Page 58 of Take Me Slowly: part 2
"I could be convinced," Brooks said.
"If those masks are going to turn you into homicidal maniacs…” I started.
"We should wear them more often?" Riley suggested.
"That wasn't where I was going with that." I shrugged into my jacket and grabbed up my bag and phone.
"Of course it was." Brooks placed his hands on my shoulders and ran the pad of his thumbs over the back of my neck. "What girl doesn't want four masked, homicidal maniac boyfriends? I've seen you read plenty of books like that before."
"There's a difference between book boyfriends and real boyfriends," I pointed out.
"Yeah, real boyfriends are real," Riley said. He took my hand and pulled me towards the door and out onto the street. "Real boyfriends look after you when you need them to. And real boyfriends stand up for you when their fathers decide to be dickheads."
"Exactly," Connor agreed. He took my other hand and we walked side by side in a line, all the way to the pub. We stepped through the door together, Brooks and Josiah shuffling so we'd all fit.
The place was warm and packed, smelling of wood smoke and bourbon. Everyone in the place was wearing a costume, some with masks, many without.
I half expected silence to fall when we appeared, but all we got were a few glances and greetings before everyone went back to chatting and drinking.
"See, no one cares," Riley said. "Except them." He nodded to where Jacob and Henry stood beside the bar. They didn't seem to have noticed our arrival. Not until Connor marched up and tapped his father on the shoulder. He pushed his mask up to the top of his face, so his anger was visible.
"Ah, you made it." Jacob's smile didn't meet his eyes. They narrowed when he looked at me, then took in each of the guys one after the other.
"Where else would we be?" Connor asked. "This is the party of the year. Of course we'd bring our girlfriend here." His voice was laced with barely controlled fury.
"Our…" Jacob sighed as though he was frustrated at dealing with a child. "Connor, I know you think?—"
"You have no idea what I think," Connor snapped. "This is how it is, whether you like it or not. What exactly is your problem anyway?"
Jacob's face turned red. "Don't take that tone with me. I just want what's best for my boy."
"I'm not a boy anymore," Connor said. He opened his mouth to say something else, but shook his head. "You know what, I'm not having this conversation. This is my life and this is how I'm living it. With Leah, Riley, Brooks and, yes, with Josiah. Whether you like it or not."
"I should have insisted you take over this place," Jacob said. "It's past time you stopped playing around. Grow up and do a real man's job."
All of us were silent while those words sunk in. None of us quite believing what we were hearing. All of us tense we waited for Connor's response.
"Running my own business is a real man's job," Connor said coldly. "This place is your dream, not mine."
"Life is more than dreams," Jacob said. "You need to wake up to reality. Do you really think you can have a relationship with a woman who's involved with three other boys?"
"No," Connor said. He lifted his chin and stared his father down. Completely unflinching. Unbending.
My heart skipped a beat. For a moment I was confused, then Connor spoke again.
"I can have a relationship with a woman who is involved with three othermen. Look at us, Dad. Do any of us look like a boy?" Dressed all in black, even with a mask on top of his head, there was nothing boyish about Connor Ferguson.
Thankfully he'd chosen that costume and not something frivolous, like Mickey Mouse. That would have made this whole argument a lot less convincing.
"You should both calm down," Henry said, stepping between them. "Connor, you know this isn't good for your father's heart." He raised his hands to either side, trying to placate both men.
He looked like an older version of Riley. Of all the guys, he was the one most likely to laugh and crack jokes to break the tension, rather than swinging punches. I suspected those would be a last resort, but by no means off the table.
Honestly, I wasn't sure he was completely joking about the snow bank thing. Only as a last resort though. Hopefully, it was no resort at all, not really. I didn't want to be an accessory to murder.
Connor grunted. "He should have thought of that before he picked this fight. But you know what, I'm ending it. This isn't about Leah, it's about me taking over the Frosty Brew. Correction, menottaking it over. I'm going to live my life, not his." He started to turn away.
"Maybe I should leave the place to your sister," Jacob said.
