Tease Me (The Macintyre Brothers 2)

"Thanks," David said and closed his eyes. "Even just the trip home has tired me out. I think I'll have a little nap."

I squeezed his shoulder and patted Christian on the back. "Call me if you need anything," I said. "I'll be home around six o'clock. We can grill something for supper. Let me know what you feel like and I can pick it up on the way home."

"Will do," Christian said. "I got things covered here."

I drove to Santa Monica where the new office was located. I'd already hired a skeleton staff who had been working on various startup projects, and now I had to spend a few days finishing hiring the editors

and other staff for the California office. It kept me busy for most of the afternoon, my mind focused and forgetting all about everything else.

Around five thirty, I got a text from Christian.

CHRISTIAN: Hey, how about some nice thick steaks for supper? David said he wants beef.

JOSH: I'm on it. Make sure there's some cold beer for me when I get there, and I'll fire up the grill.

CHRISTIAN: You got it. See you when you get here.

I finished up at work and then stopped by a Whole Foods store on the way home to pick up some beef for supper. When I arrived home, Christian had a cold beer in hand and David was on a lawn chair on the patio in the shade. He seemed pretty good, all things considered.

I went right over to him while Christian got the steaks ready. "How are you doing?" I squeezed his shoulder affectionately.

"Good," he said and gave me a faint smile. "Wish I could have one of those, but I better wait until my antibiotic is finished.

"You should," I said and went over to the grill to start it and get it ready.

We spoke for a while about work and what I was doing with the new office of MBS.

"We had to cancel release of our EP," David said, his voice emotional. "Terry's wife Sharice is having a really hard time, because she just found out she's pregnant."

"Oh, that's too bad," I said and shook my head. David was clearly emotional about it.

"Plus, I just heard about the man and woman in the other car. The man died at the scene, and the woman was airlifted to the hospital with pretty bad internal injuries. She's still in the hospital."

"Do they have any idea why he hit you guys?"

"He spilled his coffee on himself and just for a split second, lost control of the wheel. That was it. One false move and he's dead and Terry's dead. I feel so bad..."

I went over to David and forced him to look in my eyes. "I know you feel bad for them," I said, feeling so bad for him. "There's nothing you can do but look after yourself, okay?"

David nodded, but I could see how emotional he was.

"It should have been me driving, but I had that extra beer," David said. "It should have been me dead. I don't have anyone. No wife, no kids..."

"Don't say that," I replied, frowning. "No one should have died, David. Not Terry. Not the guy in the BMW. It's just bad luck. Not something you can control."

"I could have not had that second beer, but I knew Terry would stop at one. He always had my back when I overindulged."

"It was Terry's choice. I could have driven instead."

"No, then you would be dead."

I knelt down beside David and squeezed his shoulder. "David. It was bad luck. Nothing more. It wasn't anyone's fault."

"No, no," David said, shaking his head, his eyes brimming. "You're just saying that. If I hadn't had that extra beer, none of this would have happened. We would have left right away and been home without anything happening."

"There's nothing any of us can do about what happened in the past. We have to move on."

"Yeah, Sharice and the new baby and the other kids have to move on. That woman in the BMW has to move on. Tell that to them."