lot of fun, but you’re actually going to go on and accomplish something.”
Well, shit. They were in danger of getting morose. Teague elbowed Cillian. “You’re never not fucking around.”
“Damn straight.”
“Then we toast.” Aiden lifted his beer, his eyes a little glassy. “To those of us who fuck around. And to Devlin, the best of us all.”
Teague and Cillian raised their glasses, blatantly ignoring the embarrassment on their youngest brother’s face. “To Devlin.”
Of them all, Devlin had the best chance to be as free as anyone could be in their family. There were five siblings between him and the position of heir, and he wasn’t female to be traded to an allegiance. It would take some arguing, but he could probably convince their father to let him get a job doing something he’d truly love.
Aiden slouched in his seat, his back popping. “Someone has to get out, Devlin. It might as well be you.”
“You say that like all your future is set in stone. It isn’t.” Devlin set his beer back on the table, untouched. “You can change things. All of you can.”
The only changing going on these days was for the worse. Aiden was turning into their father, Teague was almost drowning in a war he couldn’t seem to get ahead of, and Cillian…Well, with Teague married and safely positioned for the glory of the O’Malley clan, their father would turn his gaze onto the next eldest child. Cillian’s days of freedom were nearly at an end, even with his plans to step up and take over the family books.
He hadn’t realized he’d spoken aloud until Cillian laughed, sliding sideways in his chair. “That just means I have to enjoy life to the fullest before it all starts crashing down around me.”
Devlin shook his head. “You’re hopeless. All of you. What happened to our sticking together, to us versus the world? You sound like you’ve given up.”
“And you sound like you haven’t been drinking nearly enough.” Teague peered into his brother’s beer. It blurred for a moment before snapping into focus. “Are you sober?”
“Someone has to be there to make sure you lot don’t end up lost and passed out in a back alley.”
Teague turned to Aiden. “You hear that? He’s not even drunk.” Hell, he shouldn’t have drank so much tonight—he hadn’t planned on it when he’d agreed to this—but the nostalgic feeling of being surrounded by his brothers had made him careless. He shook his head. “What time is it?”
“Time for you to get a watch.” Cillian snickered. “God, I crack myself up.”
“That’s because you’re an idiot.” Teague flicked a peanut shell at him. He glanced at his phone and grimaced. It was well after one in the morning. “We have Mass in seven hours.”
They all exchanged looks. Cillian shrugged. “Not like I haven’t shown up hungover for Mass before.”
“There’s a difference between showing up hungover and showing up still drunk.” Aiden rose, wobbled a little, and then straightened. “I’ll take care of our tab.”
“I guess that’s that.” Cillian drained his beer and stretched. “I’ve got to use the pisser.”
Teague watched him stumble off. “Our brother is a serious winner.”
“Leave him alone. We each deal with this stuff in our own way.”
That was the damn truth. It just seemed like stress, and their family bullshit didn’t touch Cillian the way it did the rest of them. But what did he know? He and Cillian had never been particularly close—responsibility weighed on Teague too heavily and his younger brother too lightly for them to do more than aggravate the hell out of each other. He glanced at Devlin. Maybe he was right. “How’d you get so smart?”
“I learned from the best.” He grinned. “Now, let’s get you home so you’re not a mess for your woman tomorrow.”
They’d specifically picked a pub they could walk back from, though he wasn’t sure the few blocks would be enough to sober them up before they got there. Teague collected Cillian and handed him off to Aiden. The walk through the brisk night air would hopefully balance out the short distance before they actually reached the front door. His mother didn’t bother to yell at them, but she could send all four of them to their knees with a look of profound disappointment. “I’d like to be able to do that someday.”
Devlin looked over. “Do what?”
“That thing our mother does with her face when we’ve screwed up.”
Aiden snorted. “Good luck with that. She’s had an entire lifetime to perfect that look.” He cursed