“Big talker,” Pop murmurs and studies his cards.
“You’re losing bad, old man,” Isaac taunts our father, his gaze on the small stack of chips before him.
“I’m about to hit my stride anytime now.”
“It’s okay, Pop, Will has a tendency to choke in the second half of the game anyway,” Matt laughs and reaches over to ruffle Will’s hair, who quickly evades.
“Whatever, jackass!” Will throws a kernel of popcorn at Matt, who smirks.
“You just can’t stand to lose,” Matt sneers at our younger brother.
“Dude, sports are my job. Of course I don’t like to lose.”
“This is poker, man. It’s not a sport.” I laugh and take a long sip of water as I lean back in my chair, one eye out for my mom. If she catches me leaning back in her dining room chair she’ll kick my ass.
I’ll always be afraid of that woman.
“You clearly don’t play it right,” Will mutters and throws his cards down on our mom’s kitchen table. “I fold.”
“Sucker,” Pop taunts and pulls the pot toward him. “I’ve taught you everything you know, kids, but I haven’t taught you everything I know.”
We all laugh as we watch our father stack his chips and smile smugly as he takes a long sip of beer.
“How are things with Brynna and the girls?” Isaac asks me as he shuffles the deck.
“Good. I took Brynna to the range last week.” I lean forward as my cock stirs at the memory of watching her with the gun in her hand. She’s so fucking amazing. “Let her shoot my nine mil.”
“Did it knock her on her ass?” Matt asks.
“Nope,” I boast proudly. “She did great. Hit the target. Wasn’t afraid.” I shrug and take another sip of water. “I wouldn’t want to be on the business end of her weapon.”
“I know what kind of weapon you want to show her,” Isaac smirks and examines his cards.
“Fuck you, man.”
“He’s just pissed because he’s been married for so fucking long, he can’t remember what a blow job feels like,” Matt says, earning a glare from Isaac.
“I don’t know that being married has anything to do with it,” Pop says and stuffs some Doritos into his mouth. “Your mom and I have been married for almost forty years, and just the other night…”
“No! No! No!”
“Stop talking!”
“Oh my God!”
We all yell at the same time, begging our father to stop talking and he throws his head back and laughs his ass off.
“We may be old, boys, but we’re not dead.”
“I will murder you if you ever, ever imply that my mother has sex ever again,” Isaac mutters as he cringes.
“Don’t ever say ‘mom’ and ‘sex’ in the same sentence,” Will says, his voice hard and strained.
“So is that why you don’t want to get married?” Isaac asks Matt. “Afraid the sex will suck?”
“No,” I butt in with a laugh, “Matt just doesn’t like to be the one tied down.”
“Or tied up for that matter,” Will chuckles and then yells out in pain when Matt punches him in the arm.
“Dude, that’s my fucking throwing arm!”
“Don’t be a pussy,” Matt smirks.
“I am not a pussy,” Will counters and takes a pull on his beer. “And you clearly need to get laid.”
“Who says I haven’t been getting laid?” Matt asks.
“Who would fuck you? You’re ugly as fuck,” I respond, earning chuckles from my other brothers.
“He looks just like you,” Pop responds and grins at me. “You’re all a bunch of ugly shitheads.”
“Stop calling my boys ugly!” Mom calls from upstairs. “And Caleb, stop leaning back in my chair!”
“How does she know?” I whisper and return my chair to all fours.
“She knows everything,” Isaac reminds me. “Mom-radar.”
“It scares me.”
“It should,” Pop smirks, his eyes trained on the stairway. Just then the house phone rings, and Pop stands to answer it. “Hello?”
He frowns. “Yes, this is Steven Montgomery.” A pause. “Hello?”
He pulls the receiver away from his face and stares at it before replacing it.
“They hung up?” Matt asks and leans forward, his eyes narrowed.
“Yeah, just asked my name and hung up.” He returns to his seat and we all stare at each other, frowning, our red flags not just up, but waving violently, and we are all on high alert.
“What the fuck?” I whisper and stand the pace about the room. “What is going on?”
“Why was he so freaked out at the idea of her being linked to a cop,” Isaac whispers, and our heads whip around to focus on him.
“What did you say?” I ask.
He looks up at all of us and shakes his head as he scowls.
“What did you say,” I repeat.
“There’s a guy at work,” he begins and takes a sip of his beer. “Levi Jackson. I’ve noticed him watching Bryn, making up excuses to talk to her.”
“Why didn’t you say anything before?” Matt demands.
“Let him finish,” Pop interjects sternly.
“He’s never crossed a line with her. Until yesterday.”
He stops and rubs his hands through his hair in frustration. “When I came into the office, he had her cornered against her desk and I heard him say, ‘You don’t look like you belong to a cop.’”
“What the fuck!” I yell and stomp away from the table. “Why in the hell am I just now hearing about this?”
“Has she ever told the guys that she used to be married to a cop?” Matt asks.
“I don’t think so,” Isaac shakes his head. “She’s really careful about what she tells them. Besides,” he continues with a frown. “I don’t think he was talking about Jeff. I think he saw her with you.” He nods to Matt who scowls.
“Maybe it’s just a coincidence?” Will asks. He’s leaning back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, deep in thought.
“That’s quite a coincidence,” Pop mentions.
“It’s no coincidence,” I growl. “Did he have his hands on her?”
Isaac grimaces and looks away, and that’s all the answer I need.