Badd Motherf*cker(53)

Brock laughed. “Along with punching, insults are his way of showing affection.”

“It’s the only language you uneducated gorillas understand,” Sebastian said.

And for some reason, Brock thought this was hilarious. “I’m surprised you managed all those syllables in the same sentence, Bast. I’m so proud of you!”

Sebastian growled. “I can still choke you out, you little prick.”

Brock just laughed again. “Yeah, I’d like to see you try, you big macho fuckstick.”

I watched their easy banter. Despite the harsh words, neither seemed truly insulted or angry. Weird. If anyone had said that kind of thing to me, they’d wake up in the hospital with false teeth and pins keeping their bones together.

Brock eyed me, apparently noticing my unfamiliarity with their brand of playfulness. “We’re only kidding, you know.”

Sebastian shoved Brock toward the water, and the younger brother barely managed to avoid taking a swim. “Speak for yourself, ding-dong. You’d still be unconscious if you hadn’t spotted Dru.”

“Excuse me?” Brock stopped and then took a step toward Sebastian. “I think you were the one about to pass out, actually.”

And they were about to face off again. “Um, boys? Can we not?” I said, stepping between them.

Sebastian grinned at Brock. “By the way, in case you get any funny ideas…Dru here took Zane down in two moves.”

Brock gave me a look of shocked surprise. “Damn, girl. Takes balls to go after Zane.”

“Nah, just a knee to the balls,” I said.

“How did this come about?” Brock asked.

Sebastian shrugged. “We didn’t exactly start off on the best foot, you might say.”

I snorted. “If by that you mean ‘about to tear each others faces off’, then yes, that would be an accurate statement.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Sebastian argued. “Just a…disagreement.”

Brock shook his head. “You two argue more than Corin and Canaan. It’s pathetic.”

“Wasn’t my fault. He went in on me about the ten grand Dad left me.”

“And let me guess, you said something about being stuck here in Ketchikan, and he took it personally, and then you were trying to beat each other into toothpaste like the muscle-bound ape-men you are?”

I laughed at that. “Pretty much exactly it. You’re funny, Brock.”

He winked at me. “That’s me, the funny one.”

“What are your other brothers like?” I asked.

Sebastian answered. “You’ve met Zane. He’s serious, intense, and a little hard to get used to. But he’s cool, if you can earn his trust. Brock here is the funny one—”

“And the smart one, don’t forget,” Brock put in.

“Nah, that’s Xavier. He makes even you look like a numbskull,” Sebastian said to Brock, then glanced at me. “Xavier is the baby. He’s seventeen, national high school soccer all-star, got a full academic ride to Stanford and offers from a couple other Ivy League schools for that and soccer. Baxter is back at the bar already. He plays football, and that’s really all you need to know about him. He plays in the CFL for now, but I guess there’s been talk of going pro. Wouldn’t surprise me, honestly. The kid is a monster.”

Brock spoke up. “Well, there was talk of going pro. This will of Dad’s puts a crimp on that.”

Sebastian sighed. “Yeah. It puts a crimp on a lot of shit for everyone.”

Brock’s teasing humor was gone, now. “Yeah, but Bax and the twins have the most to lose from this year in Ketchikan business. Bax basically has to put his career on hold, and the twins have to skip an entire year of touring. Zane took his discharge papers for this, in case you weren’t aware, and who the hell knows what Lucian is doing. I can easily skip a year of air shows, so it doesn’t bother me all that much.”

Sebastian frowned at his brother. “Zane left the Navy?”

Brock snorted. “No shit. He had to. If all of us don’t show up for this year of brotherly bonding, no one gets the money.”

“I didn’t think about that aspect of it,” Sebastian said.

“That’s why I’m saying something,” Brock said, clapping Sebastian on the shoulder. “But I mean you have to know there’s going to be some tempers flaring in the near future. But just remember, we’re all doing it. For Dad, yeah, but for you too.”

Sebastian stopped and glared at Brock. “For me? What the fuck does that mean?”

I felt like an outsider, listening in on this. It was obviously a very touchy, difficult subject.