The Keys to Jericho (91 page)

“I wanted to buy you a new phone,” Finn says.

Hadley argues, “The one I have now is fine. I don’t text or talk on it much.”

I complain, “Yeah, really. Get a new phone. When I do call, it hangs up on me, instead of sending me to voice mail.”

Hadley says, “I think it’s the carrier, not the phone.”

“Right,” Finn mutters.

I say, “Switch carriers. Simple as that.”

“But I’ll have to get a new phone.”

“You’re stubborn,” I accuse.

Laughing, Dash says, “Pot calling kettle.”

Playing with her ponytail, Hadley glances past me, quickly smiling at Dash, undoubtedly causing him to orgasm.

Peering over at Dash, he hurriedly looks away from Hadley and I frown at him. “Bite me, Calder.”

Dad says, “Alright now. It’s Thanksgiving. No biting each other today.”

Still holding onto my coat, Kat says, “Adam, Finn, and Hadley, let me take your coats. I’ll put them on the couch in the den.”

Finn reluctantly straightens to take off his puffed, black coat, and as Hadley takes off her blue coat, I glance at Dash, who again, looks away from her. Jesus. Hadley’s fucking boyfriend is standing merely a few feet from him and within choking distance. Finn’s going to catch Dash gawking at her and Dash will lose his life on Thanksgiving. I just hope Kat has his pie recipe first.

Looking at the clock and going to the oven, Dash removes the turkey and says, “Well, this turkey isn’t going to carve itself, Jericho.”

I scowl. “Why don’t
you
do it, Betty Crocker?”

“Not my thing. I do pies.”

Dad goes over, plugging in the electric knife on the counter. “I got it.”

Dash grins. “Thanks, Mr. Beckett.”

“It’s my specialty, Dashiell.” Christ. These two never get enough of that shit.

Dash says, “I like Merrick’s new car. Did you pick it out for her?”

Since Kat isn’t in the kitchen, I retort, “Yeah, I was all over that car.” It wasn’t bad to fuck in, though.

Dad asks, “What’s wrong with her car? Your grandma has one.”

“And you just answered your own question, Dad.”

Dash casually asks, “What do you drive, Finn?”

“A Mustang.”

I ask, “Is it black?”

He gives me a slightly irritated look. “No. Red with white stripes.” I guess he doesn’t get a membership to my inner circle.

Dash presses, “Shelby GT500?” Dash and certain cars—his second reason for a hard-on.

Finn scoffs, “Yeah, right. They only made 2,000 of them this year. Like I could afford one of those, anyway. The stripes are custom, though.”

Dash grins. “Oh. Aren’t you a weatherman?” Stupefied, I gape at Calder as he metaphorically whips out his dick, and to his advantage, I know what he has to work with, so Finn had better be packing, too.

“Sports anchor, but I have my own segment on Fridays.” Pushing up the sleeves of his brown sweater, Finn asks, “Aren’t you a kids’ gym teacher?” Ouch. So far, Finn’s dick is dangling between his knees.

Nodding, Dash says, “I am. I guess we have sports jobs in common, huh?”

Finn stiffly laughs. “Yeah.”

Crossing his arms, Dash asks, “Don’t you travel a lot?”

I look back to Finn, like I’m at a goddamned tennis match. “I do, but I get to see different places and meet a lot of people.”
Damn, Calder. Your cock is shrinking.

Dash shrugs. “I’m more of a homebody, staying where I might be needed.”
Holy shit, Dash
.

Finn smirks, tilting his head. “I can handle both, but I bet that makes your girlfriend happy.”
Fucking hell, Finn.
Going right for the nuts.

Turning away from the turkey, Dad asks, “You have a girlfriend, Dashiell?”

“Not at the moment,” he grumbles over his pie.

Kat returns to the room as Hadley says, “Okay. That’s enough work talk. “Kat, is there anything we can do to help?”

Kat clasps her hands together. “My mom already has the table set, but we can pour drinks.”

Hadley grabs Kat’s left hand, holding it up for Finn to see. “Look what Jared gave Kat.”

Finn curtly says, “Yeah. You told me.”

Hadley replies, “Well, now I’m showing you.”

“It’s nice.”
Nice
? It’s not a fucking summer breeze.

Sighing, Hadley asks him, “Can you believe my little brother is getting married?”

Glaring at me, he says, “No, I cannot.”

Hadley shakes her head. “And they’d only been together for a month when they got engaged!”

I argue, “There’s more to it than that. Jesus.”

Kat smiles. “We flirted for two years, so that counts for something.”

Dash laughs. “Jericho flirted? I doubt that.”

Kat giggles as I shoot Calder a look. Sensing the scene behind him as he piles turkey onto a platter, Dad says, “No violence today, boys.”

Brenda walks into the kitchen and squeals, “Hi, everyone!” She pats my dad on the back as he finishes the turkey, and it makes me wonder if their kids’ engagement is bringing them closer. Shit. I refuse to be Kat’s brother. Adam Beckett and I
will
be having a talk.

Brenda turns from my dad and says, “We need some more chairs. There are some folding ones in the basement, if two strapping men can go down there and bring up some.”

“How many?” I ask.

“Tony will be here with his wife Janine. Pete will be by later on, so let’s do four chairs.”

As I head to the basement door, Brenda says, “Look at my future son-in-law. Always offering his help.”

Rolling my eyes as I open the basement door, I head down the stairs, hearing footsteps behind me, expecting it to be Dash. However, once I reach the basement, I turn around to see Finn.

Looking around for the chairs, I weave my way through stacked boxes. Finn says, “I guess I should offer my congratulations.”

I shrug as I peer around the finished, but crowded, basement. “No one ever said you had to.”

“So now,
you’re
suddenly into marriage?”

Looking over my shoulder, I say, “Not suddenly.”

“How’s that make sense? Not even five months ago, you told me you were against marriage, glad that I was, too. Now, you’re marrying someone you weren’t even dating?”

I turn to face him. “We didn’t just meet on a dating site. Everyone seems to forget that Kat and I knew each other in high school.”

“And
you
seem to forget that you told me to dump your sister, just to avoid marrying her.”

“I’m not saying marriage is for you, but don’t drag my sister around, while you try to get your shit together.”

He sourly laughs. “
I’m
the one who can’t make up his mind? You changed yours so fast, I need a neck brace!”

“If I did change my mind, so what? You can always change yours and marry Hadley.”

“I told you why I don’t want to, but ever since you announced your engagement, she’s been dropping more and more hints, leaving bridal magazines around, talking endlessly about wedding shit, particularly yours because Kat asked her to be a bridesmaid. It has to stop. The pressure is driving me fucking crazy.”

Crossing my arms, I angrily scoff, “Are you looking for an apology from me because I want to marry Kat, and that’s now affecting your life with my sister? Because if you are, I’m fresh out.”

“What was that whole speech you gave when we were fishing? You just don’t want me marrying your sister, so you feed me a bunch of bullshit?”

“I’m looking out for Hadley.”

“Right, since you’ve looked out for her zero times over the course of me dating her.”

Shaking my head, I laugh. “Do you think she’ll always just want to date you? You’re going to have to either change your mind or let her go.”

Putting his hands on his hips, he snaps, “You’re still fucking advocating me breaking up with her? What the fuck, Jared?”

“I said it before. Shit or get off the pot. I know you’re against marriage. She isn’t. You’re either going to have to marry her or break up with her. I’ve never deviated from that. I only changed what side of the argument I’m on now.”

He glares at me as his hand impatiently swipes through his brownish hair. “Fuck, you’re preposterous. If she knew you were telling me to break up with her…”

Laughing again, I counter, “If she knew the depth of your refusal to marry her…”

Finn sneers, “She knows this, but of course, you’ll tell her.”

“Nope. That’s
your
job. I’m not telling Hadley you’d rather her burn at the stake than marry her.”

“That’s an exaggeration. I’ve already told her I don’t want to get married.”

“I guess she needs a refresher.”

“If I do ever change my mind, it’ll be because
I
changed it, not because someone told me I fucking need to.”

Losing my patience, I shake my head. “Your unwillingness isn’t because you’re stowing pussy on the side, is it?”

His eyes instantly widen. “Why in the hell would you ask me that shit?”

“I have my suspicions.” Best to leave Hadley’s out of it.

Crossing his arms and smirking at me, he scornfully says, “Like it’s any of
your
business.” I knew that underneath his polite, friendly façade, his inner prick was lurking and would rear its ugly head.

“When the only woman you’re supposed to be fucking is my sister, then you better believe it’s my business who’s on your cock.”

His arrogant grin flounders and he growls, “She
is
the only one.”

“Keep it that way or you
will
hear from me about it. I promise you that.”

“What are you boys doing down there? Organizing a yard sale?” Brenda asks from the basement door.

Grabbing two chairs, I reiterate, “Shit or get off the pot, Wilder. There are other guys who would love to marry your girlfriend.” I say this to spur him into action, but the truth to that statement is scarily accurate. However, Dash Calder will
not
be my brother-in-law. I can’t even fathom that in my worst repetitive nightmare doused in gasoline.

Upstairs, I set out the two chairs and take the empty seat next to Kat, across from Hadley. When Finn takes his seat, he shoots me a pissed off glare, and his frown only deepens more when my sister talks wedding shit with my fiancée.

Hadley says, “Your wedding will be so romantic. That’s what I would want someday.”

Kat says, “I’ll help you with yours, too.”

“I don’t know when it would be. It still might be years away.”

“Years? Why?”

Hadley looks down at her plate, and quietly mutters, “I have to be asked first.”

Kat winces. “Oh.”

Shrugging, I say, “Maybe you need a do-over.”

Looking up at me, Hadley snaps, “Jared.” As she petulantly shakes her head and rolls her eyes, Finn glowers at me, while his jaw twitches, and his hand on the table, tightening into a fist.

On the other side of me, Dash says, “Leos are highly ambitious, but extremely stubborn.”

Finn mutters, “Yeah.
I’m
stubborn.” He heavily sighs, and his fingers of his left hand anxiously flick together on the table. Reaching for the bottle of wine with his other hand, he fills his glass to the top in five seconds, before swigging it down in two.

Again, not noticing Finn’s silent meltdown, Hadley resumes chatting with Kat about our wedding, much to Finn’s increasing horror, but with every glass of wine he downs, he relaxes until his bogus, self-assured smirk returns. Like Calder, I guess I’m the only one he’s not fooling.

After dinner, as we all clean up the table, the edges of Finn’s brooding reemerge, but he manages to keep up his smug act when Hadley looks his way, while sending occasional, dark glares my way. Jesus. He has her snowed.

While Kat finishes up with her mom, I go to the den to get our coats, but I hear my sister talking, so I stop.

She says, “I didn’t think you’d drink so much wine. Are you okay?”

Finn mutters, “Just thirsty.”

“It was good wine. I think Kat said they’re having it at their reception. What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Can you just take a break?”

“From what?”

“The wedding shit. That’s all I hear about anymore.”

“Oh. I didn’t realize I talked about it that much.”

“Yeah. You do. It’s only getting worse and it’s barely even started.”

“I’m in the wedding, Finn. I have to talk about it.”

“With them. Not me. I don’t give a shit what color their napkins are or what song the caterers will dance to.”

I hear her laugh. “They don’t usually dance—”