Page 24 of Cajuns. Love. Curves.

“What latest?” I ask. “The latest about how I’ve driven back into town and stopped at Fuel for Thought so that all the locals could talk about my electric car? Or some different latest?”

“The latest about Trevor.”

Oh. That latest. I wish I had seen it before I left Austin. It would’ve saved me the trip all the way up here. Not to say I wouldn’t have driven up just to see Remy, because I probably would’ve. Unless I could’ve convinced him to come to Austin…

But if wishes were horses and all that.

“Actually, no. I didn’t see the latest about Trevor in the Saddle Peek. He called and told me. But, not until today, when I was already halfway here. The bastard.” I add that last under my breath like a curse.

Nick comes back from the bar with the second round just in time to hear me say the word bastard.

It’s a couple of beers on the table in front of him and Remy, and a glass of wine that I didn’t ask for in front of me.

“Who’s a bastard?” he asks, sliding into his chair across from me. “We talking about Sir Reginald Douche Canoe, Esquire?”

Sir Reginald Douche Canoe, Esquire, is what my brothers and Nick have taken to calling Tripp since the breakup.

I don’t know for sure, but I think Nick came up with it.

“Don’t call him that.” I shoot a glare at Nick.

“I wouldn’t have to call him that if he wouldn’t act like a douche canoe.”

Like the mature adult he is, my brother holds out his bottle in Nick’s direction, and Nick clinks his against it like they’re toasting his clever wordplay.

“But, no. We weren’t talking about Tripp.”

“The bastard in question is Trevor Heisman. He was Cassie’s best friend in high school and he was supposed to go on this vacation to Belize with her.”

“Wait. Who? What vacation?”

Nick’s tone instantly shifts from that jovial, teasing voice he’s used ever since I walked in the bar to something lower and more serious.

“Yes, he was my best friend in high school. And now he has the mumps.”

Nick looks at me through slightly narrowed eyes. “And we care about this guy because?”

For some reason, this makes Remy chuckle. Smirking, he says, “We care about this because he was supposed to go with Cassie on her trip to Belize next week.”

“Excuse me? He was going to go with you to Belize?”

Remy laughs. “Don’t worry, he’s gay.”

I shoot Remy a confused look. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Remy smirks and makes an expansive gesture with his hand. “Just trying to share the information. Wanna make sure we have a complete picture of the scenario here.” He shifts to look at Nick. “Cassie had this vacation she has to take for work. Trevor was going to go with her, to save her from the humiliation of being the only single person there.”

“It’s not a vacation I have to take,” I try to explain. “The vacation is a reward for winning that big intellectual property lawsuit we were working on for the last year. The company wanted to celebrate, and it’s sending everyone who worked on the case to this resort in Belize.”

“Why didn’t I hear about this?” Nick leans forward, propping his elbows on the table and cupping both hands around his beer.

He didn’t hear about it, because I was trying to save myself from the humiliation of having to admit that I was having to beg people to go with me.

Yes, Nick is a nice guy, and, yes, he’s a good friend. In that goofball younger brother way.

Not that he is younger than me.

Shit. And given how serious he’s looking right now, maybe he’s not much of a goofball either. Maybe his happy-go-lucky side is something he only brings out in email and DM.

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