Razed (Barnes Brothers #2)(35)

Running his tongue along his teeth, Zane shrugged. “I finished some things up, got a mover to bring out some boxes and wanted to be here when they arrived. Also brought out some of my camera equipment.” He angled his head toward Zach. “Why do I get the feeling there’s a problem?”

“No problem.” Zach shook his head. Then he shrugged. “Might have been nice to know you were here, but hey . . .”

“Shit, Zach.” Zane rolled his eyes and grabbed his drink, resisting the urge to toss it back like a shot of whiskey. He could handle his liquor, but tequila was better off taken in a little slower. He knew from experience. “I planned to call you in the morning. I just got in a couple hours ago.”

“It’s not a problem.”

At that moment, the chatter across the table died down.

Keelie’s gaze slid between them. Zane could see the questions she tried to hide.

Abby didn’t bother. Her dark brown eyes narrowed. “What’s the matter?” When there wasn’t an immediate response, she cocked her head and studied her husband. “Zach, you look like you got a thorn in your paw.”

“I do not.” There was a definite sulk to his voice.

Abby rolled her eyes. “Whatever, baby. Geez.” She studied him for a long, lingering moment and then shifted her attention to Zane.

When she decided not to push it, he could have kissed her. But then again, Abby knew Zach almost as well as Zane did.

Shoving her dark red hair back, she eyed Zane’s margarita. “Sometimes you like those and sometimes you don’t. Which is it today?”

“Today, I like it.” He took another drink, winked at her from the rim, watched as she stuck out her lip in a pout. Then he turned the glass over to her. “But since I’m a gentleman, you can have it.”

“You’re my very favorite brother-in-law today.” She beamed at him and accepted the glass.

“Today,” he said wryly.

“Well, yeah. Yesterday it was Trey because he let me read his book early. Of course, I’ll probably hate him by the time I’m done. He’s going to make this one another tearjerker,” Abby said, shaking her head. She took a sip of the margarita and then shot Keelie a look. “You ever read any of Trey’s stuff?”

“A couple.” She shrugged, shooting Zane a deprecating look. “He likes to make people cry. I’m not really good with the tearjerker books, but he’s a great storyteller.”

Trey, one of the twins, was a writer and yes, tears seemed to come with the territory as far as his books went. “Trey’s a great storyteller. You realize, you’re not required to like his books just because you know him. I’ve liked a few of them, the rest of them, I told him he needed to add some rainbows or lollipops or something, just to keep me from slitting my wrists with the pages before I was done.”

Zach continued to sit there, brooding, and Zane decided he’d just leave him to it.

“He’s not that bad,” Zach snapped, his voice sharp.

“Hey,” Abby said, her voice soft. “Ease up, baby. Trey knows his work isn’t for everybody. You couldn’t finish the last one. I remember you were sniffling when you passed it off to me.”

Zach set his jaw and lapsed back into silence.

Zane wondered if he’d get through this meal without throttling his brother.


*

Well, this sucks.

The few sips of prickly pear margarita she’d taken, combined with the few bites of food she’d forced herself to eat, were doing a weird little lurch and twist in Keelie’s gut and she had to make a practiced effort breathe slow and normal.

Nerves always made her stomach upset and if she let herself get too upset, she just might puke up what little she had inside her. And wouldn’t that just take the cake?

The real bitch was that everything had been going fine.

She wasn’t even sure just what had gone wrong—well.

That wasn’t entirely true.

She watched as Zane and Abby talked—familiar, easy conversation that bespoke of two people who had a long history with each other.

She knew what had gone wrong—this weird tension had hit when Zach and Abby showed up.

She just wasn’t sure why.

Feeling a pair of eyes cutting into her, she finally leveled a look at Zach. Under the table, she clenched one hand into a fist. That was the only outward sign she allowed of the turmoil crashing through her though, the one he couldn’t see.

As he continued to look at her, she just lifted a brow.

He jerked his gaze away and the table started to vibrate a minute later as he drummed on it with his fist.

Wonderful.

She eyed her food, everything sitting in her gut like a leaden weight, but there was no way she could try to eat more. They’d been here for over an hour. The drink in her glass had long since gone to ice. Abby had eaten most of her food, but neither Zane nor Zach had eaten much.

Somehow, even though she was the one who’d been on the date, she’d managed to make herself the third wheel.

She didn’t even know how.

When there was a lull in the conversation, she leaned over and murmured to Abby, “I’m not feeling too hot. Can you maybe give Zane a ride home?”

Abby studied her with shrewd eyes. “I have a feeling I know why. Why don’t we—”