Uncut Bundle

Matthew thought about duking it out. A little physical action would probably improve his mood but his brothers, for all their swagger, looked worried.

He sighed again and pushed back his chair. “How’d you guys know I was getting hungry?”

They set out for a bar a few blocks away. It was a place where you could get a pretty good hamburger and a beer without stained glass hanging over your head or an asparagus fern dangling in your eye.

The brothers settled in their favorite booth and gave the waitress their order.

Alex commented on the weather. Cam commented on the traffic. Matthew made no comment at all.

Cam cleared his throat.

“So,” he said, after exchanging a meaningful look with Alex, “how was Colombia?”

“Okay.”

Silence. The waitress brought their beer. Cam raised an eyebrow at Alex. Your turn, pal, the raised eyebrow said.

Alex cleared his throat, too. “You take care of whatever it was the old man wanted done down there?”

Matthew raised his glass to his lips. “Uh-huh.”

More silence. More looks flashing between Cam and Alex.

“Guess I’m the only one hasn’t been asked to do a good deed for our esteemed padre,” Alex said briskly.

“Give it time,” Cam said.

“Yeah,” Matthew said. “And when he finally asks, watch your ass.”

Nine whole words, Cam thought. Almost a record for the day.

“Because?”

“Because, you might just want to be smart and say, no way. You need a job done, do it yourself.”

“Well,” Cam said carefully, “it worked out okay for me. I mean, if I hadn’t said ‘yes’ to what the old man asked, I wouldn’t have found Salome.”

Matthew looked up from his beer. “You ended up in intensive care,” he said coldly. “Anybody in his right mind would just as soon pass on that.”

“What counts is that I met the woman I love.”

There was tension in Cam’s tone, almost a challenge, but Matthew ignored it.

“Yeah, well, the love crap—” He raised his hands in apology at the sudden flash of heat in Cam’s eyes. “Sorry. I’m glad it’s real for you, man. Hell, I’m crazy about my new sister-in-law. You know that. But that doesn’t mean l-o-v-e isn’t b.s. for ninety-nine percent of the rest of us.”

Another long look passed between Alex and Cam.

“Are we, uh, are we talking about a particular woman?” Alex asked.

“Who said we were talking about a woman at all?”

“Well, nobody said it, but you said love was—”

“I know what I said. And no, we’re not talking about a particular woman.”

“Good. Good, because if we were—”

“Do I look like the kind of idiot who would fall for a woman and let her make a fool of me? Do I?”