“Not even close,” Cole said. “I’m not telling you who to marry or not. Just having a conversation. I left a six-figure job to go out on my own.”
“You had some rough times too.”
“It was all worth it,” Cole said.
“Hey, are you two ladies done chatting so I can lift something?” Lincoln asked as he approached us.
I put my fist out and he punched it.
“I’m trying to get Liam to quit his job and come work for me,” Cole said.
“I thought it was with you and not for you?” I asked.
“Yeah, that too,” Cole said.
“I don’t know,” Lincoln said. “Liam’s a badass… he might do it.”
“He used to be a badass,” Cole said.
“A good woman can tame any man,” Lincoln said.
“Show me a good woman then,” Jackson said as he entered the conversation.
He was soaked with sweat.
He had been off on his own for an hour.
“Callie’s not a good woman?” I asked.
“She’s the best,” Jackson said. “She doesn’t tame me though. She makes me crazier.”
“You take it out here though,” Lincoln said. “You don’t go out and go crazy.”
“True,” Jackson said.
“We’ll see what happens tonight,” I said.
“Hey, maybe we can get you laid,” Jackson offered.
“Fuck you,” I said.
“What?” Jackson asked. “They all know, right? That Miranda has turned the love valve off.”
“Is she making you wait until the wedding?” Cole asked. “I heard about people doing that.”
“Fuck,” Jackson said. “If this guy has to wait until he actually gets married to get laid, his balls will be the size of beachballs.”
“Thanks for that visual,” Lincoln said. “But he’ll be married soon, right?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“No,” Jackson said.
“Lincoln,” I said. “Your brother is getting married. What’s it like?”
“I’m in the mix of it,” Lincoln said. “They’re just doing their thing. They’re getting married soon though. Everyone is different.”
“They got engaged after you, Liam,” Jackson said.
“Who cares?” I asked.
“Wait a second,” Cole said. “I’m trying to get Liam to quit his job and come to my company. Can we drop the wedding talk?”
“He’ll never do that,” Jackson said. “Liam is settling.”
Jackson put his arm around me.
“Is that a bad thing?” I asked.
“Nah,” he said. “I guess I’m settling too. It happens to the best of us. At the very least, man, you have to get laid. You can’t forget about your dick. It’ll turn on you.”
“My dick is just fine,” I said. “And can you not have your arm around me while we’re talking about my dick?”
“Why not?” Jackson asked.
He kissed my head and I elbowed him away.
“Okay, let’s wrap this up,” Cole said. “I want to get Liam drunk and make him call his boss and quit his job.”
“I want him to get drunk and break it off with Miranda,” Jackson said.
I shook my head.
I could have taken a swing at either Cole or Jackson.
But let’s face it…
It was Friday.
It had been a long week.
And I wanted to get drunk.
“And then he did this crazy flip move over the railing,” Cole said. “It was unbelievable. Campus security stopped dead in their tracks. Then he jumps off the skateboard, turns and salutes them. Like a madman. A complete and total madman.”
I smiled. “That was a long time ago.”
“But it was awesome,” Cole said.
“One more round,” Jackson said.
“No way,” I said. “I’m already feeling it.”
“Good,” Jackson said. “Keep feeling it. We’ll get you home safe to Miranda.”
“I’ll just hit the couch if I’m drunk,” I said. “She doesn’t like when I’m drunk.”
“You know,” Lincoln said, “throwing all these old stories down on the bar… it’s been a wild ride for us. I hate to feel old here…”
“Then don’t,” Jackson said.
“Maybe we are,” I said.
“Okay, that’s it,” Jackson said. “Just give me a second here.”
He ordered four more shots of whiskey and we all downed them in a second.
We flipped the glasses over and Jackson pointed to the front of the bar.
“Come for a walk,” he said.
“What the hell are you doing?” Cole asked.
“You’ll see.”
Jackson approached a large high-top table with four guys and four women.
“Your girl wants to fuck my friend here,” Jackson said.
He pointed to me.
Ah… shit…
“Are you serious right now?” Lincoln asked.
“What did you say?” the guy asked as he stood up.
“It’s true,” he said. “Right, babe?”
I blew a kiss to the guy’s girl.
“Actually, all these women are begging for it,” Cole said. “I guess you guys don’t have the right size dick.”
“Shit,” Lincoln said.
“You’re fucking dead,” the first guy said.
He lunged for me.
I wasn’t sure who landed the first punch because the second we tangled up, the table was flipped over and it was a four on four bar brawl.
Over nothing.
Just to prove that we could be crazy and pretend we were still young.
It was a short-lived fight though.
The bartender and security were there in seconds, breaking the thing up.
We were ushered out of the bar and I stumbled down the sidewalk, rubbing the left side of my face.
“Man, he got you good,” Jackson said.
“You’re an asshole for that,” I said.
“You’re smiling.”
I looked at Cole and Lincoln.
Their shirts were roughed up but that was it.
“I was just getting into it,” Cole said.
“Let’s go back in,” Lincoln said.
“Yeah,” Jackson said.
“No,” I said. “We’re good.”
“You sure?” Cole asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “You guys are crazy. I love you.”
“There he is,” Jackson said. He put his arm around me again. “Drunk Liam. Fighting and saying he loves us. There’s my best friend again.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I said.
“I’m calling it a night,” Cole said. “I have an early morning tomorrow. I’m still working on getting the rest of my team together. I need an assistant.”
“Don’t pick someone good looking,” I said. “You can’t help yourself.”
“That’s not funny,” Cole said.
“Yes, it is,” Jackson said. “I could definitely see you banging your secretary.”
We all laughed, then got rides home.
I rubbed the left side of my face the entire ride home.
That prick got a good punch in on me.
That really pissed me off.
I didn’t bother finding my key.
I just knocked on the door.
I was going to catch hell for it, but I was already drunk.
Miranda
