Page 21 of Born Into Trouble (Occupy Yourself)
Eleven
Seated at the end of the breakfast bar, Benny continued softly strumming the strings on the guitar in his lap, his eyes downturned while Andy and his red-haired beauty walked up the stairs to their bedroom. Her shorts left little to the imagination, and he was afraid if he looked up, he’d know if the carpet matched the drapes.Fuck.
He needed to get his own place, but there were a few impediments to that plan. One, it was Fort Wayne, and he didn’t know many people here. Two, he was essentially flat fucking broke because his brother held the purse strings tighter than an old lady at the end of the month. There was money, because, through his connections, Andy had pedaled the product and admitted he’d gotten more than amnesty for Benny from the buyer. But half that money went to Andy’s biker gang, and even Benny couldn’t fault the reasoning.
He’d brought trouble to their door, using his family. His gaze flicked to the top of the stairs, hearing Andy’s low murmur, and then the bright laughter of the woman, Ruby. Her name as pretty as she was, but Benny thought Ruby seemed like a nickname because one of the ladies in the gang had called her Melanie.
Club, I gotta call it a club,he reminded himself. He’d brought more than trouble to the club. It seemed he’d brought it directly to his brother’s feet, too.Kidnapping.He shook his head. What the hell kind of people would kidnap a cute thing like Ruby?The kind of trash I dragged into town with me.The house phone rang, and he waited, hearing Andy’s voice again as he answered. After a couple of minutes, his brother called down the stairs, “Shrimp, pick up.”
Leaning the guitar against the wall, he reached over and snagged the handset. “Hello?”
Silence for a moment, followed by a voice he didn’t recognize. “Ben? Ben Jones?”
“Yeah. What can I do for you?” Echoing on the line, then into the silence he prompted, “Hello?”
“Hey. It’s Vic.” Shaking his head, Ben leaned one elbow on the counter, lifting a hand to rub the back of his neck, moving to a rolling massage when the man spoke again. “Glad you’re feeling better, man. Real glad.” A pause. “Um. Wanted you to know I’ve got all the gear. Well, not Blake’s kit, he took that. But the rest. Mitty,”—Benny must have made a confused sound, because Vic elaborated—“you know, Dimitri. Anyway, Mitty and I got it all loaded into the van your brother loaned us since ours broke down.” A hollow click on the line and Ben realized Andy had been listening. “You there?”
“Yeah.” The word hurt to say, cut through him like ground glass in his throat. He didn’t remember a lot from the night he'd nearly died. Andy had filled in some of the gaps on the plane ride home yesterday; filled in a lot of holes, but only a few had to do with the band.
Vic Montrose was one of the things he didn’t remember, not really, but Benny was glad to hear he and Dmitri had stuck around. Benita and Danny were back in Wyoming, as a couple, which surprised everyone except Benny. He heard both of them were working for Benita’s dad at a car dealership in Cheyenne. Blake was done anyway, so Ben didn’t give a shit either way about him. He hadn’t thought about the gear, though, so it was good to know it hadn’t disappeared. His hand convulsed around the neck of the guitar at the surge of hope that whooshed through him.Maybe there’s a chance at rebuilding.
Footsteps descended the stairs. He watched Andy stop about halfway down, bending his knees to sit sideways, settling in with his legs dangling over the side of the stairway.
“Where are you guys staying?”Maybe I can move in with them. Even as he had the thought, he saw Andy grin and shake his head, reading his mind.Fuck.
“Hanging with some friends of your brother. Bear’s a cool dude. We’ve been jammin’ with him.” Vic’s voice dipped, and Ben suddenly felt like a teenager, far younger than his twenty-six-years, standing there with a hand cupped around the phone to keep anyone from overhearing a conversation. “He’s good. Like totally good. Outrageous. Dude, youneedto hear him.”
Excitement burned through him at that. There were few things better than playing with someone who could actually play. Someone you could bounce and grind your skills against, honing both your talents to a fine edge. Someone who could match and play with you, tying a song into a tight bow no audience could escape from. Best feeling in the world.
“Sounds good.”Understatement. “I could meet Bear anytime. Wanna pick me up tomorrow?” Andy’s head moved side-to-side, and Benny gestured to him with his free hand.Jesus. He fumbled, then suggested, “Or, I could get my brother to bring me to you?” An up-and-down movement that time, and Benny looked down, staring at the toes of his shoes. “Why don’t I do that? It’s probably easier. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Vic was still talking when Benny hung up the phone, glaring at Andy. “Why does it feel like I just made a playdate?” He swallowed hard. “Andy, I don’t mean to…what I want to say is I know how—”
Andy cut him off with laughter. “Fuck that noise. I’m lovin’ this, shrimp. You bein’ excited about meeting Bear is awesome to see. You bein’ excited about anything.” He grinned. “If this works out? Worth everything.” Andy scooted back, standing, his voice trailing after him as he made his way back upstairs. “See ya in the morning.”
“Night,” Benny called and then picked up the guitar again. After not playing much for so many weeks, it would take his fingers time to toughen up again. Walking to the couch where a pile of blankets waited for him, he strummed and hummed quietly far into the night.
***
“Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey.” The too-bright voice buzzed alongside his ear—soft, girlish tones luring him up from sleep. “Come on, beautiful boy, time to get up.” Benny reached out a hand, found a feminine wrist and clamped tight, pulling her into bed with him. “Hey. Let me go.”Too petite to be Benita, I must have hooked up with a groupie last night. “Ben. Let me go.”Got me some strange. He grinned but then the woman’s tone registered. Trembling, her voice was small and frightened. “Please.”
He released her and opened his eyes, seeing a flash of red as she scrambled to her feet.Fuck. “Ruby, I’m sorry. I didn’t—”
“Breakfast is on the stove.” There were tears gathering in her eyes as she turned away, then she paused in place, keeping her back to him. Taking a deep breath, seeming to steady herself through willpower alone, she quietly asked, “Coffee or juice?”
“Jesus, I’m sorry.” He sat up and realizing he’d slept in his jeans, threw off the blanket and stood. She turned around at the noise and stepped backwards, away from him. Retreating. From him.Shit. “Ruby—”
“Don’t worry about it, Benny.” Gaze to the floor, she was the picture of an abused woman.And I put my hands on her. My brother’s woman. Fuck. “No worries,” she lied to him.
My big brother. “Do you have brothers or sisters?” Not sure where the question came from, he ran with it as she shook her head. “Baby brothers are supposed to be a pain in the ass. That’s me. I’m your new pain in the ass.” A flickering smile danced on and off her face.Fuck. More. “Thing is, you get to torture me in return. Ask Andy, he has a million ways to make me pay. Today, I’d say your best option is to demand I do the dishes in payback for my deed just now. Later, you could tell me to mop the bathrooms, but I also might decline. That’s where the fun starts. Means you get to badger and pester, and I can’t do anything about it. Gotta put up with it. My big sister gets the last say, see?”
He must have hit the right tone, because when her eyes met his, a tiny but real smile curled her lips.There we go. In that instant, he saw exactly what his brother had in Ruby, and hoped like hell he’d find the same one day. “Deal?”
She took a shaky breath, and then responded on the exhale, her voice still soft, “Deal.” Head tipped to one side, she laughed, that sound strong in comparison. “The guys all call me little sister a lot of the time. It’s kinda fun to think about being someone’s big sister for a change.”
“All day long. Bossy lady gets to boss the baby brother.” His phone rang, and he laughed as he pulled it out of his back pocket, connecting the call while listening to her answering laughter. “Hello.”
“Who’s that?” Benita’s voice was loud, shrill, and pissed off. “You sound like you’re doing a lot better, laughing it up like that. Who’s that with you?”
