Page 25 of A Kiss at Midnight

I’m ranting as I pace back and forth in my brother’s living room. I throw back a burning shot of scotch before moving to the window to view the picturesque boats gliding effortlessly across the busy inlet.

“I think it’s funny as hell. You’re the only guy I know who has a woman step into your office, do a striptease, demand you make a deal... and ends up with the most innocent girl in Seattle. Whatever gets your rocks off, I guess,” Tyler says as he lazily leans back on his sofa.

“Shut up! I don’t even know why I accepted this ridiculous deal, but I did, and she’s now in my apartment building and constantly on my mind. Now I have to figure out what in the hell to do.”

“Did you at least have a good time with her?” Tyler asks.

I turn and cross my arms over the back of the chair to face my brother. “The sex was unlike anything I’ve ever known, and though she has one hell of a temper, she intrigues me unlike any other. Her attitude is what I seem to like the most in some twisted way. Of course, if she were a complete doormat, what fun would that be?”

“If it’s just about sex, who cares what she is or isn’t?”

“Yeah, but a virgin? I want nothing to do with that.”

“Well, she isn’t a virgin anymore.”

That makes me stop. I haven’t thought about that, which is crazy. “I guess you’re right. What good would it do to end the deal? It’s not like she didn’t know what she was getting into.Shecame tome, not the other way around. You know, though, she’s not getting a hell of a lot of money out of this. That might mean she’s either naïve to what she could get, or she’s simply in over her head.”

“Maybe she just wants you on her arm like she said,” Tyler says.

I shake my head. “I don’t know what it is,” I admit.

“You always take what you want, so maybe you’re made for each other,” Tyler says with a chuckle.

“Go to hell, Tyler. You and I both know we aren’t ever going to settle down for good, and when we’re with women, we sure as hell want them to know what they’re doing in the sack, because that’s pretty much the only place we waste time with them.”

“So you aren’t happy with her? Send her away.”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t happy with her. I said I don’t want the responsibility of a damn virgin.” I’m getting more frustrated by the second.

“Okay, but it’s too late now, so either suck it up and finish your deal or send her packing, but whichever you choose, please quit acting like a love-struck fool.”

“You’re a freaking pain in the ass!” I thunder.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that about fifty thousand times since I was a child,” Tyler says with another chuckle, but the mirth fades from his expression and he suddenly looks solemn.

I don’t want the conversation to turn. I know where it’s heading, and it terrifies me. Not much strikes me with fear these days, but the topic we’re about to embark on is the one thing that can bring me to my knees.

“Sunday is the day,” Tyler says quietly.

“I know. But we have to think of other things. It’s been twenty-five years, Tyler. Don’t you think we’ve allowed that woman to punish us for long enough?” I ask dryly.

“It’s easier for you to hide it, to push it from your mind, but I also know you’d never have considered something like this if it weren’t the twenty-fifth anniversary of their death.”

“Yes, I know. This is a tough year, but we need to get over it. We’ve suffered long enough, and that sadistic bitch can rot in hell for all of eternity for all I care.”

“I don’t disagree with you, but are we going to do anything to mark the date? The nightmares have come back, and I can’t... I...” Tyler trails off as a shudder passes through him.

“I haven’t had nightmares for years. I’ve been waiting for them to return, but nothing has happened so far. What does Byron want to do?”

“He said he wants to do absolutely nothing, that he doesn’t ever think about them.”

“He’s full of crap. We’ll go to their graves. We’re going to let this go once and for all,” I fiercely tell him.

“How? Yes, you can say that, but years of therapy didn’t come close to erasing it, Blake. We watched our parents get murdered right in front of us,” Tyler says, his voice rising.

“And that happened because our mother was such a selfish bitch that she didn’t care if our father’s death traumatized us, her own freaking children. Her game backfired and we had to pay the price!”

I can’t talk about that time in my life, that long night twenty-five years ago, without overwhelming anger. But I won’t take out my rage on Tyler. We did that to each other for years. It’s over.

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