Bro Code(54)

I’m not sure if it’s the right thing to do, but before I even get out of my car, I call Nick. I’ve got to talk this through with somebody and there’s no point in keeping secrets from him anymore. He agrees to hop in his car and head over, which should get him to my apartment in thirty minutes. I spend that whole half hour pacing, looking for any way out of all of this that doesn’t end in me losing my job, Ava, or my best friend…or worse yet, all three.

By the time Nick buzzes up, I’ve tried out over a dozen different ways of bending the truth, but I know I can’t lie to him any better than I can lie to these guys at the meeting tonight.

I may get decked for it, but I’m better off just manning up and shooting him straight. Nick knocks on the door a few times to be polite, but as usual, he walks right in once he realizes it’s unlocked.

“Hey, man, are you okay?” he asks as he taps the snow off his boots. “You sounded weird on the phone.” When I shrug him off, he throws his keys on the counter and plops himself onto the couch.

It never takes much of an invitation for Nick to make himself at home. I’ve got half a mind to get a beer or two in him before I break the news, but we’re short on time. Might as well get right to it.

“I’ve got to talk to you about something.” I go back to pacing the living room, not sure if I have the balls to look him in the eye. “You're not going to like it, and I know that I’m probably going to lose you as a friend because of this. And that really sucks. But I’m going to say it anyway.”

“Barrett, chill out. We’ve been friends for pretty much our whole lives. It would take a hell of a lot to screw that up.”

I plant my feet and take a deep breath. Here comes a hell of a lot.

“I love you like a brother, man. You know that. But also...I love your sister.”

Nick rolls his eyes, relaxing back into the couch. “That’s it? So, what? She’s my sister, I hope you’d care about her.”

“No, I mean I love her. I'm in love with Ava. And I want to be with her.”

His eyes widen and lock onto mine. “Are...are you joking?”

“No.”

I can practically watch the gears in his head turn as he starts piecing things together—the moments of tension he interrupted at his parents’ house, the times Ava and I would disappear together, everything.

“So, you mean when you said you couldn’t hang out a couple of weeks ago, that chick that you had here in the apartment...was that Ava?”

Shit. Maybe I should lie and say it was someone else, pretend that nothing physical has happened between me and Ava. I don’t want to show up to this meeting tonight with a black eye.

“Barrett. Answer me. Was she here?”

I shouldn’t have paused for that long. If I lied now, no way he would believe me. Brace yourself, Barrett.

“Yes, she spent the weekend here with me.”

“Son of a bitch.” Nick leaps off the couch and lunges at me and I duck out of the way. He takes a step back, cooling down and pulling himself together as he paces the room. “My goddamn sister, you son of a bitch,” he mutters through his teeth. “The one damn thing that should have been off-limits and you can't keep your dick in your pants.”

“I’m sorry, Nick, but it wasn't like that.” Actually, that's exactly how this started, when she caught me coming out of the shower…but he doesn't need to know that. “I've had a crush on her for a while now. Years. And seeing her again...things just kind of clicked. I can’t help how I feel. If I could control it, I would. Believe me. The last thing I want to do is fuck up our friendship.”

He stops dead in his tracks, then turns back to me, his squinty eyes sizing me up. “Really? You’re telling me if you could control it, if you could turn on a dime and suddenly not love my sister, you would?”

He's got me there.

“No. No, I wouldn’t,” I admit. “You’re right. I wouldn’t give her up.”

He shakes his head and takes his spot on the couch again. “Then I guess it must be something real.”

Things have calmed down enough that I decide to test my luck and grab a seat on the couch next to him. He doesn’t immediately reach over and strangle me, which seems like a good sign.

“So, how many times do you have to knee me in the balls until we’re even?” I’m only half joking, but it gets a smirk out of Nick.

“You've got to deal with something that hurts way worse, man. The wrath of Ava. She’s never going get over the fact that you’re the ringleader in this whole takeover business. I’ve never seen her this furious.”

“Has she said anything about me?”

Nick snorts. “How the hell would I know, she hasn’t spoken a word to me since I told her she'd be better off selling.”

“You told her I told you to sell?”

Nick wags a finger at me like he’s scolding a dog. “Don’t turn this on me. You’re the one who’s been getting it on with my sister behind my back.”

“I’m not getting it on with her, Nick. I love her.”

“Shit, that sounds so goddamn weird.” He makes a face, and shakes his head like he's trying to clear a visual image.

“Well then, this next part is going to sound even weirder.” I glance at my watch—three hours until the meeting, and it’s at least a three-hour drive. Fuck. “Help me get your sister back?”