustle my roommates who arrived late to the party to try and not go home empty handed.

Nothing was better than seeing my family all together and happily high. It was a perfect way to end 420.

Playing dice.

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