He went back to scowling. “I was not getting a lap dance. I was just dancing. That’s it. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

“Correction, he was having non-penetrating sex with clothes on in a private venue, so it took him a long time before he pulled up the security footage.” She threw him a nasty look. “Apparently that’s something I should let my girls do at Tits.”

“I’ve never said that, and that’s not what was happening. I was just distracted. The music was loud.” He rolled his eyes. “I still can’t get over that you run that strip club.”

“It’s a private dance club.”

He snorted, his hand dropping from behind his head. “Right. What she said.”

I knew cops. I didn’t want to deal with them. “So, no cops?”

Also, they were bickering because he’d been distracted from noticing the security alert. I was thinking Sasha wasn’t realizing what side we currently were on. We were pro-distraction right now. She could be anti-distraction when we weren’t the ones setting off the security alerts.

Both looked at me.

“No cops.”

My Not-Brother added, “I was calling them when I recognized Sasha, so I hung up. It’s all good.”

I let out some air. Good. No cops.

I frowned again. “Then, why are we waiting? Did I miss that part, too?”

Not-Brother scowled again.

Sasha grinned. “He called your boy. He’s on his way.”

Oh, crap. I remembered our ‘maybe later’ date and scrambled for my phone. I’d missed two texts, and both were right when the rabbit rapper was trying to fix his car.

“She works with the police, ya know.” Sasha was nodding in my direction.

My Not-Brother frowned, swinging his head back my way. “You do?”

“I work at a kitchen for the homeless. Our paths cross sometimes.”

“Right.” But he continued to frown, taking on a more distracted look, before his eyes paused looking at the window, and whatever he’d been thinking just then vanished. His eyebrows pinched together, and the sides of his mouth curved down. “You guys have to clean that shit up. And why only one of our houses—”

“Because it’s yours.” Both Sasha and I said that at the same time.

Chad shut up before rolling his eyes. “I need a drink.” He started out of the room. “You guys want anything?”

Sasha, “Hell yes, all that rolling has me parched.”

Me, “I’m on medication.”

Chad’s head came back. “What?”

Sasha started laughing.

“I’m on heavy, psychotropic medication. Do you know how bad it would be if I had a drink? Know how nuts I would get?” My voice took on a threatening tone.

I couldn’t help myself.

Sasha knew what I was doing, and she looked away, biting down on her lip.

Part of this was to get back at him, but he was remembering. I saw the look, and he was remembering it all from high school.

I started for him, my head tilted to the side. “I was so bad that you were sent away. Remember? That I was so nuts, that they didn’t tell me I had a little brother?” He winced at that one. Good. I kept on, “That I was so dangerous, that when my mom died, I couldn’t be with my dad. Everyone feared it would fuck with your hockey training. Remember that? I sure do. That’s what Natalie was worried about.”

The air after I finished saying my peace was heavy.

My heart was beating, and fuck me, but I was suddenly completely and totally focused on one person.

Chad looked like he wanted to throw up. His mouth pressed in. White lines formed around his mouth, and then, behind us all, came a gravelly voice.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

I stiffened.

Chad swore.

Sasha purred. “Oh. This just got fun.”

I looked, and standing just beyond the doorway to the large house, in the doorway that led to the living room where we were standing, was Cut. His jaw was clenched. His eyes smoldering, and he looked fierce.

Chad swore again. “It wasn’t totally like that.”

“It was totally like that.”

He swung around to Sasha. “You weren’t even there.”

She shrugged, her chin raising up. “Doesn’t matter. My girl doesn’t lie, and she told me years ago how it went down. Her mom died, and instead of going to live with her father, she went back to her uncle’s until she went off to college.”

He started for her, his hand up. “She wanted to stay with her uncle.”

She snorted, rolling her eyes this time.

He swung my way. “Didn’t you? That’s what I was told.”

“It would’ve messed up your hockey training. My first time living there had already messed up enough.”

His mouth hung open. “That’s not what I was told.”

No one said a word. There didn’t seem to be much of a point at this time in our lives.

I didn’t think it would hurt, but then again, I never thought about Chad, or thought I’d have this conversation with him. I guess all I focused on back then to get me through was being in love with Cut for so long, from so far away—it had taken on a whole fairytale feeling to me. Sasha was right. He was the knight in shining armor to me, and I had no idea why I put that image on him.