“Have you decided what you’d like? A selection of our popular appetizers are half price tonight.” The waiter wasn’t making eye contact with either of them and he definitely wasn’t looking at Brian like he wanted to be chosen as his dessert anymore.
“Bri. The burger, right?” Ford asked.
Brian nodded, his mouth set in a firm line.
“I’ll have the T-bone, medium rare, with a loaded potato and he’ll have the mega burger, medium, no onions, with fries.” Ford handed the menus back and took a long guzzle of his cold beer, wishing he could enjoy it without his baby brother scowling at him. “Are you trying to piss me off? Because if so, it’s working.”
Brian’s hands started moving in rapid, tight motions, a clear indication he was mad. “Why do you have to do that? Clearly he was flirting with me and you had to jump in and piss on my fucking leg again, which looks creepy as fuck, by the way.” Brian gulped down half his beer and slammed it back down on the table.
“He was too young,” Ford murmured. “He was just being a tease. Or looking for a quick fuck.”
“You don’t know that. And what is wrong with a quick fuck? Do I look like a goddamn monk to you, Ford?” Brian shook his head tiredly. “Or you think I can’t get laid without using an app and a warning disclaimer.”
Ford turned up his mug to drain the rest of his beer. He knew Brian used hook-up apps. Most of the guys that responded were aware he didn’t speak before they met up with him. Ford was the one that recommended he use an app after his brother had found it difficult getting a date. Most men didn’t mind a roll in the hay with him, but that’s where it would usually end. Brian was deeper than that. The last piece of shit he was in a relationship with ended up walking out on Brian in the middle of the night, claiming he “Couldn’t do it anymore.” Couldn’t handle a man that couldn’t communicate without an electronic device. Ford grimaced when he set his glass down. The look on his brother’s face ate away at him. He was a good man and he deserved the best. He’d suffered in the worst way for his country. “Stop being dramatic. I always order the food. What’s going on? You been in a shit mood for weeks. You need some ass that bad, then do something about it and stop bitching.”
Brian’s lip twitched before he flicked his brother off and signed for him to order them two more beers. That was their relationship. Ford would be annoyingly overprotective and Brian would bite his head off, then they’d have a drink and it was over. A brotherly relationship didn’t get any closer than theirs. Ford had sacrificed his reputation, his career, and his team’s lives to save his brother, and there hadn’t been a single day he’d regretted it.
When their food arrived, Ford asked, “How’s your therapy been going? You haven’t mentioned it in a couple weeks.”
Brian wiped his big hand over his mouth.
“Brian?”
Brian looked his brother in the eye.
“Goddamn you. That was one of the most sought out speech therapists in the state, Brian. Maybe he can help,” Ford argued. “Why’d you quit going to him?”
“I didn’t quit. I just need a little time, okay. Lighten up.”
“Time for what? You want to speak again, don’t you? You said you did. So what’s—?” Ford stopped in the middle of his thought when his eyes traveled to the front door and caught on the man staring at him. “What’s he doing here?”
Brian turned around and looked towards the front door. “Maybe he’s here to eat, just like everyone else. That girl he’s with sure looks like she could use a good meal.” Brian signed.
“I thought he’d dumped her,” Ford scoffed.
Brian frowned. “Why do you care?”
“I don’t,” Ford snapped back, making Brian look at him quizzically. Ford didn’t underestimate how perceptive his brother was and he could definitely pick up on bullshit. Ford waited for the waiter to put down their plates and quickly distracted himself, loading his potato with butter to ignore the nervous flutter in the pit of his stomach.
Dana
He wasn’t in the mood to be out tonight. He’d had two bond hearings this morning and a huge recovery today that left him irritable and sore. All he’d wanted was to go back to his place and have a carton of milk and a freshly delivered pizza. So when Jessica called and asked him to take her to happy hour, he’d refused, but she was nothing if not persistent. They’d gotten back together after an amicable break up last month. They’d both decided that he was too busy and she deserved a man who could shower her with the kind of attention she demanded. Imagine his surprise when she called him a couple weeks ago, claiming she’d made a mistake and she still loved him. Even now, Dana didn’t know why he’d agreed to give it another shot. He hadn’t been able to make her happy before, no matter how hard he’d tried.