Page 19 of Trick-or-Treated

Cole takes a step toward him and I hold up a hand.

“We are definitely not drunk enough for you two to start wrestling,” I say dryly, and it elicits a belly laugh out of Cole and a chuckle out of Marcus.

I’m usually the peacemaker between these two, so this isn’t new.

But the fact that it’s over a woman?

Definitely new. Definitely weird.

I glance out of the window. It’s still storming. The streets downtown might be flooded tomorrow if this keeps up.

Not great news for the Halloween Festival at the end of the month.

We don’t talk much the next hour, opting to drink instead.

By the time the rain slows down, even Marcus is smiling and red-faced, laughing at some story Cole is telling with wild gestures of his hands.

I recline on Cole’s couch, the one that sleeps like shit. He’s not set up for guests, his penthouse pretty obviously a bachelor pad.

“So,” I say after Cole’s finished his story. “How do we approach her?”

“I already have,” Cole says smugly.

Marcus leans forward menacingly and Cole flinches.

“What do you mean, you already have?”

My eyes flit between the two of them, but Cole just gives Marcus his most practiced CEO smile.

“Ran into her at the Dive.”

The Dive. It’s a tiny place downtown, not known to have the best crowd.

“The Dive? What’s she doing there?”

Cole shrugs. “It wasn’t so bad. A bartender threatened to kill me, though.”

Marcus pinches the bridge of his nose between his fingertips.

“Why are you like this?”

“Bad breeding,” Cole says cheerfully.

Marcus groans and I throw a pillow at Cole. It uselessly hits him in the chest and falls onto the floor.

“What’d you say to her?” Marcus asks, almost interrogating him.

Cole smiles. “Not much. Just told her I wanted to taste her muffins.”

“You said what?” Marcus nearly yells but Cole is laughing.

“She owns a bakery, Marcus, relax,” I manage, chuckling slightly myself.

Marcus relaxes. Kinda. He relaxes as much as a guy like Marcus can relax.

None of us had particularly easy beginnings, but Marcus takes the cake for the worst childhood.

By far.