The Slow Burn (Moonlight and Motor Oil #2)(24)

None of this said, “I’m mildly concerned about this woman who is a satellite feature in my life.”

It said something entirely different.

And three, by now, that fight had run through the small town of Matlock like wildfire.

And my sister, her fiancé, Margot, Dave, Deanna and Charlie lived in that town.

So, I had a feeling I was no longer just screwed financially, I was screwed in other ways besides.

Because I’d lived in small towns, and I was me—the wild one, the hellion Forrester Girl—so I knew what gossip run amuck could mean.

Further, and more importantly, there was indication for the first time in my life I might have a shot at getting something I desperately wanted.

But that something was intricately woven into the fabric of my life as it stood at that time, and even if Toby was right and I didn’t take advantage of it as I could do, I needed it as it was, or all would be lost.

So if I went after what I wanted and it went wrong, and that wrong filtered into Johnny and Izzy’s (and Margot and Dave’s) lives, the results could be catastrophic.

And that terrified me.





She’s Addie and I’m Toby

Toby

ON SATURDAY MORNING, Toby was standing beside his fridge downing a bottle of water when it happened.

He’d gotten his run in and sweated out the beer and whisky he’d consumed at the local bar, On the Way Home (known as Home to townies) the night before.

And he knew he should be happy he at least got to drink a little of the bitter of that fight with Addie out of his mouth and then sweat it out the next morning before it happened.

He was actually surprised he didn’t get a visit at his barstool at Home last night.

Seeing his screen on his phone, which was sitting on the island counter, light up and what it said when it did, he really didn’t want to take the call.

But his father (not to mention Margot) taught him to deal with problems when they happened so you could lose the weight of them before that weight got too heavy and dragged you down.

With that in mind, he put the water down, nabbed his phone and took the call.

“Yo, Johnny.”

“Are you fuckin’ kidding me with that shit?” his brother replied.

Toby let out a long breath.

“‘Yo, Johnny.’ That’s what you’ve got to say to me when the whole town’s talkin’ about you shouting in Addie’s face on the fuckin’ street yesterday?” his brother demanded.

“Johnny, listen—”

“And just so you know the entire reason I’m pissed as fuck at you, I had to hear that shit from someone else, not my brother who had a fuckin’ fight with my woman’s sister on the goddamn street and then came back to the garage and worked right beside me for the next three hours and didn’t say dick.”

All right.

You know what?

He was done with this.

So he bit out, “Johnny, lay off.”

“Lay off?” That came low and even more ticked than his brother had already sounded.

“Yeah, lay the fuck off,” Toby returned.

“Have you lost your goddamned mind?”

“No, actually, I haven’t,” Toby gritted.

“What was it about?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Wrong,” Johnny clipped. “When it comes to Eliza’s sister, it’s absolutely my business. When it comes to my kid brother, it’s my business. I cannot fuckin’ believe you got up in Addie’s shit and didn’t say dick to me. But I shouldn’t be surprised. That’s vintage Toby.”

Oh, hell no.

“Right, no,” Toby ground out. “We’re not doin’ this. You are not goin’ there. I’ve eaten that shit for as long as I’m willin’ to eat it. This ends here.”

“Tobe—”

“No,” he interrupted. “I’m not you. Get over it. I’ve never been you. But I’ve been around for nearly thirty-three years so it’s time you got your head around it. And speakin’ of that, I’m nearly thirty-three fuckin’ years old, Johnny. It’s also time you quit treating me like I’m thirteen.”

He heard his brother start to talk but Toby didn’t let him get anything out because he kept going.

“This isn’t about me takin’ off to the mill when I’m eight to have my own space to do my own thing and not tellin’ anyone about it. I was a kid. And yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have done that or any of the other shit you think I shouldn’t have done because it wasn’t what you’d do, but I was a fuckin’ kid. And straight up, there was a reason for me doin’ just about everything I did, including that. I was a kid who needed his own fuckin’ space to do his own fuckin’ thing and there’s nothin’ wrong with that.”

“To—”

Toby spoke over him. “No, this is about me bein’ a grown-ass man and you not bein’ down with whatever it is you’re not down with, and no offense, man, but I no longer give a fuck you’re not down with it. I don’t ask you to explain the ins and outs of your life and the decisions you make. I should not have to ask you to return that favor.”

“Brother, listen—”