Craft (The Gibson Boys 2)

Nerdy Nurse: Bad hook-up tonight? LOL

Me: Strangely, my sister.

Nerdy Nurse: You hooked-up with your sister? I’m out.

Laughing, I flip off the engine but don’t get out of the car.

Me: Very funny.

Nerdy Nurse: Here’s my fun fact for you for the night—don’t stick things where they don’t belong.

Me: Is that some kind of sexual warning? Not into anal? That kind of thing?

Nerdy Nurse: Speaking of anal …

Me: That’s my girl! :D

Nerdy Nurse: … I just watched a man have a candle removed from his anus.

Squirming in my seat, I try to imagine this and then decide I don’t want to.

Me: Sorry. Took me a minute to make sure I read that right. Can I ask why?

Nerdy Nurse: Apparently if you insert it and light the wick end (that you leave outside your anus), the wax provides some sort of erotic stimulation. I think the removal of the broken piece did not.

Me: You scare me.

Nerdy Nurse: Ha.

Glancing at the door to the bar, I contemplate just starting the car and going back home. Initially, I thought I could see if Megan McCarter was around and at least score a blow job, but the more I think about it, the more it feels meh.

Still, going home alone feels even less appetizing.

Me: Gotta go. Good luck with all that anal play.

Nerdy Nurse: You know it. ;)

Me: I’m glad we had this little convo.

Nerdy Nurse: Don’t get too excited.

As my laughter fills the car, I think it’s already a little too late for that.

Closing the app, I lock up and make my way down the sidewalk and into the bar. The lights are dim and the music quiet. Not what I hoped for or expected.

“Didn’t expect to see you tonight.” My brother Machlan looks at me from the other side of the bar, already reaching for the whiskey. He’s younger than me, the youngest in our family.

It’s pretty empty inside Crave, especially for a Friday night. I slide onto a stool toward the cash register and watch him make my Old Fashioned. I’m not much of a drinker, especially when I have a boatload of work to do at home. I just don’t feel like reading essays on Latin America tonight and I definitely can’t concentrate on them.

My brain is a clusterfuck of randomness. That is never a good thing.

“Bored, I guess,” I say, shrugging. “Do I need a reason to come in here?”

“Everybody has a reason to walk into a bar,” he laughs. “Some accept that reason and some don’t.”

“Look at you getting all philosophical.”

He slides the drink down the bar. It stops almost perfectly centered in front of me.

“Impressive,” I laugh, picking it up.

Machlan makes a face. “I learned it from Peck. It’s one of his weird parlor tricks.”

This isn’t hard to imagine. Peck, our cousin, is the resident jokester. He’s full of weird facts and unusual knowledge and can link toothpicks together with his mind. I’ve seen it done. Strange shit.

Still, he’s one of my favorite people in the world. Heart of gold, straight shooter, and he can talk his way out of, or into, anything.

“Glad to know he’s putting his time to good use,” I say, taking a sip of my drink.

“Who’s putting their time to good use?” Peck asks, hopping on the stool beside me. “Hey, Machlan. Can I get a beer?”

“No, fucker, you can’t. Your tab hasn’t been paid in a month.”

Peck throws his head back and sighs. “I don’t have my wallet and your brother almost killed me today. Cut me some slack, will ya?”

“What did Walker do?” I ask, wondering if Peck is exaggerating or if something happened. He works for Walker—the middle child out of us three Gibson boys—at his repair shop, Crank. My mother once had a recurring nightmare something happened to Walker in that shop.

“Nothing. He did nothing. That’s the problem,” Peck moans. “Sienna, God knows I love her, but when she’s around Walker is about as useful as tits on a nun.”

“Yeah, well, I can’t say I blame him,” I say, taking a longer swig this time. “Is it wrong to wish she’d have beat the hell out of my car just so I could’ve called dibs?”

“You better not be talking about what I think you’re talking about.” A large hand makes contact with the back of my head, sending me rocking forward. Just as I’m about to turn around and go toe-to-toe with whomever just smacked me, Walker sits on the other side of me. He eyes me with a seriousness that only Sienna can bring out in him. “Why are you talking about my lady?”

“It was your sidekick over here bringing her up.” I nod to Peck, rubbing the back of my head. “Touch me again and I’ll whip the shit out of you.”

He laughs, taking a beer from Machlan. “I’d love to see you try.”