On the Rocks (Last Call #1)(62)

Brody’s no dummy. I can see the wheels spinning in his head. “I don’t want a partnership.”

“Not offering it again,” I tell him, although if I thought he’d take it, I’d gladly give it to him. But I’ve decided I’m not going to push past the limits of his pride.

“What do you need?”

“I need you to run Last Call and manage it for me. Take over all the duties I’m doing. I’ll hire a bartender to replace you. Keep it going until I return.”

“And when might that be?” he asks, although he doesn’t really sound all that interested in the answer.

“I don’t know. Maybe after next year’s tour. Maybe I’ll stay on another year… two. Who knows?”

“And you’d need my commitment for that unspecified time period?”

“That’s the gist of it. Can I count on you?”

Brody’s gaze lowers to the floor. I wait for his answer, fully expecting his support. I’m stunned when he says, “I don’t know. I need to think about it.”

Okay, I get that. I’m asking him to take on a lot of responsibility, but f*ck… I gave up my career to come home and be there for him. I’d think the least he could do is f*cking have my back. Still, it’s with a calm voice that I say, “Fine. But I need an answer soon. My agent says the deals will be pulled soon if I don’t commit.”

“So it’s a definite?” Brody asks, looking back up at me. “You’re definitely doing it?”

“No, it’s not a definite. I’m still considering my options, but it would help if I knew you were on board. Help my decision making a bit easier.”

“Let me have tonight,” he asks.

Taking a deep breath, I say, “Sure.”

Brody stands up and walks to the door. I hesitate for a minute, and then follow him. When we step into the hallway, I ask, “Do you want to talk to me about this? Talk through any concerns?”

Shaking his head, Brody gives me an impassive look and doesn’t answer my question. “Look Hunter… I know what you’ve done for me—what you’ve given up. If I can help you, I will. I’m just trying to sort through some internal shit, and that’s best done alone.”

“Okay,” I tell him. “Understood.”

But I don’t understand shit about my brother.

Brody starts to turn to head back into the bar area, but then turns around. “How does Gabby fit into your decision-making process?”

“She doesn’t, apparently,” I tell him. I see his eyes go dark, so I immediately add on, “I mean that she’s told me not to factor her in the decision. She fully supports whatever I want to do.”

His eyes lighten back up, and he gives me a small smile. “But you’re still going to factor her in, right?”

“Of course I am,” I tell him with a smile.

Brody just gives me a stiff nod and heads into the bar area. I follow behind him, immediately assaulted with the roar of four men laughing. When I turn the corner, I can tell immediately it’s coming from Henry Coursier’s table, and I smile internally to myself. The guy is a one-man, walking-comedic show.

As I approach the rear of their booth, I hear Henry say, “…I’d almost consider it, because come on… what a pair of tits.”

Shaking my head, I snicker at the man and his dirty mouth.

Then I hear another guy say, “And she has a fine ass, too. Just imagine seeing her bent over a sawhorse every day… you’d walk around with a perpetual hard-on.”

Another round of laughter fills my ears, but suddenly, I’m not thinking this conversation is so funny anymore. Suddenly… I have a feeling I know who they are talking about, and I am not appreciating this conversation.

Then Henry Coursier puts a nail in his coffin when he says, “It’s all moot. No way am I going to offer that job to a f*cking woman. I don’t care how great her tits and ass look in a pair of jeans. She’s got no business working in a man’s field.”

Rage such as I’ve never felt before filters through me. I f*cking see a red cape waving in front of me, and I’m a f*cking charging bull. I turn the corner to their booth and immediately see Henry Coursier’s fat f*cking face go pale when he sees me. He’s sitting on the inside but that doesn’t stop me.

I reach over the man sitting next to him and grab Coursier by his shirt with both fists, hauling him out of the booth and across the table, knocking over glasses and lunch plates in the process. Everyone sitting there is so stunned that they don’t even make a move as food and drinks spill onto their laps. I hear Brody behind me say, “Oh shit.”

Then I’m dragging Henry through my bar. He tries to rip away from me, so I merely grab him around the back of the neck with one hand, using my other to twist his arm up behind his back. He whimpers like a little f*cking girl.

When I hit the front door, I give him a solid push and he goes flying through it, landing on his ass in the gravel parking lot. Henry looks at me in fear because I barrel toward him, again… f*cking bull… enraged.

Leaning down, I grab him by the shirt and pull him to his feet. I hear the door open behind me, and people rushing out to the parking lot. I vaguely hear Brody say, “Don’t do it, Hunter,” but that’s the last thing I hear before my arm cocks back and my fists connects viciously with his jaw.