There’s another beep. “Fucker,” I hiss, hating how short the messages need to be.

  I don’t bother calling again. I head straight to my text messages and send off a few, hoping he’ll reply. I know Dylan’s right about shopping, so I try a different tactic. They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, so I try that route first.

  Me: Hey, Nev. Want to hang out tomorrow? Maybe grab some things you need?

  I stare at the screen, waiting to see the three dots, showing that he is replying, but I see nothing.

  Me: I’ll pick you up at one. I’m off.

  Me: No pressure.

  Before I have a chance to shoot off another text, the family chat starts blowing up my phone.

  Stone: When is it too early to bring a girl I’m seeing?

  Tamara: Are you seeing her or sleeping with her?

  Stone: Technically?

  Tamara: Yes, dumbass.

  Carmello: If you bring a girl you’re bangin’ to dinner, she’ll think she’s more important than she is. Are you really serious about her, Stone?

  Stone: Nah, man. She’s not long-term material, but she could suck the chrome off a bumper.

  Lily: Nice, little brother. I thought you were a gentleman.

  Stone: Sis, I know when to behave and when to unleash the beast.

  Trace: Beast mode has been officially activated.

  Tamara: Are you three morons out at the clubs?

  Asher: Fuck yeah. You should all be here.

  Gigi: Too old. Kids kill all fun.

  Jett: Ain’t that shit the truth.

  Rocco: They aren’t that bad. Put the kids to bed and get busy making another.

  Tamara: No freaking way. You have more. I’m done. Pussy closed.

  Mammoth: Princess, don’t lie.

  Tamara: No more babies, Josiah.

  I giggle because I can never think of Mammoth as Josiah. Nothing about him goes with the name. He’s a Mammoth all the way. From his size to his attitude, he’s larger-than-life and can make most men shit their pants with a single glance.

  Trace: I thought the three of us made a pact. No bitches on Sunday until we’re ready to settle down.

  Asher: Yep.

  Me: Classy. Way to leave out the only female cousin.

  Stone: You want in, li’l cuz?

  Me: I’m older than you, jagoff.

  Stone: But you’re still little. You barely come up to my shoulder. When you grow a foot, I’ll rethink the nickname.

  Rebel: Ah, to be young again…and dumb.

  Rocco: Reb, you aren’t old, baby. You’re more beautiful than the day I met you.

  Jo: We should all plan a night out. Show these young boys how it’s really done.

  Trace: Spare us the misery.

  Pike: You three have no idea what fun really is. You’re happy if some chick, any chick, rubs her body against your crotch.

  Asher: Maybe that’s what they did in the old days, Grandpa. Chicks are different now.

  I roll my eyes. My younger cousins, all boys, are the biggest dipshits ever. Asher and Stone are in college, living the frat life, burying themselves in every skirt that comes their way. And there are a lot of them too. I visited them one weekend and vowed never to do that shit again. Frat life isn’t for me, but they revel in it. They were born for that bullshit. Trace is older than them, but you’d never know it by his behavior.

  Arlo: I’m going to bop the three of you when I see you tomorrow for the old comment and calling women bitches.

  Asher: You got to catch us. Does your scooter move that fast?

  Rosie: You’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’.

  Trace: That’s what the old people say.

  Pike: Fuckers.

  Trace: Later, bitches. We’re following some chicks to another club. It’s a negative on inviting her to dinner tomorrow, Stone.

  Me: Do you even know these girls?

  Stone: Again, the one gave me head. I know her well enough.

  I shake my head, wondering how I’m straight with assholes like my cousins in my life.

  Tamara: Were we that stupid at their age?

  Gigi: I don’t think so…

  Lily: You were. I can attest to it.

  Pike: Baby, you left a bar with me and barely knew my name.

  Gigi: It was a bet.

  Pike: You’re not winning your case.

  God, I love my family. I barely think about how lucky I am to have them in my life, but I know I didn’t grow up like many of my friends. Not only is our family huge, but we love one another, and we’ve spent every weekend and sometimes more with one another.

  On top of that, most of us either work at Mammoth and Tamara’s auto repair, my uncles’ investigation company, or our tattoo shop. We are up one another’s asses constantly, and somehow, we make it work.

  Carmello: Everyone’s an idiot at some point in their life, especially when we’re young.

  Mammoth: Some of us more than others and for more years than we care to admit.

  Tamara: Is that a dig at me, sweetie?

  Mammoth: Absolutely not.

  Tamara: Sure thing, sparky. I don’t believe you.

  I close the family chat, leaving them to reminisce about the good old times. I almost forget about Nevin not replying, but I catch myself, opening my texts to him to be sure.

  Still nothing.

  Jerk.

  It doesn’t matter.

  I can’t sit here all night, wondering if he’s okay.

  There’s only one thing to do, and no one can stop me. I’m going to go to the Wayward Traveler and camp out in my car until Nevin lets me inside.

  6

  NEVIN

  I unwrap the candy bar I snagged from the vending machine as I walk back to my room, paying no attention to the people in the parking lot.

  “Hey, Daddy,” a woman calls out, wearing a cropped tank top and a skirt that leaves very little to the imagination. “I can be your fantasy!” she yells louder when I ignore her. “I can do things to you that you never imagined.”

  While the thought of sinking into a woman sounds great, her pussy won’t be the first one I’ve had in ten years…not even if there was a gun to my head.

  As soon as I’m back inside my room, I kick off my boots and collapse into the chair, throwing the bag of chips I bought on the table. This is tonight’s dinner. But no matter what, at least it’s a meal I chose, and it wasn’t prepared by inmates.

  When I dreamed of getting out of prison, this isn’t the way I imagined it. “What fucking bullshit,” I mutter to no one except myself. “Total bullshit.”

  When that night happened and the cops showed up, I offered myself up on a silver platter. There was no way in hell I’d let Ian sit behind bars where he, once again, would be treated like shit and continue to get sicker. I knew his only option of getting any help would be if I went to prison in his place.

  None of us thought I’d get a ten-year sentence. How fucking ridiculous and corrupt of my small-town police department and prosecutor’s office. They knew damn well why it happened. They knew for years that our father had mistreated us. But no one helped, and an entire town turned a blind eye to the abuse because it was easier on them.

  Fuck the kids…fuck us.

  If it weren’t for my brothers still being here, I would’ve left town the second my feet hit the dirt on the outside. But they’re all I have, and after being apart for so long, I have to stick around. I can’t abandon them. Maybe after a few months, when no one seems to notice, I can slip away to some place where no one knows me or my history.

  As I reach for the bag of chips, there’s a knock at the door.

  So help me God, if it’s that hooker, I’m going to lose my mind.

  “What?” I snap as I pull the door open without looking.

  Standing right in front of me is Luna, holding two containers and a bag of tortilla chips in her arms. “Hi,” she squeaks, eyes wide and round from the way I snapped at her. “I brought you some food.”

  Damn, she looks good. Her long blond hair cascades over her shoulder, covering some of her cleavage. Her red lipstick makes it impossible for me not to think every possible dirty thought too.

  “Sorry,” I mutter.

  “I called and texted you a few times,” she says cheerfully.

  “I didn’t get anything,” I lie, knowing damn well I ignored every single message she sent my way. “My phone must be jacked, and I still don’t have the hang of the thing. It’s complicated.”

  She stares at me, studying my face, not knowing if I’m lying or not, which I am. “Maybe,” she says, buying my bullshit. “It’s okay.” She leans over, looking into my room. “Can I come in?”

  Fuck!

  I don’t want company.

  “I’m expecting some friends,” I lie again.

  She raises her eyebrows. “Oh. Well…okay.” She looks like I’ve punched a puppy, and the guilt gnaws at my insides.

  My gaze drops to her hands, and my stomach rumbles, reminding me a candy bar and small bag of chips aren’t enough to sustain me. “But you can for a minute,” I finally say when she doesn’t offer me the shit she’s holding.

  Luna gives me an awkward smile, but she doesn’t move until I step back, letting her inside.

  She slinks past me, tits almost brushing against my chest, and goes straight to the table. “I’ll just put these here,” she says as she places the two plastic containers and the bag down gently. “Rosie made salsa and guac. They’re the best and only thing she can cook. I figured you’d like something to munch on tonight.”

  “Thanks,” I tell her as she leans over, arranging the containers and taking off the lids.

  I stare at her from behind.

  Her ass is sheer perfection. Hourglass figure and legs for fucking miles. If it weren’t for this fucked-up situation, she’s exactly the type of chick I’d have under me within minutes.

  Luna turns toward me and misses the way I’m staring at her. Thank fuck. “Sure thing,” she replies with so much cheer and sweetness, my teeth hurt.

  She glances around, spinning in a circle, and takes in everything that the Wayward Traveler has to offer in their fine accommodations. “This is…” She pauses and does another pass, trying to come up with the right words.

  Someone like her has probably never stepped foot in a place like this before tonight. From her fancy heels to her perfectly done hair, the bitch is too classy for a shithole like this.

  “It’s not too bad,” she says slowly and lying through her perfectly straight white teeth.

  “It’ll do.” I sit in the chair next to the food she brought, watching her as she starts to walk around the room as if she’s looking for something. She runs her hand down the comforter and pulls back like the scratchy material burned her fingertips. “But this is awful.”

  “It’s fine.” I tear open the tortilla chips, keeping my eyes trained on her.

  She shakes her head. “I was wondering if you wanted to go shopping.”

  “No,” I bite out as I pop a chip into my mouth without the extras.

  Her eyebrow rises again as she stares at me, blinking. “No?”

  “No.” I shake my head.

  “Okay,” she whispers.

  “I have what I need.”

  She stares at me, confused. “You have what you need?”

  “A few tees. Some jeans. Boots. I’m set.”

  “Maybe some new underwear?” she asks, looking so fucking hopeful.

  A look I know I must extinguish and quickly.

  “Don’t wear them. Don’t want them.”

  She swallows, and my words don’t land quite the way I want them to.

  “I don’t shop.”

  “I can shop and bring them to you,” she offers, being so fuckin’ sweet again. Too sweet for a damaged, fucked-up guy like me.

  “Nope.”

  She tilts her head like she heard me wrong. “No?”

  “No, Luna. I don’t need clothes. I don’t need you to buy me anything either.”

  “I’m just trying to—”

  “I don’t need your help.”

  Damn. I’m a prick. The chick is trying to be nice, but it’s best if I make it clear, we’re not going to be BFFs. I’m not going to step into the shoes of my brother, filling the hole left by his absence.

  She sits down on the bed but does it with grace, like she’s trained for years how to sit instead of plop. “I promised Ian I’d check on you.”

  “You checked. Promise fulfilled.”

  She purses her lips. “You’re not nice, Nevin.”

  “A decade in prison will do that to a person.”

  God, I’m such an asshole. She’s so damn beautiful, and I know if I spend too much time with her, I’ll ruin her. Ian made me promise to look out for her, but he didn’t know what he asked or how much I’d changed since I went inside.

  She hangs her head, fiddling with her fingertips, unable to look at me. “I can’t imagine what you went through.”

  “Hopefully you never will.” I relax back into the chair, rubbing my palms down the old, worn-away stain of the wood handles. It’s the only thing I can do to stop from launching myself across the room and kissing her sweet, beautiful face.

  The plumpness in her lips grows fuller as she almost pouts on the same spot where I sleep. “Do you want to come to dinner at my grandma’s tomorrow, then?”

  “Negative.”

  “Dylan will be there.” She tries again.

  “Doesn’t matter. I’ll pass.”

  She tips her head up so I can see her entire face in the dim lighting of my room. “Are you always so difficult?”

  I raise a shoulder. “I don’t know what I am anymore.”

  “You want to talk about whatever is bothering you?”

  “No.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yep. I’m sure I don’t want to talk,” I say softly, hoping to lessen the blow that she’ll no doubt feel.

  She sighs, leaning back on the bed and placing her palms on the shitty comforter. The position makes her chest stick out more and pulls at the V neckline of her shirt, making her cleavage unmissable. “I was really hoping we could be friends.”

  “I don’t have women as friends.”

  “Why not?” she asks, swinging a leg out in front of her, making her tits wobble.

  “Because I don’t want to fuck my friends.”

  She blinks. “You want to fuck me?” she whispers.

  I stare at her with a straight face. “Ten years of not getting laid and I’ll pretty much fuck anyone besides the dirty bitches in the parking lot.”

  Her face turns red, and while my answer didn’t hit the spot she wanted, it got my point across. I do want to fuck her, but in no way am I allowing that shit to happen.

  Yep. Total prick.

  I’m not going to be anyone’s pity bang. This chick so badly wants to help me, I have no doubt she’d spread her legs and give me her pussy because she thinks it will make me feel better.

  “You’re an asshole.”

  “Never said I wasn’t.”

  She stands quickly and heads for the door. When her hand touches the handle, she turns to face me. “I’m not giving up on you yet, Nevin. You need a friend, and no matter what, it’s going to be me.”

  “Good luck to you, babe.”

  “I’ll wear you down. Just you wait and see,” she says before marching out the door and slamming it behind her.

  I grab my phone and immediately call Dylan. “What the fuck is up with Luna, man?”

  Dylan laughs. “She stopped by?”

  “You know she did. Am I her personal mission or some shit?”

  “Yep.”

  “I don’t need someone watching over me.”

  “Too fucking bad, man. She promised Ian she’d watch over you, and Luna usually follows through on shit.”

  “I don’t need Ian’s woman up my ass all the time. And I promised him I’d look after her.”

  “They aren’t together like that, bro. I told you this. They are friends.”

  “I don’t care what they are. I don’t do seconds, especially his.”

  “Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. No one said you should do her. Actually, don’t look at Luna that way. I like the girl, but you and she would be nothing except a disaster, and I don’t feel like cleaning up the wreckage you’d no doubt leave.”

  “Maybe she’d hurt me? Ever think of that.”

  Dylan laughs. “Totally possible. Luna’s sweet as sunshine when she likes you, but wicked as the devil too. She’s vulnerable right now, and I don’t want her to do something she’ll regret later.”

  “She isn’t the only one who’s sad,” I tell him, grinding my teeth together.

  “I’m warning you, Nevin, you need to keep your hands off her and your dick out of her.”

  “Hands and dick went nowhere near her.”

  “Good.”

  But now that the asshole is making her off-limits…

  “I mean it, Nevin. Don’t fuck up my marriage because you want a piece of ass. The girl doesn’t need to be ruined by you.”

  “How would I ruin her?”

  “We’re all fucked in the head, and there’s no doubt in my mind some of your past will rub off on her in a way that won’t be good for any of us.”

  “Our past,” I correct him.

  “I moved on. Got help. Found a good woman who makes me want to be a better man.”

  “Maybe I want that too, asshole. Ever think of that?”

  “You can have it. Just not with Luna.”

  “Am I not good enough?”

  Dylan grunts. “Never said that, but…”

  “I’m not a criminal, fucker. I know it’s hard for you to wrap your brain around that reality, but I didn’t kill that bastard. I took the fall for my brother, our brother, which is more than I can say for you. I’m an innocent man who gave up ten fucking years to protect Ian. Did you do that?”

  Dylan sighs on the other end of the phone. “I didn’t.”

  “Then stop talking to me like I’m trash and not worthy of your wife’s sister.”