I could taste tequila on my lips, and my throat was burning. It had dulled the mind and the senses, which was good. It did not, however, lessen this strange pressure in my chest that only appeared when I was thinking about Laney.
“Don’t know what ship that is, because mine just went down,” I declared.
Tess clasped my right hand, looking straight at me. “Brother. She is special to you. Some people search forever for someone to look at them the way you look at Laney.” Her voice was uneven on that last syllable, cluing me in that she was referring to herself. “And she looks at you the same way.” She pouted, shaking her head. “I don’t like this. You need us to cheer you up. I vote we rehash some stupid things we did in our youth. That’s always a lot of fun.”
Ryker stretched on the couch, grinning. “If only we’d known years ago that our stupid ideas would be useful eventually, I would’ve had a reason every time Mom asked, Why did you do this?”
***
Next day, I woke up with a remarkably clear head. Then again, we hadn’t had too much to drink yesterday, just a few shots each. I was in Tess’s guest room. Hunter and Ryker had left late last night.
Looking at my phone, I discovered three missed calls from Laney, and about ten messages. I shut off the screen quickly, without reading them.
Fuck, I was turning into a coward.
Well, no. I was afraid of what she wrote back. I c
ould own up to that.
I got out of bed, heading straight to the living room. Tess was there, lying on the floor on her belly, typing on her laptop with one hand, holding the phone to her ear with the other one.
“I’ve got to go. I’ll call you later,” she said the second she saw me.
“Tess, you don’t have to drop everything for me. Go back to your call.”
I was already feeling guilty for basically hijacking her day yesterday.
“Mmm, no. Operation: Taking Care of Cole is still going on.” Rising to her feet, she smoothed her pink dress, pointing with one thumb over her shoulder to the dining table.
“I woke up early and made banana bread. Want some?”
“Sure.”
“Let’s dig in. I’ve already had breakfast, but you can never have enough banana bread. Wait a second. There’s something different about you today.” After we sat down, she parked her chin in her hand, looking at me intently. She was in detective mode again. And while I didn’t doubt she would guess eventually, I felt like opening up.
“Woke up to a few missed calls and messages from Laney,” I said.
“Oooh. What does she say?”
I swallowed a mouthful, buying time. “I didn’t look.”
She gave me a sympathetic smile. “Too afraid?”
The best thing about Tess was that she had this uncanny feeling that told her when to tease someone or offer genuine sympathy. All I could do was nod. I wasn’t ashamed to admit it. This was not a business deal that I could judge based on numbers and facts and leave emotions at the door.
“Want me to read them for you?” she offered.
For a few seconds, I actually entertained the option, before deciding it was a terrible idea. If it was bad news, I sure as hell didn’t want to see it on my sister’s face first.
“No, I’ll man up and deal with it.”
“Have some coffee first. Nothing worse than trying to make sense of a situation while half your neurons are still asleep.”
After drinking two cups of coffee, I finally looked at the messages.
Laney: Call me when you see my missed call.
Laney: Just tried to call you again