Fall From Grace

“Cool. It’s early. You’ll be fine.” He walks around the desk and speaks before I even have a chance to cut him off. He grabs my cheek and pinches hard. “I’ll make sure I get you home before nine, snookums.”

I push his hand off me. “Fuck off.”

He grins at me because he knows he won.

“You’re buying me a steak before you get me drunk.”

He smacks my ass as he walks past me to his office door. “Baby, I always wine and dine you.”

I roll my eyes at him and follow him out the door.

* * *

I throw back another shot with my brothers. Owen managed to get Noah and Mason to come out with us. Asher, my youngest brother, just went back to Duke for law school last week. I still scratch my head at how he even graduated with a prelaw degree. I swear the kid parties more than Mason, and that’s saying a lot. Mason owns his own recording studio and throws parties every week. Asher is a wild kid, but he managed to get into mine and Owen’s alma mater. I can only guess because he is my brother. But he seems to be doing well there.

“I was beginning to think you were never going to leave that law office,” Noah says to me as he sips on his third IPA of the night. The man usually only drinks one beer. Yet Owen just got him to take a shot.

I throw a look at him. “You know I am a busy man.”

“You haven’t been around much, is all.”

It’s true. Ever since Tiffany left, I’ve buried myself in work. I make brief appearances at family functions. But I never stay longer than an hour. I have a large family. Five brothers. And family is one of the most important things to all of us. Even my brother out in California has managed to make it back here for family functions. But Tiffany was with me every single time. For the last three years, she was always there, and it’s made even seeing my family hard. The memories painful.

Mason looks over at me. “You got to move on, man. Tiffany is a bitch. She fucking used you, and you know it. And she’s wi—”

“And who knows what she’s doing now,” Owen cuts him off and glares at him.

I suck down the rest of my beer. “I know she’s with Michael Bennet. I heard about it.”

Owen’s face falls. I’m sure he thought he was keeping it a secret. “I didn’t know you knew.”

“Come on. It’s Michael Bennet, he doesn’t keep his mouth shut about shit. He flaunts everything.”

Noah speaks quietly. “I hate to say it, man, but we did warn you.”

Yeah, they did warn me. They were convinced Tiff was only with me for my money but I convinced myself it wasn’t true. I couldn’t have been more wrong. No matter that she swears that wasn’t it. Now she is with Michael. Another damn lawyer and the man I hate more than anyone else in this business.

I wave the bartender down. “I don’t want to get into this. Not again.”

“Good,” Owen shouts as he slams his hand onto the bar. “It’s been six fucking months, dude. Get over it, get over her. Sell your damn house and move on.”

“I was engaged to her. It’s not that easy to just get over her.”

“Bullshit,” Noah yells.

I throw a glare at him. “You have no room to talk. Not after Claire left you and you became a ghost of a man.”

“That was diff—”

I hold my hand up to his face. “Don’t tell me it was different. Because you know it’s not.”

Noah goes to argue but Mason cuts him off. “I think you just need to fuck someone.”

“That’s not going to fix shit.”

Owen laughs. “Mason has a point, man. You haven’t slept with anyone since Tiffany left. I think your attitude is all because you just need to get your dick wet. Definitely makes you less of a ‘poor me, my fiancée left me’ and more the man I used to know in law school that fucked every girl that batted an eyelash at you.”

Noah snorts. “I think they are both on to something. I hate to admit it but fucking someone else definitely calms the anger. And before Tiffany, you stuck your dick in anything.”