“Same place. Kirby and OST,” I buckle my seatbelt and turn the radio down.
“Aww, shit. I forgot you live in the cut. Now that you’re a doctor, doctor and not just a resident, you gotta move to a better neighborhood. Come to Rivers Wilde, man. The Ivy has everything, and we’ll be neighbors. And, now that your ass is legal, we can go cause mayhem. There’s this new strip joint off Montrose and, man… the pussy is outstanding. I am so glad to have a single friend in town. All my friends are being assholes and getting married. They don’t know about this bachelor life, right?” He slaps my shoulder and flashes a conspiratorial grin. It’s so much like Regan’s rare grins and it hits me square in the gut.
I clear my throat, uneasy and not sure that this is the right segue, but I decide to take it and tell him. “So,” I say and clear my throat.
His phone rings and his car announces, “Remi, calling”
He holds up a finger, hits the green button to answer it and says, “Hey, what’s up?”
“Yo, I was thinking we should cancel dinner at Reggie’s tonight.” At the mention of Regan, my whole body tenses.
“Why? It’s Friday. This is one the one home cooked meal I eat all week. Why is she cancelling?”
“She’s not cancelling, I am. This is her last weekend in her house and she’s grieving a little. She loved it.”
“Why’s she moving?” I interject as casually as I can.
“Who’s in the car, Ty?” Remi’s voice drops a whole octave.
“Shit sorry, it’s Stone. I should have said.”
Remi’s silent for a beat. “Yeah, you should have,” he snaps. Then he softens his tone. “Stone, hey. I knew you were headed back. Didn’t realize it was today. You staying with Hayes?” he asks conversationally, but his voice is more guarded now that he knows I’m in the car.
“No, I kept my place in the medical center while I was gone, so I’m headed there.”
“Yo, damn I forgot!” Tyson slaps the steering wheel.
“What?” Remi and I ask at the same time.
“Stone was in Mexico when Reggie was. Maybe he saw the asshole in that picture.” Tyson’s hands tighten and twist on the steering wheel and his lip curls.
“Man, I fucking hope so,” Remi growls. “I want to kick his ass for hiding while my sister dangled on a hook all by herself.”
My stomach plummets to my toes. This doesn’t bode well.
“Hmmm…What did she say when you asked?” I ask trying to handicap my prospects.
“She says he’s some dude she met and had a fling with him...but that’s it.” Remi grumbles.
“Who was she with? Besides that chick.” Tyson asks.
“No one,” I answer flatly and turn my head to look out of the window. We’re flying down the airport service road and the scenery speeding by gives me an instant headache. My stomach roils. A stranger? She really expects me to go spend the rest of my life pretending that we don’t know each other. And I can’t breathe
“For real? Damn.” Tyson asks, disappointment clear in his voice.
“For real.” I spot a cluster of fast food restaurants and point. “Can we stop? I’m starving.”
“Yeah, and if we’re not going to Regan’s I’m going to get something, too.” He slams on his brakes and makes a squealing turn into the parking lot of the restaurant and joins the very long drive through line. Tyson throws his car into park as if he expects to be sitting for a very long time. Shit.
“So, we’ll start Friday nights in a few weeks. Let’s let her get settled, cool?” Remi asks.
“Hell no, it’s not cool. That’s the only home cooked meal I get all week.” Tyson whined.
“I just told you that Regan is wrecked. Stop being selfish.” My stomach clenches to hear that she’s wrecked, that she nearly lost her children because of that picture.
“I’m not just thinking about myself. I’m thinking about Regan, too. She needs adult time. Fun adult time. She needs to date again and get over that French motherfucker who I never liked, for the record.”
Remi lets out a long-suffering sigh. “Stone, welcome to the family. This is your life now. We don’t know each other well, but I’m looking forward to changing that. Since we’re kind of…brothers now.”
My gut tightens and I can’t hide my discomfort as I stammer through my answer.
“Uhh, but not really, though. I mean, he wasn’t my dad.”