Chase chuckles fair enough.
“If there’s hope for you…” He looks to me. “You want to bet?” He holds up the bills. “Three to one odds.”
“You want me to bet on myself?” I ask.
He nods yeah. “Yeah. Gotta get you at the ceremony.”
“You’re going?” I shrug my shoulders. Of course, he’s going. He can pretend he doesn’t give a fuck as much as he wants. I know better.
His methods are… unconventional, but he does try to help.
“You’re pretty casual about Chase fucking our sister,” I say.
“Yeah, ’cause I realize she’s an adult who makes her own decisions.” He rolls his eyes obviously. Looks to Oliver’s suite. “You want to bet? Odds are dropping to two to one after the first taker.”
The hum of Oliver’s gun ceases. He stands. Shakes his head. “Can I bet on Forest giving you a black eye?” His chuckle is low. Deep. Knowing.
He and Holden are best friends.
Somehow.
It still doesn’t make sense. Oliver is serious and moody. Holden is… not.
But they’re two peas in a pod.
“Yeah.” Holden reaches into his wallet. Pulls out another hundred-dollar bill. “Even money.”
“So, he bets a hundred bucks, he gets a hundred bucks back?” Chase asks.
Holden nods hell yeah.
“What good is that bet?” Chase asks.
“He gets to enjoy Holden’s pain,” I say.
“That’s cruel. You’d do that to me?” Holden winks at Oliver. “Can’t believe you want to do me like that.”
Oliver nods uh-huh. “I’m going back to work.” He drops into his suite, turns on his gun, tunes us out.
Holden looks to me. “What do you say? Want to bet on my black eye?”
“You’re gonna pay me to hit you? Not seeing a downside.” I try to make my voice teasing, but it’s not quite there. I’d never hit Holden. Hell, it’s my job, as his older brother, to make sure no one hits him.
He doesn’t make that job easy. But I still do it.
“Didn’t think that one though.” Chase chuckles.
“It’s for you, Forest.” Holden looks at me with a dead-serious expression. “You gotta work out that aggression.”
“Do I?”
He nods hell yeah. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t want to hurt someone right now.” He picks up the envelope. Pulls out the invitation.
You are cordially invited…
Fuck, it’s hot in here. Stuffy. We need to turn the AC up. I don’t care that it’s a cool day.
I need air.
I need—
“Leave him alone,” Chase says.
Holden shakes his head no fucking way.
Chase whispers something to him.
Holden shrugs true. “I got a lot of people willing to bet on you.”
“Lucky me.” My throat goes dry. You are cordially invited to the wedding of Diego Flores and Mackenzie Davis.
“Give me some inside info. You going stag? Showing up with a cousin you’re passing off as a girlfriend? Hiring a sex worker? I know a girl with great rates,” Holden says.
Chase chuckles. “You hire a prostitute?”
“I know her. I don’t hire her,” he says.
Chase looks at him like he can’t tell if he’s lying or not. Then his attention turns to me. His blue eyes fill with concern.
It’s a normal look for him. Chase is more protective older brother than I am.
His family is more fucked up than mine is.
Though it’s not his and my family anymore. The guy is marrying my sister. They’re having a baby. A baby named after our mom.
Fuck, even that isn’t enough to push away the nausea in my throat.
Something buzzes against my leg. My phone. A text.
An excuse for some air.
I look to the clock. Ten minutes until my appointment. Maybe I can cancel. Or ask Chase to fill in.
My hands are shaking. My entire body is shaking. And I—
Fuck, it’s too stuffy. It’s impossible to work with the air this still and suffocating.
“I need coffee.” I move toward the door. Try to avoid my brother’s gaze.
His bright eyes—he has Mom’s eyes—fill with concern for a split second. Then they’re back to typical Holden Ballard I don’t give a fuck bullshit. “You gonna call her? Beg her to call it off and take you back? I’ll give hundred to one odds on that working.”
From his suite, Oliver chuckles.
I guess he’s not tuning us out.
Chase just shakes his head. “At this rate, I’m going to hit you.”
“I’ll sue you for creating a hostile work environment,” Holden says.
“You think there’s any jury who would take your side?” Chase teases.
Holden nods fair enough. He looks me up and down. Shakes his head you’re pathetic. “You are going?”
“Yeah.” Maybe. If I find a replacement fake boyfriend for Skye, it might be better for me to skip. To sell the whole she broke my heart, I can’t stand to be near her story.
“Alone?” He raises a brow. “She’s going to think you’re still in love with her.”
“I’m not—”
He holds up his hand don’t bother. “I’m telling you, Forest. This girl is good. Discrete. Hot. Too hot for you.”