Side Squeeze (Jasper Falls 6)

The bell at the front of the store rung, and he looked up. Maybe it was Mariella coming to talk to him and tell him that she didn’t care about this other guy and she was through avoiding him.

He set down the papers and left the storeroom. “Hello?” The lights were out and the sign on the door had been flipped to CLOSED. The bell hadn’t been someone coming in. It had been his sister walking out.

He was alone. Utterly alone.

Normally, being by himself didn’t bother him, but he’d grown so used to his sister’s company the silence didn’t sit right.

He’d finished painting Erin’s hallway several nights ago, but noticed an old electrical socket that needed updating when he’d been touching up the trim. Grabbing a new outlet cover and some tools, he locked up the store and headed to his sister’s.

Erin’s back was hurting from being on her feet all day, so she was resting on the couch with her legs up when he arrived. Giovanni was in the kitchen cooking.

Harrison took the opportunity to grab a beer out of the fridge and get to know his brother-in-law a little better. “Erin tells me you guys are going out this weekend.”

Giovanni scrambled ground sausage in a hot pan. “That’s right.”

“She said Mariella’s joining you.”

He gave Harrison a shrewd, measuring glance over his shoulder then continued turning the ground meat. “You don’t miss a thing.”

He definitely didn’t miss the way Giovanni disliked the thought of him with his sister. He had some nerve, considering Giovanni never once checked in with him regarding his intentions to marry Erin.

Still, Harrison wanted information. “You think this guy’s right for Mariella?”

Giovanni sprinkled the pan with fennel seeds. “Being that he lives here and has no intentions of ghosting her for a decade, I’d say he’s scoring better than the last loser.”

Harrison took a quick step forward and caught himself. Keeping his voice low, he growled, “The last loser was Bran Dawson.”

“Another guy I’d like to knock out.”

That was it. He slammed his beer down on the counter and looked him dead in the eye. “You wanna knock me out, Mosconi? Go for it. I dare you. Take your best shot.”

He’d taken enough hits in his life not to worry about whatever Erin’s little husband might be able to dish out.

Giovanni shut off the stove and pushed the cast iron pan back. “You think you intimidate me? I know exactly who you are. You’re the guy who takes what he wants and runs away whenever anyone needs anything real in return. Don’t over exert yourself with the act.”

Harrison’s jaw locked. “I didn’t take anything.”

“You took plenty.”

“Did you ever stop to think that it might have been your sister who threw herself at me?” The shove caught him off guard and when he caught himself against the sink, an empty can of crushed tomatoes rattled into the basin.

“She did not!” Giovanni snarled. “She was a kid. You were a senior. You took advantage of her innocence and got exactly what you wanted.”

“Ha! If you think there was anything innocent about your sister the night she and I hooked up, you don’t know your sister at all. She might have been inexperienced, but she was in complete control. Mariella doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want to do.”

“You used her.”

“I never used her!”

“You abandoned her! Just like you did your sister! And it’s just a matter of time before you do it again!”

Something snapped inside of Harrison and his fist shot out connecting with Giovanni’s nose. His brother-in-law’s head whipped back, a stunned look on his face, then he hurled himself at Harrison, piledriving him into the fridge and ramming his knee into his side.

Harrison plowed forward, shoving Giovanni out the back door and they went tumbling down the steps. Pain exploded in Harrison’s back as Giovanni rolled over him in the lawn.

This wasn’t like his high school days when he could fall without hardly batting an eye. His shoulder hurt from how he’d landed, and he couldn’t remember punches stinging so badly.

“Stop this right now!” Erin’s piercing voice cut through the night and both he and Giovanni stilled.

A clump of grass and dirt clung to his mouth so he sat up and spit it away.

Giovanni wheezed and brushed at a streak of mud marking his jeans. “These are brand new pants.”

Harrison blinked and squinted. “You knocked my contact out.”

“What the hell is wrong with the two of you?” Erin shrilled.

Giovanni stood and pointed at Harrison. “Your brother—”

“I don’t want to hear it! We have neighbors. Is it too much to ask that we not be the hillbillies on the street for once? Could we at least pretend to be civilized? Both of you, get in the damn house!”

As Harrison stood, his knees protested and his joints popped. He hadn’t had Giovanni pegged as a fighter, but the guy actually had a pretty decent right hook.