Ho Ho Hennessy

Hennessy puffed his chest out. “I’m a confident man.”

“I’m really, really going to enjoy this. I’ve wanted to buy enough headphones for the computer lab at the alternative school.”

“Not as much as me.” He grinned then stopped. “Wait … how much money are we talking about?”

“Let’s wager the amount Viper would pay you … plus the four-course dinner we have to make for the winner. I hope your cooking skills are better than your fucking skills.”

“Hennessy, I wouldn’t.” Shade broke in before he could accept the terms.

He couldn’t brag to Viper and Shade about having a man card if he was too big of a wimp to use it.

“Arin married or have a boyfriend?”

“Not that I know of.” Placing her phone on the table, Winter resumed eating her breakfast. “If she does, we’ll just call the bet off.”

“You or someone in the room going to sabotage me and tell her about the bet?”

“No. I won’t have to play sneaky. I’m expecting you to sabotage yourself.”

“Then I’m game because, Winter, you don’t know me, but I can be smooth as glass when I wanna sweet talk a woman.”

“She’s going to make mincemeat pie out of you.” Winter pointed her fork at him before stabbing into a sausage link on her plate.

It was like waving a red flag in front of a bull.

“I’ll be fa-la-la-la-ing to Florida with your and Viper’s money in my pocket,” he bragged.

“The money will be used to help disadvantaged youths’ education,” Viper’s wife told him.

“They can learn the same way I did—in the school of hard knocks without headphones.”

“Grinch.”

Hennessy winced when she bit into the sausage.

“He’s the first person I admitted into the Road Kingz. We’re bros,” he said complacently. When he was growing up, he’d felt bad the Grinch had such a bad rep. At the end of the day, who had fucking saved Christmas? It was the fucking Grinch, not Santa Claus. Though, he didn’t give a shit if it was the Grinch who had ruined it in the first place.

“Why am I not surprised?”

Laying her fork down, she rose from the table. “I need some orange juice. Viper, you want anything?”

“No, I’m good.”

“I’ll shoot you a text of me and Arin together with a big smile on her face to show you I won.” Hennessy gave the parting shot to Winter’s back as she turned.

The hair on the back of his neck stood up when she turned around with a smile that had his nuts shrinking into walnuts.

“That won’t be necessary. I’ll take Arin’s word for it. Is that okay with you, Arin?”

Jerking his head to the side at Winter’s raised voice, he saw Arin at the entrance of the dining room.

Seeing that she was the center of attention, she continued carrying her dishes to the sink and placed them inside. “His broke ass will be going to Florida with empty pockets. I’ve got your students covered, Winter. You can go ahead and order the headphones.” Frostily, Arin then sauntered back into the dining room.

Hennessy didn’t look away until Winter sat back down with her glass refilled.

“I told you that you’d sabotage yourself.”

“You knew she was there.” Desperate, he tried to wiggle out of the bet.

“Not until I turned around. And you’re not going to get out the bet that easily. I’ve already ordered the headphones.” Raising her cell phone, she showed him where she had made the purchase.

“You couldn’t have known you would win.” Too late, he was beginning to understand how Arin must have felt—fucked over without getting any of the pleasure.

Winter rolled her eyes at him. “Hennessy, take it from another woman’s viewpoint. Substance is everything to them. There was no way you were going to win.”

“Fuck.” Hennessy held back the curse until Winter finished breakfast and left before letting the word slip free.

“I tried to warn you.”

“Shade, I didn’t hear you say Arin is standing there, listening come out of your fucking mouth.”

“I told you I stay out of firefights.”

“Next time you want to warn me about something, how about you make a little bit more effort?”

“A two-by-four on the back of your head wouldn’t have stopped you,” Core grumbled, taking Winter’s seat.

“He didn’t have to go to that extreme … but a Hennessy, shut the fuck up. Arin is listening to every dumb fuck thing coming out of your mouth would be good.”

“Would be even easier if you didn’t make stupid bets,” Shade shot back wryly. “At least the one I lost to her, I had a chance of winning.”

When he saw the sympathetic gazes of the men around him, doubts began to surface under the confidence he had shown when Winter had been there.

“Winter does this often?”

“If you’re asking if my wife makes it a habit to goad the brothers into bets that she knows she can win? Then sadly, I have to admit she does,” Viper answered when none of the other men in the room would.