Page 49 of Roping My Rival

Why my brother lives in a swanky condo is beyond me.

The parking spaces are small, and the building has more security than a bank vault. Once I’m finally in the elevator to his floor, my stomach growls from the aromas escaping from the paper bag. At his request, there are pulled pork sandwiches and extra coleslaw. I also got us these super yummy potato chips. They make them from scratch at Hog Town, and they aren’t quite a chip or a fry, but they’re somewhere in between and delicious when dunked in ranch dip.

Once at my brother’s door, he opens before I even knock.

“How many cameras are in this place that you know when I’m at the door?”

He laughs a little as he closes the door behind me. “You don’t want to know.” He motions to the dining table in front of the large window with a view of the mountains. They’re quite far away, but it sure beats looking at other buildings. Or worse, other people’s yards, when you can watch their dog take a dump.

“Do you want a beer or lemonade? I have the pink stuff.”

“You still drink that?” I chuckle as I unload our food, and he brings over two glasses with a jug of lemonade.

“It’s my only weakness.”

“Don’t let your clients know that.”

After we sit and have a few bites of the messy sandwiches, I gesture towards him. “I’m not used to seeing you out of a suit. We’ve missed you at family dinner.”

“I’ve been busy,” he snaps, and I raise an eyebrow.

“I know. We all are. You should try to come soon.”

“For fuck’s sake, Warren. Is this what you wanted to come for? Feed me my favourite food to guilt-trip me?”

Brothers be brothering and all that. I could be here telling him I need a kidney, and we’d still fight first.

“Not at all. I have serious stuff I need to talk to you about. In confidence. But I’m also a concerned brother, even if you are a shithead more times than not.”

He shakes his head with a huff.

“Fine. Let’s talk about you then. Are you in trouble?”

Clarence masks his emotions very well. Too well. Unless it’s with me, and I know too many of his tells.

“I’m okay, Clary. No trouble. No sickness. Nothing serious,” I say softly, and he nods. Once.

“Okay. So tell me then.”

Picking at the pile of chip-fries, I sigh. “I want to know the downside of having a joint account with someone.”

He cocks an eyebrow. “Like…a bank account?”

“Yeah. I mean, we have the account for the school, and we have signing authority on anything under 5 grand. If it’s over that, then two of us need to sign. I understand that set up, but what if it was…just two people earning money together?”

I don’t know why I can’t just come out and say it. He’s not stupid. He’ll have it figured out.

“Does this have anything to do with the new roping partner you have now?”

See? He knew where I was going. I should’ve just started with it.

“Yeah. Dad said the school is our sponsor, so they pay our entrance fees for every event we attend. Anything we earn, we split. We’ll have gas to pay for and hotel rooms and such, and instead of always tracking who paid for what and making it fair, I thought if we had a joint account, it might make that easier.”

Clarence sits back and raises his lemonade to his lips. After a long swallow, he assesses me with what I call his resting lawyer bitch face. That gross mask of his that I hate, which makes you think he’s a giant dick when he’s not.

“What else?” he finally asks.

“Uh…that’s it?”