Her Best Men

“Okay, what the hell is going?” I asked, leaning against the kitchen counter, arms crossed in front of me. “How did a date with Ben turn into the two of you bringing her home to stay?”

“It's a long story,” Ben said, rubbing his temples.

“Very long,” Quinn said with a sigh.

“I ain't setting up shit until I hear it, so one of you better start talking,” I said.

“Fine,” Quinn said. “So we were over there, and –”

“We?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Yeah, well, I went over to see her before her date with Ben,” Quinn said. “Didn't intend on sticking around, but shit went down.”

“What kind of shit?”

“Her ex,” Ben said. “He stopped by and things got ugly. And now it's more than obvious that Quinn was right. She was being abused.”

I looked at my brother's face and noticed some

swelling in his cheek. A cut straight across it looked fresh.

“Really ugly from the looks of it,” I muttered.

“Yeah, it got violent,” Quinn said. “And the cops came, Leo was arrested and well –”

“Well what?”

My brothers shared a look. I could tell there was something they weren't telling me still. Something they were hiding. Quinn started to speak, but Ben spoke up first and cut him off.

“We decided it would be in her best interest to stay here,” he said. “Leo is free on bail and he'd never think to come here. And if he did, well, there's three of us and only one of him.”

“Makes sense,” I said.

I waited for them to say something else, but they again, shared a look and then went on their way. Ben set out two extra plates on the table while Quinn put out more silverware and glasses. Neither of them was saying anything to one another, but there was most definitely a tension between them. “So, there's nothing else you want to tell me?” I asked as I walked into the dining room. “Nothing at all?”

Hailey's voice caught me off guard as she walked up behind me. She wrapped her arms around my waist, taking me by surprise.

“Cason, is it really okay if I stay here?” she asked. “Or will it bother you?”

After the other night, I wanted nothing more than for her to stay in our house. I turned and looked into her emerald eyes, pulling her in for a bear hug.

“Of course not,” I said. “I'm just curious why my brothers are acting so weird.”

Hailey didn't meet my gaze, but she looked toward them. “Guys, we should probably talk about what happened.”

“What happened?” I asked, staring down at her.

“Yeah, it's – well, it's awkward for all of us.”

“Sit down, Cason,” Bennett said.

I looked over at my brother. “Why?”

“Just sit down,” he said with a sigh. “We need to talk. All four of us.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - HAILEY

I stared down at my plate, a slab of ribs slathered in Driftwood's famous sauce, mashed potatoes and green beans. My stomach growled, but even though I was hungry, I didn't eat very much. I kept staring at my plate, however, as I tried to find a way to talk about what had happened and came up empty every time I tried.