“No. I told you I knew a guy, and then you paced the den and made me swear I was kidding.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You were kidding, right?”
She winked. “I guess we’ll never know.”
I shook my head and stared down at her. God, how had I gotten so lucky—and then so unlucky only a few months later?
I brushed my nose with hers and whispered, “I’ll see you soon, babe.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
And that was exactly what I was afraid of.
This trip was only a week of house hunting and meetings to lay the groundwork on Hud Construction’s northwest division.
But after that, it’d be one trip after another with no end in sight.
The dart board at Huey’s took a beating. Hudson had been gone over a week, and I’d broken tips off half my darts. One had even completely lost its fun pink-and-green fluffy bits—and I could relate.
Nevertheless, Hudson had been right as usual. Playing alone was pathetic, and that was now my life.
“I’ll take a cold pitcher, Carmen. This one’s gotten hot.” Honestly, beer just tasted like shit. The wings had been dry. Everything was shit. But I’d forced myself out of the house, refusing to sink like the Titanic.
“Are you sure you just don’t want a bottle instead?” she asked.
“Nah, make it a pitcher. I’ll share it with her.” I spun around and, at the door, saw a giant dork I hadn’t expected to run into that Thursday evening, but that dork was there for me. I ran over and threw my arms around my brother.
“Why didn’t you call me?” he asked.
“Because if I called and you turned me down, I’d be even more miserable, and I have to maintain a modicum of my ego to prove my dominance over Beep and Boop or they’ll eat my face off in my sleep.”
“Good thinking. Your face is one of your better features.”
I shoved my shoulder into his side and stomped back to my lonely booth.
“So, when does Hud get back?” Cal asked, going straight into it without pulling any punches. Then again, what had I expected?
“Tomorrow,” I answered, refilling my cup with the fresh cold-ish beer Carmen had brought us.
“What does this move mean for you two?”
But before I could answer, my phone went off beside my scattered, abused darts.
“That’s him. Hold on.” After a deep breath, I painted my face with a happy, supportive brush and answered his FaceTime call. “Hi.”
“Damn, you look good,” Hudson said, grinning at me on camera.
Across the table, Cal sat back and poured himself a beer.
“You look good too,” I replied. “How’d it go today? Find a Hudson Bradley–approved location?”
He wiped his scruffy chin with his hand and his brows rose, but there was little excitement on his face. “Yeah, I think so.” Clearly, neither of us wanted to celebrate because it was just one more thing making it all the more real. “I suppose I can check the warehouse, office, and at least an apartment off my list.”
“Well, that’s what you were out there to do. Job well done, big guy.” I felt none of the enthusiasm I was trying to emote, but he didn’t need me bitching and moaning. He needed me to be strong for him, whether he’d admit it or not.
“I guess. I just want to get back to Atlanta. I even tried to get a red eye out tonight, but there wasn’t anything that wouldn’t have me in the air for twelve hours just to save six. What are you doing? Are you at Huey’s?”
I pushed my shoulder forward and gave him a what-if-I-am glance, pursing my lips. “Yes, and I’ll have you know I just won at darts.”
Cal kicked me under the table.
“Okay, I was just playing myself, but why split hairs?”
“Are you alone?”
Thank God I didn’t have to lie; Hudson had enough guilt already. “Nope. My big, goofy brother is here. No need to worry.”
“Cal,” Hudson said and I turned the camera to face my company. “Don’t let her get you drunk and play her for money. You might be a doctor, but she’ll take you to the cleaners. She hustled me out of fifty bucks last time we played.”
Cal chuckled and leaned forward. “Do I look worried? Half the reason I don’t come here as much is because I make you guys look so, so sad. You’ll never be as good as me, either of you, so it’s not really fair to play you guys anyway.”