“Damn right.” Coop snarled the words. Just the thought of anyone hurting her had him ready to chew glass.
“Then why in the hell did you invite her over?” Karidon shouted into the phone. “Are you that goddamn stupid?”
“I didn’t. She insisted and hung up before I could tell her not to come.” Coop started his motorcycle. “Get your ass over here so we can stop her before she gets here.”
When Coop glanced up, Karidon was walking out of Talyn’s front door. He jogged across the street. “What happened with Olin?”
“Just get your damn bike so we can go.”
“Evading the question. Sure sign you caught feelings for the guy,” Karidon said and crossed his arms over his chest. “Now tell me what happened.”
“I screwed up,” Coop admitted as he stared at his lawn, refusing to look Karidon in the eye.
“I know.” Karidon’s tone had softened. “What are you going to do to rectify the situation?”
“Not sure how to fix it. Olin wouldn’t hear me out.” Coop switched his weight from one foot to the other, balancing his motorcycle.
“Do you want to fix it?” Karidon asked. “You two don’t exactly get along.”
Coop thought long and hard before he answered, “Yeah, I want to fix it.” Even though he didn’t want to admit that Karidon was right, that he’d caught feelings for Olin, he knew deep down that he couldn’t leave things the way they were.
Karidon nodded. “Let’s deal with Camille first, and then we’ll figure Olin out.”
It wasn’t going to be that easy, and Coop knew it. Olin was seven kinds of pissed at him and didn’t seem to want to forgive Coop. He’d delivered a low blow and wouldn’t blame Olin if he never wanted to talk to him again.
He watched Karidon dig his keys from his pocket before he opened his garage, pulling his red-and-silver Ducati out. After locking the garage, Karidon mounted and started his motorcycle.
The two took off to stop Camille from becoming a target.
* * * *
Ollie frowned when Olin came in through the back door. He knew when his twin was in a foul mood, and Olin was definitely in a stink. “What’s wrong with you?”
Olin jerked the refrigerator open like the door had killed his best friend. “Nothing.”
That was a bold-faced lie. “So nothing has you slamming the things around in the fridge?”
Olin grabbed a bottle of tea and slammed the door closed. He cracked the lid and took a long drink. Ollie waited patiently. There were times when he had to do that in order to get an answer out of his twin. Sometimes Olin had to knock things around in his head before his thoughts became straight.
“I said nothing.” Olin glanced toward the floor, and Ollie could see the rigidness in his brother’s shoulders.
“Fine, be a dick,” Ollie said as he turned to walk away.
“Wait.” Olin exhaled loudly as he leaned against the counter, cradling the bottle of tea in his hands. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be a dick with you.”
Ollie chuckled softly. “You’re a dick with life, Olin.”
His brother gave him a half-smile, but it never reached his eyes. “I screwed up, and then Coop pissed me off.”
“Coop.” He sighed. Olin could deny it all he wanted, but Ollie knew his twin like the back of his hand. If Olin had become this enraged, he had feelings for the guy. Over the past two months, Olin had come home in a funk more times than Ollie cared to count because of Coop. “You two at it again?”
Olin’s gaze shot to Ollie, and then his brother quickly looked away.
Ollie gaped at Olin. “Oh my god!” He crossed the kitchen and gripped his twin’s arms. “You had sex with him, didn’t you?” And then he frowned. “Was he that bad in bed?”
“Why would you ask that?” Olin shrugged Ollie’s hands off of him.
“Well, you came in here slamming things around,” Ollie pointed out. “Put two and two together…”
“Pfft, no…I mean…it was fantastic and all, but…” Olin shook his head. Olin stared at Ollie as if grinning were not appropriate.
Ollie grinned anyway. “That good?”
“I’m not giving you the deets,” Olin said, and he sucked in his lower lip and scraped it with his teeth, glancing away again. “But it wasn’t that.”
Ollie groaned. It was just like Olin to ruin a good thing. Ollie loved his twin with every breath that he took, but the guy was infuriating sometimes. “What did you do to screw things up?”
Olin’s eyes widen, and Ollie knew his twin would be going on the defensive. “What makes you think I did anything wrong?” His voice held a harsh edge to it, like sandpaper.