Page 18 of A Little Twist

“Alex closed the distillery, so they’re hanging there. It’s pretty low-key.”

“I guess we’re not really party animals.”

“It’s kind of hard to be a party animal in Eureka, South Carolina.” Piper sighs, and a fresh wave of panic twists in my chest.

“Am I letting you down? Should I have booked a trip to New Orleans?” My temple throbs, but Britt grabs my hand, hopping onto her knees.

“You have done so much for me! I’m so happy to be right here in this loft for the first time in months with my best friends and my dog watching silly movies and wearing penises and drinking watermelon margaritas!” She squeezes me harder, reaching out to grab Piper’s shoulder and pull her close. “I couldn’t be happier if I lived in Las Vegas and we were all out on the strip sweating our asses off!”

“We can sweat our asses off right here!” Piper cries, and tears heat my eyes as I start to laugh.

“Promise?” I wipe my nose with the back of my hand.

“We might not get to do this again for a while.” Britt hugs me one more time before flopping onto her butt and propping her feet on the narrow coffee table. “Now sit down here, and let’s watch this movie before we fall asleep all over each other in that bed.”

“I call the couch!” Piper yells.

I push her with my foot. “You always do.”

“If I learned anything from my mom, it’s to be prepared.”

That makes us all laugh, since Piper’s mom, Martha, is a doomsday prepper. I settle down between my two besties with Edward breathing his doggy breath over all of us sipping my watermelon margarita and feeling pretty content.

I might not have a job. I might not have any money or prospects, and my aunt might drive me crazy. But these two ladies always have my back.

CHAPTER5

ALEX

“To the man who gave up on faith, love, and all the rest of it.” I hold up my tumbler of single-barrel, and our youngest brother, Adam, laughs.

“Dude, you did not go there.”

“It’s okay, I can take it.” Aiden clinks his tumbler against both of ours. “It’s true. I’d given up on pretty much everything after Annemarie. It’s no secret.”

I closed the bar in Stone Cold early, quite the feat for a Friday night, not that Eureka has a burgeoning nightlife. Just the opposite, in fact. Now the three of us are here giving our big brother a low-key bachelor send-off that suits him as sheriff, oldest, and a father.

It’s the three of us giving each other shit, occasionally sharing what’s on our minds, being together. After losing Pop then Dad a year later then five years later getting hit again, first by Adam’s best friend Rex then Aiden’s first wife Annemarie, we’ve developed the habit of coming to each other when life overwhelms us.

Adam and Aiden possibly more than me.

“Britt was always something special.” Adam smiles, and mischief is in his eyes. “Hell, I thought about asking her out a few times myself.”

Our youngest brother’s announcement has the desired effect. Aiden’s nostrils flare, and his chest puffs larger.

“Those days are over.” A little growl is in his voice.

Adam holds up both hands, winking at me. “Pump the brakes, big guy. I’m just yanking your chain.”

“Little shit,” I chuckle, pouring Adam a finger of bourbon. “You can’t resist.”

“It’s too easy.” Adam lifts his tumbler. “All jokes aside, it’s been inspiring to watch Britt Bailey melt your cold, cold heart. I thought you were a lost cause.”

“Just because I wasn’t interested in all your self-help nonsense?”

“There’s a lot to be said for forgiveness and not holding grudges. That’s how you get cancer.”

Aiden turned dark after his wife was hit by a car walking home one evening. Then he found out she’d been having an affair right up to her death, and he went even darker.

---