Tasha lifted her chin and caught me staring. My eyes went to the delicate gold chain at her throat, the tiny turtle pendant sitting there. I wondered what it meant.
“Is our time up?” Her watch was gold like her necklace, with a big face and diamonds. Real ones, I’d bet.
“Yeah, work.” No stumbling. Nice. It was a rare treat when words came out like they were supposed to.
“Oh, okay.” She shoved her book into her backpack and unfolded those delicious-looking legs. Then she stood and tugged her skirt down, though it was too short to come close to her knees. I resisted staring, but only by biting down hard enough on my cheek to make my eyes water.
When she stood from the couch, we were close.
“Have a good shift.” She shouldered her bag.
My eyes returned to her lips. She lifted her chin and shifted from foot to foot.
I shrugged, not trusting my voice. Not moving or breathing.
“Okay, well, bye.” She twisted her lips.
I nodded, but she’d already turned to leave.
Instead of changing for work, I lingered at the window, watching the driveway as Tasha strolled out, all that honey-blond hair bouncing on her shoulders.
She climbed into her car: A brand new BMW Z4, white, gleaming in the sunshine.
Damn.
Gorgeous girl. Gorgeous car.
There was a time I could’ve had both.
—
Bus tub on my hip, I swept through the dining room of Oak & Sage Restaurant. It was late, the only diners taking up space and taking their sweet-ass time a table of six well into their third bottle of wine. A few servers milled around, one of them a tall blonde who stared at everyone like she might take a bite out of them.
I’d rather be home underneath my car, or even under Tasha’s scrutiny than this she-wolf’s.
Back in school, my buddies labeled me the silver-tongued fox because I was able to get whatever I wanted from whomever I wanted. They may have found the nickname amusing, but to me it was a simple fact. I could be convincing. I could get people to like me. I could also swindle thousands of dollars out of bettors back when I street raced.
My Audi, Blue, had brought in more money than she’d cost—and ten times the money I’d made legally over a lifetime.
Until she kissed a fire hydrant.
I totaled Blue and simultaneously did a good job of totaling myself. Busted up some ribs, my wrist. Broke my foot. I favored it now. Anytime I worked a double shift it throbbed like a bitch by night’s end.
Laughter rang out from the bar as I swiped crumbs from the table I’d bussed. I cast a glance to where my brother’s girlfriend, Rena, bartended. I liked her. She was nice, super cute. Not my brother’s typical type with her long, dark hair and ability to spot bullshitters from a mile away. She was also a great friend to Tasha and had a pure bad-girl streak. That was the part that had lured Dev.
She wiped the bar top with a towel, giving me a quick smile before turning back to the guys finishing their scotches in front of her. My returning smile faded when I got a better look at the “guys” at the bar.
They were my friends. Former friends. We used to share a future, but now they represented dreams lost. Brian and Miller Dermont were brothers, Carey Grainger a friend. The Law Offices of Derby, Grainger, and Wilson was our destiny before I banged up my brain and lost the silver tongue that used to be my calling card.
Hard to deliver a compelling closing argument to a jury when you can barely stutter out your own name. Law school was in their future, but not mine. Not anymore.
I gritted my teeth and ducked my head, carrying the bus tub to the kitchen. The man I could have become was laid to rest on an icy night on Alley Road. He’d been buried alongside my beloved Blue, now a flattened pancake of metal in a junkyard.
My brother swung around the corner, his confident and long-legged stride bringing him closer. Think of the devil, and Devlin appears.
He was dressed in a dark suit, blue tie, button-down shirt. A lot like lawyer Cade would have been dressed. Except cooler. An idea bordering on laughable now, since I wore a food-stained apron, work boots, and a black polo shirt with the words “Oak & Sage” embroidered over my heart.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.