For once, I found myself thankful that Ryan got hit on by every single female that entered our bar. “Thanks. I might just need that.”
I really had intended to keep my crappy plans closely guarded, but that was my pride talking. My heart was on the line here, and it wasn’t like Nick and Ryan were rooting against me. They actually wanted me to end up with the girl. Maybe I could use their help instead of trying to do everything on my own.
Nick gave me an exasperated look. “I know we said we’d butt out, but I can’t. Just tell me what the hell you’re planning. You guys helped me when I needed you.” He grimaced. “Well, you both yelled at me was more like it.”
And just like that, I gave in. All my resolve and bravado vanished as I stared at the two people I trusted most in my life.
“To be honest, I’ve been going over and over this all night long.” My head had been spinning the entire night, trying to think of ways to find Claudia so I could talk to her, and hopefully get her to listen to me.
“Have you tried Facebook?” Nick asked like the social-media marketing guru he was, which didn’t surprise me at all.
I shook my head. “I need to see her in person. Texting and calling her haven’t worked so far, so the whole social-media angle isn’t going to work. What am I going to do when I find her, anyway? Send her a friend request and another email for her to ignore? No, it’s got to be face-to-face.”
When it came to Claudia, being passive wasn’t going to get the job done. I needed to physically see her and make her listen. I wasn’t above begging, if necessary.
“He’s right.” Ryan reached beneath the bar and pulled out an old oversized mason jar filled with scraps of paper of all shapes and sizes. He dumped them onto the bar top and sorted through them, clearly searching for one in particular.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
He scoffed at me as if I’d ask
ed the stupidest question in the world. “Finding Britney’s number.”
“You seriously think you’re going to find her number in that mess?” I pointed at the pile of paper scraps, shocked by how many phone numbers my brother had accumulated, and kept.
“You have little faith, brother. She gave it to me on off-white paper. I’ll find it,” Ryan said with a grin.
“How the hell do you even remember that?” Nick asked, echoing my own thoughts.
Ryan stopped sorting and looked up with a sheepish grin. “I have no fucking idea.”
The three of us laughed, and Ryan went back to digging through pile. A few moments later, he let out a whoop.
“Got it! Found it!” He waved a cream-colored slip of paper in the air. “Told you,” he said with a smug smile.
“All right, Romeo, now what?” I asked.
“We need to get Claudia to come here,” Ryan said matter-of-factly.
My face twisted into a grimace. That idea hadn’t sat right with me when I’d first considered it, and it didn’t feel any better now.
Ryan glanced at my expression and seemed to deflate. “What? I’ll just text Britney and get her to bring Claudia here. I’m sure she’ll do it.”
“And then what?” I threw my hands up in frustration. “Claudia and I discuss all of our private business in public, in front of you and anyone else who wants to watch and listen?”
I couldn’t stomach the thought of people witnessing our private moments, when so much about my brothers and our business was already in the public eye. I also couldn’t in good conscience trick Claudia into coming here if she had no desire to see me.
Quickly running through the possible scenarios, I shook my head. “Not to mention the fact that having Claudia come here would put her on edge. This is my turf, and if we were all waiting for her to show up, she’d feel ganged up on and would be defensive instead of willing to listen. Not to mention pissed off. I can’t have Claudia pissed when I’m trying to reason with her.”
I imagined her feisty attitude and couldn’t help how it turned me on, but I needed to focus on getting her to hear me out first before I thought about all the things I wanted to do to her body. And the list was growing by the day.
“Then I’ll ask Britney for their home address. You can show up there like a proper stalker,” Ryan said, and Nick laughed.
I hated that idea as well. It felt like an ambush, so I shook my head again. “I can’t do that either. It’s too personal, showing up at her home. Not to mention it’s a little creepy.” Going to Claudia’s place uninvited would be invading a very private space that I hadn’t been invited into yet. It would be one thing if I’d been over there before, but I hadn’t.
“It’s only creepy if she doesn’t like you,” Nick said with a smile. “Otherwise, girls think it’s romantic.”
Ryan frowned at him. “Since you have all the answers, little brother, why don’t you tell us what you think he should do.”