Page 17 of Knocked Up by my Rival

“Thanks for your advice, maestro,” I said sarcastically.

Scott shrugged. “Hey, just telling it how it is. I can teach you my ways.”

I snorted. “Because you’re the poster child for a happily ever after, right?”

Scott laughed and poured me a glass of whiskey, bypassing the coffee altogether. He knew me.

“Hey, I’m happy. I’d rather be single and happy than in a miserable relationship. Sadie wasnotgood for me, and I don’t have time for bullshit.”

My brother had dated a girl for a couple of years, and he’d slowly become more and more subdued, giving up everything about himself because she’d wanted him to change rather than loving him for who he was. She’d had kids, and it was almost as if she’d tried to mother him into being who she wanted him to be, too. I didn’t blame him for being single.

“I get it,” I said and sighed. I sipped the whiskey. “This is good shit.”

“If you’re going to drink in the day, might as well make it count,” Scott said.

“I make enough money to do whatever the fuck I want,” I pointed out at the quip about my day-drinking.

“Yeah, yeah,” Scott said with a laugh. “So, you’re going to fuck her again?”

“I can’t."

“Why not? It might give you an edge in the project.”

“That’s just playing dirty.”

“Since when are you so straight-and-narrow?” Scott said and cocked an eyebrow.

He was right. It was a dog-eat-dog world out there and playing nice wasn’t what had gotten me to where I was today. Some rules could be broken, and some couldn’t. I kept my nose clean, playing by the book when it came to laws and ethics, but morality was a malleable thing, and one man’s morality was another man’s way to beat the system.

Did I feel like shit about cheating people sometimes? Well, yeah. But life had fucked me over enough times that I’d realized it only chewed up the good ones and spat them out again. There was no reward for being the good guy; we just got hurt more because we tried to do the right thing.

It was an unhealthy way to approach life, but I’d learned to accept my flaws. I was nice to myself that way.

Only Scott had what it took to still be the golden guy, even though he’d been through the same shit I had.

“What do you think Jake would have said?” I asked softly.

Scott stilled before he grabbed the bottle of whiskey and poured himself a glass, too.

“Fuck, did you have to bring him up?” he asked.

Talking about Jake was hard, but I missed him so much. Sometimes, I wanted to know what he would have thought; I wanted to know what he would have said. We’d just been kids when we’d lost him. I didn’t know who he would have been if he’d ever had the chance to grow up; I didn’t know if he would have been like me or like Scott or the perfect mixture in between. I wished we could have found out.

“I don’t know,” Scott said, answering my question. “I think he would have told you to get over yourself.”

I chuckled. “I don’t think that’s what he would have said. I think that’s whatyou’resaying.”

“Then it’s settled,” Scott said. “You should listen to me.”

I burst out laughing. “Thanks for that.”

“And get laid,” Scott added.

“What?”

“Find someone else to fuck so you can get this woman out of your system because you work with her. It might keep your mind on business.”

“Good idea,” I agreed. “I have to go.”

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