Unfinished Ex (Calloway Brothers, #2)(80)

“How long?”

“A day. Two at the most.”

“But you’ll be back by Tuesday, won’t you? It’s kind of a big day.”

“I’m not sure even a late-season hurricane could keep me from the… appointment.”

Appointment, not ultrasound. She must not be alone.

“I know how important your job is, Nicky, but this is our child. If it comes down to it, you’d tell them, wouldn’t you? You know, before they send you into the eye of the storm again?”

“If it came to that, yes. I’d never do anything to jeopardize this.”

“I love you, Nic. Stay safe.”

“Same. Bye.”

“Come on, Heisman. Let’s go.” I put on a coat and walk to Donovan’s for drinks with Tag. After all, what else do I have to do on a Saturday when my girl is working? We sit outside under the heaters on the patio and watch football. Donny brings Heisman a bowl of water and us some drinks. He looks to be in pain when he hobbles away. “Hey, Donny,” I call. “You okay?”

“It’s my darned hip. Thing has bothered me for ages, but even more so now that the cold weather has set in.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Anything I can do?”

“Yeah, run this place for three months while I convalesce after a hip replacement.”

I cringe. “Yikes. That’s hard core. You’d have to stay off your feet for sure.”

“Why do you think I keep puttin’ it off? Ain’t nobody I trust to keep things running around here.”

He removes something from his pocket and pops some pills into his mouth. “I’m living on ibuprofen.

Hell, my stomach might give out before the old hip does.”

“Go easy, Donny. No need to come out here. I’ll come in and get the next round.”

He nods. “You’re one of the good ones, Jaxon Calloway.”

“Thank you, sir.”

One of the good ones. I know what he means by that. One of the good Calloway brothers. The other one being Chaz, his daughter’s dead fiancé.

“You think I’ll ever get rid of my bad fucking rep?” Tag asks after Donny walks away.

“Not so long as you talk with the mouth of a sailor in a whorehouse.”

“As if you don’t swear like a trucker.”

“Around you, sure. Not around Donny. Or random strangers, for that matter.”

“Whatever.” He nods to my phone. “You see Coop’s latest video? He posted it today.”

I don’t like the look on his face. I grab my phone and pull up Cooper’s YouTube channel.

“Iceboat racing? Seriously? As if jumping off shit isn’t scary enough, now he’s risking falling through the ice. Have Mom and Dad seen it?”

“Doubt it.” He shakes his head in frustration. “Mom would have shit bricks. We’d have heard about it. Where the hell is Lake Minnetonka anyway?”

“Minnesota.”

“Just wait,” he says, watching the video over my shoulder. “He flips the fucking boat.”

My eyes snap up. “I’m assuming he’s okay?”

“I read him the riot act a few hours ago, so don’t bother. Said he’s bruised along his left side and has a mild concussion.”

“What’s that, his third one?”

“You know he lives his life with one foot in the grave.”

“And he keeps digging it deeper. One of these times, he won’t be so lucky.”

Tags eyes blaze. “If he puts us through it again—puts Mom through it—I will kill him a second time just to make sure he’s fucking dead.”

I put a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s hope he grows out of it soon.”

“Drink up, bro,” he says, looking in the direction of the parking lot. “Because this day is about to get shittier.”

Hawk, Hunter, and Hudson McQuaid get out of Hunter’s sleek black Mercedes Maybach, which puts Tag’s Range Rover to shame. My eyes zero in on the dickhead doctor. If my venomous glare could kill, he’d be vulture meat.

“Well, if it isn’t the infamous daddy-to-be,” Hawk says, knocking my chair on his way by.

Heisman growls. I stiffen and watch Hudson closely. His expression gives nothing away— except for his disdain toward me, but nothing new there.

“Calista Hilson?” Hunter says with a low whistle. “She’s pretty fine. You could do way worse as far as baby mamas go. I’m surprised your tiny pencil dick could even knock someone up.”

As riled up as he’s trying to get me, I still feel a sense of relief. Everyone in Calloway Creek has found out about Calista over the past few weeks. But Hudson obviously kept his mouth shut about Nicky. I’ll bet it’s killing him right about now.

“Fuck off, guys,” Tag says.

“Kiss my ass, Calloway,” Hawk spews at my brother. He turns to me. “Bet your lady is having a fit over this. Or maybe she’s all into that threesome shit. Ah, man, I’m picturing her right now in one of those tiny dresses they put her in that fits like a glove on a donkey’s dong.”

I stand up so fast that Hawk jumps back. Then he chortles. He knows I won’t take a punch. I haven’t since high school, when Tag and I used to go out by the football field and rough it up with Hawk and Hunter. Hudson and our younger brothers were still in middle school at the time, or they’d have been there too. It was practically a Friday night date between the four of us to see who could fuck up whom the most. It was usually a draw. Which is why I quit fighting once Tag graduated. It was pointless. We still fight, but with words—insults, belittlements, and the occasional nasty rumor.