15. Scottish Royalty

CHAPTER15

Scottish Royalty

Sabre

Sabre did not get a good feeling when he walked out of his last class and standing across the way was Myrna.

Especially after his dad sat him down and shared that Myrna wasn’t taking the breakup real great, she was doing some weird shit, and Sabre had to be on the lookout because of it.

Dad didn’t dog her, but Sabre could tell he was tweaked about it.

And now, seeing her standing there, Sabre was too.

Then again, after she was gone from his dad’s, but before his dad chatted with him, he’d texted her to say he was sorry it didn’t work out and maybe they could grab coffee sometime.

He did this because he dug her. She was a cool chick. When Dad wasn’t around, she smoked pot by the pool, and she mountain biked, and she had that old truck because, “we discard things we shouldn’t and we’ll pay for it soon, Sabre, seriously.” This meant she gave a shit about important stuff, like the environment.

So yeah.

She was cool.

A decent person.

Sabre would never say his dad played her dirty.

But to Sabre’s way of thinking, as hard as it was to admit this to himself, Dad hadn’t done Myrna right because he never should have let her move in.

This was because it wasn’t lost on anyone Remy didn’t really even let her move in. None of her stuff was anywhere, except her truck in the garage and her coconut milk in the fridge. But nothing personal. Nothing that meant anything.

Seriously, it felt like she was just staying over but for a really long time.

More importantly because his dad and mom were always going to get back together.

Sabre didn’t know what blip they were having, but from the very beginning, even though it lasted too long, he didn’t freak about it like Manon and Yves did, because he knew it was a blip.

So, from the beginning, he knew Myrna was temporary.

And his dad treated her like that.

He wasn’t mean or anything.

But he was never (not even close) with Myrna like he was with their mom.

Jesus, he was more into their mom when they were broken up than he ever was with Myrna.

Myrna wasn’t sixteen. She was an older woman. Maybe she knew the score.

But Sah figured women might not ever get over that kind of shit, seeing things as they wanted to see them, instead of how they really were.

Sabre was only twenty-two and he’d already had that kind of crap up in his face more than once.

So yeah.

He wasn’t feeling her being in Tucson, on campus, waiting for him outside his class because she had never come down to visit him at school, not alone, also not with Remy when he came down.

He went to U of A so that didn’t take any super sleuthing.

But to be outside his class?

What? Did she somehow scam on where he lived and follow him or something?

So, was she standing out there for an hour waiting to ambush him?

Okay, yeah.

Dad was right.

Sah hadn’t even said hey to her, and he knew his dad had downplayed it.

She wasn’t doing weird shit.

She was doing super weird shit.

She bopped forward in a way that he’d never seen her move, all fake casual and girlie.

“Hey, Sah!” she cried.

He moved toward her, and when he got close, he said, “Hey. What are you doing here?”

“Wondered if we could go grab a beer or something?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Sorry. No. Yeah, I mean, when I’m back home, maybe we could do something to keep in touch.” Never gonna happen, not now. “But I’ve got something I gotta do.”

She looked weird, panicked or some shit, when she pushed, “Okay. But do you have, like, ten minutes, like, right now? It’s important we talk.”

“About what?” he asked uncertainly.

She got another weird look, it seemed fake serious when she said, “Your dad.”

Here we go.

Fuck.

“What about Dad?”

She glanced side to side, reached in, grabbed his hand and started walking him toward a door.

Because he didn’t want to seem like a dick by pulling away, especially from some chick who’d just been dumped, he let her hold his hand for a few strides. Then he broke free to open the door and they walked outside.

He led her to an area in the quad where there weren’t a lot of people and turned to her.

“Okay, what’s happening?” he prompted.

She glanced around and requested, “Can we go somewhere and sit down?”

Occasionally, when his dad was working late or out of town on a job, Sabre had been alone with her, but only because they lived in the same house. They’d never intentionally spent time together and had not once been out somewhere together.

This was hella bizarre and it was giving him the creeps.

“Right, Myrna, I don’t want to seem like an asshole, and I know you and my dad’s breakup is new, but this is freaking me out.”

She jumped toward him again and he braced. He also didn’t feel a lot better when she grabbed onto his biceps and squeezed.

He didn’t think she’d ever touched him.

Now, with the hand holding, she’d done it twice.

“I know this is weird. And I’m sorry it’s weird,” she said earnestly. But he sensed that was fake too. All of it. Including her being sorry. “And I’m sorry it’s going to get worse, but I don’t know where to take this.”

“Take what?”

“I’m pregnant and your dad kicked me out because I want the baby, and he wants me to get an abortion.”

Sabre didn’t move.

“I mean, that’s not okay,” she said. “We made this baby together. And it wasn’t like he didn’t know I wanted to start a family. I told him. Then I fall pregnant and he’s acting like he didn’t know that, and he’s pissed and shouting at me, and Sah, I wanted to work on us. But even if he was intent on being an asshole, he could give me a chance to get my shit together. I mean, I don’t just have myself to consider. I have our baby now too. In the end, he threw my stuff in the backyard and told me to come get it or he was going to have Goodwill come and take it away.”

His voice was strange when he asked, “Dad threw your stuff in the backyard?”

“Yeah, it was all over. It took me hours to collect it. And some of it was drenched because he threw it in the pool.”

“And you’re pregnant.”

She ran her hands down his arms to catch both of his and smiled huge at him.

“Yes. I’m carrying your little baby brother or sister.”

“And Dad wants you to get rid of it?”

She frowned and nodded.

“And you drove all the way down to Tucson to ambush me after my last class and tell me my father is a colossal dick because…why?” he asked.

Her head jerked.

Sabre pulled his hands from hers and took a step away. “My dad might not want another baby, but he wouldn’t get pissed you wouldn’t get rid of it and kick you out. And he would never throw your shit in the backyard.”

She took a step toward him, but he just backed up again, so she stopped.

“Sah, I know you love your dad, but he did do that.”

“And you’re here telling me this because you think I can do something about it?”

“Whether your father likes it or not, I’m part of your family now.”

“That’s why you’re right here, right now, to tell me that and not because you’re pissed Dad broke up with you and you’re doing crazy shit to get back at him.”

Her mouth shut and her face got hard.

Christ.

She was doing seriously crazy-ass shit to get back at his dad.

“Are you even pregnant?” he asked.

“Yes,” she snapped, too fast.

“You’re not, are you?”

She jerked up her chin. “Yes, I am.”

“Is it Dad’s?”

Something eerie as fuck moved over her face, and she hissed, “I cannot even believe you asked me that.”

“Myrna, are you pregnant?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t fucking lie to me,” he bit. “You’ve cornered me, talking trash about my dad, and it isn’t like this shit doesn’t pan out one way or the other. You’re either pregnant, or not. And if you are, it’s either Dad’s, or it isn’t, and it’s easy to find out of it isn’t. In a few months, your jig will be up. So just tell me, are you dicking with me?”

“He threw my stuff in the backyard, Sabre.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“It was boxed, but he put it out there and—”

There it was.

It was boxed.

She didn’t get out when Dad told her, so he put her out.

That’s a really different thing.

He shook his head, took another step away and said, “Listen, I am not in your shit with my father. This not only has fuck all to do with me, it’s seriously gross. You got an issue with him, take it to him. But if you guys are done, you’re just done. Get over it. Move on. Don’t go all stalker, for fuck’s sake.”

“Your father doesn’t like you to speak that way in front of women,” she sniffed.

“Bet he’d like it less some crazy chick shows at his son’s school and lays a bunch of sick lies on him,” he returned.

She changed again, her face twisting, and she shared, “He used me.”

“I’m done with this conversation. Goodbye, Myrna. Hope you get your shit together.”

He moved away, but she dogged him, walking at his side. “I barely left, and he’s getting back together with your mother. She was over at his house last night.”

Sabre stopped dead and turned to her. “How do you know that?”

“That was my house, like, a week ago,” she said, rather than tell him her crazy ass was staking out his father’s place.

“It was never your house, Myrna. You always just lived there,” he pointed out.

She looked like she’d been slapped.

But for fuck’s sake, get with the program.

“Dad has a friend who’s a cop,” he warned her. “And I’m sure as shit telling Dad you’re pulling this crap. I’m also telling his friend.”

“He shouldn’t have used me as his fucktoy.”

“I don’t remember him drugging you or locking you in the house,” Sabre shot back. “Christ, get away from me and stay away from my dad.”

Thankfully, she took a step from him, returning, “You’re just like him.”

“Yeah, I am. And thanks for the lesson. Because now, if I ever walk away from a woman I care about, and I hook up with some rebound piece who seems immune to understanding the situation even though it’s all fucking around her, I need to cut her loose before she whacks out.”

Something edged into her eyes that looked like sanity returning, but even so, she mumbled weakly, “He knew I loved him, and he used me anyway.”

“You know what? If this is the shit you’ve been laying on him, if it was me, your stuff would be in the fucking pool.”

She flinched—he was too pissed to care, which pissed him off even more, because he’d just learned he didn’t like being a dick to girls since, until that moment, he’d avoided it—before she said in a super-hurt voice, “Fuck you, Sabre.”

“Thanks, no,” he replied.

She shot him a new look. One he didn’t get, and he didn’t try.

She then turned and walked away.

Sabre took a second to get his shit together before he jogged the eight blocks to his apartment.

He packed some stuff and had just enough time to hork back some trail mix and refill his water bottle before he had to throw his bag in his truck and drive to Manon’s house to get her when she told him she’d be ready.

But when he went up and knocked on the door, he waited outside too long.

And when she answered, because Manon was his mom in all but looks and age, she said, “I’m running late. Hang tight. I’ll be ready in a jiffy.”

He walked in and was glad her roommates weren’t there because he’d fucked one of them, and he wanted to fuck the other, and that was a hassle he didn’t need right now.

It was also another lesson.

It seemed the signs were telling him he needed to quit playing and get his head out of his ass because he could end up with some Fatal Attraction bitch like Myrna if he didn’t.

Shit.

He hoped this whole drama his mom and dad had going on that was just them telling their kids what their kids already knew—they were finally going to sort themselves out—didn’t mean his mom was going to spend the night at his dad’s house.

Yeah, sure, he wanted Mom back with Dad in all ways that could be for them both.

But Sah needed time alone with Remy so he could break it to him that Myrna had about fifteen screws loose.

He wasn’t in the frame of mind for Manon’s being-late bullshit, and he got pissed at Myrna again because she’d put him off his game.

Normally, if she chose the time, he’d show at least ten minutes late to pick her up, or if he was choosing it, he’d tell her fifteen minutes earlier.

This was something in high school Sah caught his dad doing when he was on the phone with Noel sorting something out with his mom.

“What’s with the game playing? Why isn’t she just ready on time?” Sah asked Remy when he got off the phone with Noel. “It’s rude to be late. Mom’s not rude in, like…anything. It’s weird she’s always late.”

“Mark this, son,” his dad had started his reply in a voice that Sabre always took notice of and paid extra attention to. “You’ll find a woman and there will be things about her that don’t mean anything. You’ll think they do, but they don’t. Don’t blow them up and make them mean anything. Do not…ever…let her walk all over you. Much more importantly, do not…ever…walk all over her. But when something doesn’t really mean anything, find a way to deal with it, and then let it go.”

Having that memory, he should have realized shit was weird with his parents, because it seemed all of a sudden his dad started to get ticked about his mom being late.

Also having that memory, like he’d ever in a million years believe Remy would tell Myrna to have an abortion, and when she didn’t, he threw her crap in the pool.

Jesus.

It might have been clear to just about anybody (except, obviously, Myrna) his dad and Myrna were not a love match and there wasn’t a future for them. But his father had always been nice to her. Affectionate. Attentive. Only when she’d get weird about Manon would Remy cool off.

He just wasn’t that guy.

Manon came out and the first thing he did was ask, “Got your phone charger?”

“Crap!” she cried then ran back to her room.

Not like there weren’t a million of them at his mom’s and dad’s houses, but the way Manon used her phone, she’d probably run out of juice in his truck. And since Manon kept stealing his chargers, he didn’t keep one in his truck anymore, so she’d be S.O.L.

He took her water bottle himself and filled it because she’d forget that too, and then they’d be stopping to grab her some water, which would be annoying.

When they left, he took her bag and threw it in his truck himself.

And when they were both in, she teased, “You are so Dad.”

He knew she meant that he carried her bag.

“And?” he asked.

“Chivalry isn’t dead,” was all she said.

He didn’t reply.

They were on the road awhile before he realized he wasn’t hiding how creeped out he was because she asked, “You okay?”

“Fine.”

“You have a weird vibe.”

“I’m fine.”

“Is it about Mom and Dad getting back together?”

“I’m beside myself with glee they’re getting back together,” he tried to joke. “So, again, I’m fine.”

“Whatever, weirdo.”

Her saying that meant she wasn’t buying his shit, but she was giving him space, which was good because he wasn’t dragging her into this mess, and he needed his space right about now.

When they got to their dad’s, Manon was all over Remy, and Sah went to give his mom a hug.

But after the greetings, there was more weirdness, because Mom and Dad were cooking together in Dad’s kitchen like they’d done it a million times before.

They had.

Just not in Dad’s kitchen.

Mom was pickling the onions and making the lime crema. Dad was flavoring the filets with taco seasoning.

Dad seemed tight.

Mom was being too loose.

All right.

This was not about them getting together, because first, it looked like they just were, and second, they would not be acting funny if that was it.

This was about something else.

Had Myrna pulled some shit with them too?

He’d barely gotten himself a beer before he figured all this out and he didn’t delay any further in finding out what was up.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Yves will be here soon. We’ll talk then,” Wyn said.

“You guys are being weird,” he accused.

“They’re not being weird,” Manon put in. “They’re being like they always used to be, just doing it at Dad’s. You’re the one who’s being weird.”

“For the last time, I’m not being weird,” Sabre clipped.

Which, of course, bought him his dad’s attention.

Remy didn’t tell him off for talking in a mean tone to his sister, something his father did not tolerate (truth, though, was their dad didn’t like that anytime, even when Yves and Sah were having words, but definitely Manon was a no go).

Remy just studied him.

Too closely.

“Just tell me,” he said right to his dad. “Are you both okay?”

“We are both great,” his father stated firmly.

Yup.

They were back together.

He grinned at his dad.

Remy grinned back.

For the first time since he walked out of class, Sabre chilled out.

Yves showed and it nearly made Sabre laugh.

Mom and Dad had said to be there by seven and they were all there before six.

That meant they all knew what this was about, and they were all ready for Dad’s tacos, which was apparently shorthand for another family celebration.

It happened after Dad asked them to grab drinks then go into the living room, not the family room, to have a “chat.”

And after they went there.

When his father started talking.

It was then, for the first time in his life, Sabre realized just how freaking lucky he was up until then with the hand life dealt him.

No, with the parents God gave him.

Because it didn’t affect him too much his grandma was dying of cancer.

It might seem mean, but the woman wasn’t very nice. She treated his mom like shit. She was bizarre with his father, all fawny and gross. And she said things to Manon that weren’t okay.

It wasn’t about being an old lady either. Their gramme, Mom’s mom, had been the exact opposite in every way.

Colette Gastineau was just…like…a little psycho.

It was what came after.

The words coming from his dad’s mouth.

The dislocated shoulder.

The broken arm.

The concussion.

The news his father had had a tux since he was six (like, what the fuck? How creepy was that?).

And more.

The way his parents were both standing, like the edge couldn’t come off enough even for them to take a seat.

The way Mom was holding Dad’s hand and you could see she was pumping it, like she was pumping love into him through their fingers.

The way Manon started weeping quietly and Yves had to grab hold of her and didn’t let go.

“So,” his mother finally took over, which was good, because Sabre was pretty sure his ears were bleeding, “I’ll be calling school, Yves, to sort things for you. Sah, Manon, you need to talk to your professors. We’re all flying out Thursday, mid-morning, and returning Monday afternoon. You can be back in classes on Tuesday.”

“’Kay, Mom,” Yves said.

But Sabre was looking at his father.

“All this shit went down, what did your dad do?” he asked.

“Dad worked and was away from home a lot,” Remy answered.

“So, like, he didn’t know his wife was beating the crap out of his son?” Sabre demanded.

Remy tilted his head to the side and said quietly, “He knew, Sah.”

Sabre looked at his mother.

Oh yeah.

What was on her face was in his heart.

That’s how he felt.

Black as pitch.

That bitch was a bitch.

But that guy? His grandfather? Knowing this shit was going down and doing fuck all?

What in the absolute fuck?

“Manon, honey, are you okay?” Remy asked his girl.

“Yeah, she’s okay, because her father treats her like gold,” Sabre answered for his sister.

Remy’s gaze shot to Sah, so did Wyn’s, but he pushed out of Dad’s kickass sofa that Manon said the leather felt like “butter.”

“And I’m okay because, even when I fucked up and had that party when you guys were in New York, you were pissed at me, but you were cool to me,” he went on. “I mean, you didn’t break my arm or shove me down a flight of stairs or anything.”

“Sah—” Remy started.

“And Yves is okay because he had the weirdest coming out ever, seeing as his dad got up in his shit not because he was gay, but because Yves thought he might get up in his shit because he was gay,” Sabre kept going.

“Son—” Remy tried again.

“But you’venever been okay because your dad was a motherfucker and your mom is a bitch,” Sabre finished.

“Don’t call your grandmother a bitch,” Remy rumbled.

“She beat you!” Sabre thundered, and he didn’t like how the room got all still after he shouted, but he wasn’t done. “She treats Mom like shit. She says crap to Manon that is not all right. And the woman beat you. No. Hunh-unh.” He shook his head. “I’m not going there to say goodbye. I’ll go and tell her I’m glad she’s dying, but I’m not going there to tell that woman goodbye like I give a shit she lives or dies.”

“You will not tell her you’re glad she’s dying, but you will go there, Sabre,” Wyn declared. “Because every single one of us is going to be at your father’s side when he goes there.”

That shut Sabre up.

“Sah, come over here, bro,” Manon called, and when Sabre looked at her, she had a hand reached his way.

“Yeah, bud, come over here,” Yves urged.

He didn’t go over there.

He looked at his father.

“How did you do it?” he asked.

“I think Dad’s had enough,” Manon said. “Please, Sah?”

But Remy asked, “Do what?”

“That shit, it’s supposed to be, like, inherited. How’d you do it? You weren’t like that with us.”

“I found your mother,” Remy answered.

“Then why’d you walk out on her?” Sabre demanded.

“Sabre!” Manon snapped.

“Honey, I think—” his mom started.

But Sah wasn’t surprised even a little bit when his dad answered.

“Because I had been conditioned from a very young age to take special care of the women in my life. And that was ingrained so deep, I didn’t realize your mother could take care of herself. That doesn’t mean she didn’t need me, or I don’t need her. But I was completely unprepared for an evolved, functioning, mentally and emotionally healthy woman to be in my life. It was fine when she was at home taking care of you kids, because that meant I was taking care of all of you, including your mom. And it was fine when she was starting out, because I made more money and I still felt like it was me giving her the life she deserved. And it isn’t okay, but I couldn’t handle it when she started to become successful, not because she might overshadow me or make more money. But because it meant I wasn’t taking care of her. It was messed up and wrong, but that was where my mind went. And that was why I left.”

“We’re talking, though,” Wyn said quickly. “And we have more to discuss, but right now, with what’s happening with your grandmother, we need to rally around your dad.”

Like his mom didn’t say anything, his eyes still locked on Sabre, his dad said, “It was wrong, Sah. I shouldn’t have left. I regret it more than I can explain.”

Oh yeah.

He already knew that.

And what his dad said made sense, but he wasn’t on that.

He was stuck on something else.

“She was messed up and he just left you to that.”

He was talking about his grandparents.

Remy knew that.

“Yes, Sabre, he did,” his dad confirmed.

“I’m gonna go because Mom’s right. You aren’t gonna be around them without us around you,” Sabre decided. “And I’ll do my best to be cool with her because she’s soon gonna be dead. But Pépé better stay the fuck away from me.”

“That’s fair,” Remy murmured.

“I love you, you know that, Dad? You’re a great fucking dad.”

He heard Manon make one of her crying noises and felt his mom get close, but he didn’t tear his gaze off his father.

“I know that, Sah.”

“And a long time from now, when you die, it’s gonna fucking wreck me.”

He wasn’t standing a few feet away from his father anymore.

Suddenly, he was pressed up to his dad with his face in his dad’s neck, his father’s hand wrapped around the back of his neck and an arm curled around his back.

Remy’s voice was gruff when he said, “I know.”

Sabre’s voice was totally fucked up when he said, “Fuck those fuckers.”

“Son,” Remy murmured.

The dislocated shoulder.

The broken arm.

The concussion.

Shit.

Fuck.

He was gonna cry.

His dad helped him do it, holding him with his face shoved in his dad’s neck so no one would see.

The rest gave them time, but then they all piled on, because that was the Gastineau family, and they were in a group hug.

But Dad was the kind of dad he was.

So he kept Sabre’s face shoved in his neck.

Then his mom said something bossy, and his sister said something goofy, and Yves said he was going out to start up the grill (which meant he was hungry), and they all drifted away, leaving Sabre with Remy.

One thing he knew, right then, he couldn’t tell Dad about Myrna.

So he’d have to deal with that himself.

Somehow.

He pulled away, but Remy didn’t let him go too far, keeping his hand at Sah’s neck.

“Best son a man could ask for,” Remy whispered.

“I bet you were better.”

Remy’s lips thinned, and Sabre decided right then he needed to rein in the Gastineau/Byrne hothead they both gave him and learn when to keep his mouth shut.

“I just hate that was your life, Dad.”

“I got that, Sah. But none of what happened to me was near as bad as telling you all about it. Now it’s over. We’re gonna have tacos. We’re going to deal with what happens in New Orleans as a family. And when we come back, I’ll need to figure out a way to talk your mother into maintaining two houses. Because she’s never giving up that bathroom, closet or kitchen, and no way I’m giving up my wine and poker rooms. So we’re gonna have to be like Scottish royalty and spend summers in one house then go down the street a mile and spend winters in another.”

That was the first time in hours Sabre laughed.

Better, his dad laughed with him.

* * *

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Yves nearly shouted.

“Baby, calm down,” Theo muttered.

Tacos were consumed. Mom and Manon had gone home. His dad had gone to bed. Yves had stayed and asked Theo over.

Now they were in Sabre’s room, which had its own full bath and a little space off it that had a wild, curved couch, a space-age curved chair and a seventy-inch flat screen.

Theo and Yves were sprawled on the couch, proving it was quality, since their combined bulk meant no couch could be seen and the thing hadn’t collapsed.

Sah was in the space-age chair.

They all had beers, and since Remy knew they were drinking, he’d given Theo a look and said, “You stay if you’ve had too much, but you sleep on the couch.”

Like either of those two would go there with Dad close by. They’d gone at each other when they got drunk when they were down in Tucson with Sah, and they were loud. And since they were the ones being loud, they had to know they were.

Now, he had to deal with Yves, who was usually so laidback, if he didn’t look like Dad and had come straight out of Mom, Sah would wonder if he was switched at birth.

But he’d forgotten that, if Yves got pissed, hell was paid.

“No, I’m not, and keep quiet, dude. Serious,” Sabre hissed. “We’re far from Dad, but he’s got dad hearing and you know it.”

Yves’s voice was lower when he asked, “She said Dad told her to abort a kid?”

“That and all the rest I told you, yeah,” Sabre confirmed. “Obviously, with Grandma dying, I gotta talk to Bill because I can’t tell Dad.”

“You can’t talk to Bill because he’d totally tell Dad,” Yves refuted.

“Not if I tell him Dad’s dealing with his mom dying,” Sabre returned.

“He will, Sah. Because she’s watching this house and that shit is creepy AF,” Yves shot back. “But her somehow figuring out your schedule and driving all the way down to Tucson to be outside your class?”

“Whole new level,” Theo chimed in.

“Bill will freak, and then Bill will tell Dad, and then Bill will be all over it,” Yves said.

“Okay then, until we get back from New Orleans, we have to keep Mom on radar,” Sabre declared.

“Word,” Theo agreed.

“I’ll keep track of Manon just in case Myrna loses another screw, but Dad can take care of himself. That woman can’t get near Mom. First, because she’s loopy as all fuck. But second, Dad would lose his mind if Myrna started fucking with Mom,” Sabre finished laying it out.

“I’ll find time to swing by here when you’re with your mom,” Theo offered, looking at Yves. “See if she’s in her car watching. Take pictures of her. Note the time. Shit like that, which the cops will need if Coach eventually has to take it to them.”

“Thanks, babe, you’re awesome,” Yves said to Theo.

“If my dad had a creeper, you’d do the same for me,” Theo replied.

“Count on it,” Yves confirmed.

They gave each other looks that made Sah want to gag, and since they had the important shit sorted, he got up and said, “You two have fifteen minutes to feel each other up while I drag my feet and get us more beer. But I’m timing it, so you better do that too. Because I won’t make this offer again if I come back and see something I cannot unsee.”

Theo looked to Yves. “You have the best brother ever.”

Yves did not look to Theo.

He kept his eyes on Sabre and ordered, “Go get the beer.”

Sah shot his baby bro a grin.

Then he seriously dragged his feet getting them beer because he even more seriously did not want to see something he could not unsee.

Hell, he’d been to a party once where he’d caught Manon making out with some dude and it put him off chicks for at least a week.

Also because he was the best brother ever, he got into his phone game.

And gave them twenty minutes.