“We have to. It was a serious lapse in judgment that I know is due to the fact that you never give yourself a break. You’re terrible at it, just like I am.”
“I think the rest of my brothers could use a little bit of that.”
“What they do is normal. What you do is not. Now, go enjoy Vegas, or I’m hauling your ass to Wyoming.”
“Are ya really looking at property in Wyoming?” I asked.
“I really am. And since you’re now headed on vacation for the weekend, your mother gets to go with me.”
“I bet she’s thrilled,” I said flatly.
“When I make it romantic, she’s already thrilled. And first-class. I’ll have to bump up the plane ticket.”
“So, she gets first-class and I get economy?”
“When you’re being stubborn? Yep.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“One day, that thank you will be serious. Don’t waste your best years working yourself to death, son. Enjoy Vegas.”
“I’ll make sure my brothers stay alive,” I said.
Lucas was laughing his ass off in my bathroom by the time I hung up the phone. Fuck. This was bullshit. He was actually blackmailing me into a damn vacation I didn’t want to go on in the first place. It was reckless to do something like this right now. With everything going on and Colton keeping me updated on some shady shit, the last thing we needed to do was fly halfway across the damn country to go throw back some shots. We could do all that shit here after a long workday.
“I can still hear your mind going, which is why this vacation is needed for you,” Lucas said.
“I’m not overreactin’ to anything that’s goin’ on right now,” I said.
“You might not be, no. But we won’t know anything for sure until the fire marshal’s done. Until then, we’re going to go get some rest, have some drinks, eat some good food, and come back refreshed to tackle whatever the hell all of this is that we’ve found ourselves in.”
“You were more concerned than this a couple of weeks ago.”
“And I’m still concerned, but not enough to ruin what I know we all need. Stop fighting me, Everett. All of the brothers are coming along. Jessica’s bringing some friends of hers that need the same kind of break you do. Maybe you’ll meet a workaholic girl who can work your cock a bit before you come back.”
“Are you fuckin’ kidding me with this shit?” I asked.
“Just saying. If you don’t, you don’t. But you’re coming to Vegas and I’m making you take at least one shot with us before you stalk off to your room and coop yourself up. I know how you get during stressful times, but the least you can do is coop yourself up in a top-level hotel room.”
“You’ve paid for all these girls to come to Vegas with us, haven't you?” I asked.
“I have. And it’s going to be very worth it. We all have our separate rooms. I’ve booked out the entire top floor of the Mandarin Oriental. Beautiful views, great tubs to soak in, decadent room service, a five-star bar and restaurant in the hotel, and it’s right on the strip. So, if you coop yourself up, you’ll still have a really nice spa, view, and area to eat.”
“Thanks,” I said flatly.
“You’re pissed now, but you won’t be tomorrow. Now, pack your bags! We’re headed to Vegas in the morning.”
Lucas finally let himself out of my townhouse and I sighed. Fuck. I was going to Vegas. I went into my room and dug my suitcase out of the bottom of my closet and began to rifle through my clothes. If I was going to do Vegas, then I was going to do it right. Nice jeans. Button-front shirts. My nicer shoes. Maybe a pair of my boots. I folded everything up and put it all in nicely, then started packing up my toiletries. A spa day in Vegas did sound nice, though.
My brothers would all want me to go out. That much was for certain. But during the day, I could get some sleep, order in some room service, and hop onto the couch and order a movie. All of my brothers were rebel rousers, partiers, and trouble starters. But not me. I took care of the business, did what we needed to do to push things forward, then I went home and spent the weekends in, looking over paperwork and watching television. I didn’t enjoy getting dressed up and going back out to deal with more people. I dealt with enough of them during the week.
I was excited about meeting this new girl of Lucas’, though. He was obviously smitten with her and talked about her every second he could. I was happy he’d found someone to spend his time with. Out of all of us, Lucas was the last one I figured would settle down and be happy with anyone. Not that the two of them had settled down with one another after a few weeks. This was the longest he had ever stayed with a girl he encountered, and this was the first time he had ever wanted to take her on vacation. Hell, this was the first time he’d ever wanted to introduce a girl to us.
Maybe that would make it all worth this shit, meeting this girl of Luke’s that had captured him so much. I placed my toiletries off to the side in the suitcase and zipped everything up and rolled it over to the front door. I heard my email ring out in the other room and figured that was the itinerary for the weekend. Probably one Flynn drew up. He was our numbers guy as well as our logistics coordinator at times. When we needed something planned, he was the one we called. Shit. It was gonna be a long weekend.
I flopped down onto the couch and turned on the television. There was some mindless nature documentary on television, so I kicked off my shoes and propped them up on my coffee table. I closed my eyes and listened to the drone of the voice, lulling me in and out of sleep. I fell asleep on my couch more than I did my own damn bed. Mostly because this was the first place to flop down after a long day of work, but partially because my bed was massive.