Page 57 of Minus

I shook my head. “Fit as a fiddle.”

He crossed his arms and cocked his head. “Are you being purposely obtuse?”

“Yes.”

“You gonna fill me in?”

I shook my head. “Isn’t that the whole point of being obtuse?”

He closed his eyes briefly and dragged a hand over his beard. I chose to wait until he was ready to rip me a new one before throwing him out of my apartment.

“Worried about you, baby sister. I’d really appreciate it if you’d fill me in on what’s goin’ on.”

“While I appreciate your attempt at communication without the normal intimidation tactics, this isn’t something I can talk to you about.”

“You can talk to me about anything.”

I scoffed. “That’s not true, and you know it.”

He shrugged off his leather jacket and slung it over the back of my sofa.

“Oh, so you’re staying,” I deduced as he walked into my kitchen.

“We’re gonna talk, Cricket,” he said grabbing a beer. Flopping onto the sofa, he twisted off the bottle top and took a swig.

I rolled my eyes, but without the spine to kick my brother out (and, admittedly, craving his advice), I grabbed my tea and sat in my oversized cuddle chair, tucking my feet under my butt. He watched me. Waiting. My brother was a pro at the stare down. So much so, I was never good at evading his questions and would always tell him way too much as a kid.

“I took a leave of absence because I’ve been feeling a little restless in my job. I mean, how many times can I come up with a new tagline for a dildo? It’s marketing for a dildo… it’s not rocket science, orpocket-rocketscience.” I sippedmy tea and Hatch said nothing. Just waited. “So, I was presented with an opportunity to change that. I don’t know if I’m going to take it, but it’s intriguing enough that I’d like to explore it a bit.”

“What kind of opportunity?”

“Nope.”

“Cricket?”

“No. You’ll freak the fuck out, and I’m too tired to deal with that.”

“What the fuck have you gotten yourself into?” he demanded.

“Well, this has been nice,” I said, setting my mug on the side table, and rising to my feet. “Please ride safely back to your beautiful home. Kiss the family for me.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Sit down, sissy.”

“I swear to God, Connor. I don’t want to have this conversation with you.”

He sighed. “You really thinkin’ about takin’ the job with the Saints?”

I groaned.

“Have a seat, Cricket.”

I flopped back into the chair and glared at him. “I really can’t handle a lecture right now, Con.”

“Look, I see you’re at a critical pivot point in your life right now. I get that you’ve got some serious shit to figure out, and I think you’re smart enough to make the right decision. You know how I feel about the Saints… and Minus.”

“Don’t,” I snapped.

“Crick?”

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