Page 100 of Bad Habit
Sixteen
Mac
“Hey, asshole!” Nick opened the door to Keagan’s apartment and ushered me inside. “Is it true? Did you really give evidence against Keagan? Turn over all the shit from that container?”
“Didn’t figure you for a rat, Mac,” Nick’s girlfriend Jade added from where she was sprawled on the sofa.
Called out by my little brother’s girlfriend. Great. “It’s not like that.” I crossed to take a chair. “Besides, I thought if anyone would understand, it would be you two.” Dillon, on the other hand, had stormed out of our apartment when I broke the news. I hadn’t seen him since.
Maybe Iwasa rat. But I was a rat who’d done the right thing. “There was heroin in the baby formula. You guys saying we should have kept that? Or tried to sell it?”
Nick clapped my shoulder as he walked past. “No one’s saying that, bro. Want a beer?”
“Nah.”
He sat on the sofa and Jade curled into him, one leg tucked under her and the other across his lap. If you’d ever asked me what kind of woman would end up with Nick, Jade would not have been who I pictured—at all. But seeing them together… They were perfect.
I was happy for Nick, but his joy added shade to the darkness blanketing me since I was dumped.
“We’ve got news,” Nick said. “We found a place. A bachelor in the East Bay.”
“It’s small,” Jade piped in.
“But perfect.” Nick kissed the top of her head as he hugged her into his chest.
“That’s great.” My voice came out flat.
“You’re not happy for us?” Nick frowned.
I leaned forward. “Sure. Yes. It’s just…”
“Whatis going on with you?” Nick looked at me with genuine concern.
“I met someone. I didn’t want to tell you guys… Well, Dill knew.”
“Knew?” Jade asked. “What happened? Did she break your heart?”
Elbows on my knees, I leaned forward with my head in my hands, taking a deep breath before answering. “Not before I broke hers.”
“What did you do?” Jade slid her leg off Nick’s lap and leaned toward me.
Nick rubbed her back. “Babe, he doesn’t want to talk about it.”
“Men.” Jade shook her head. Then looking at Nick, she gestured toward me. “He’s here, isn’t he? He wants to talk, even if he doesn’t know that he does.”
Nick smiled, nodding at her like she was the smartest person on the planet. Right now, she was the smartest person in the room—at least about this.
I liked having Jade in Nick’s life, in our family. She came off as tough, but she had a huge heart.
“Tell us about her,” Jade said. “What’s she like?”
I sat back, hands on the ends of the chair’s arms. Where did I start? “She’s amazing. Perfect. Kind, generous, loving—good. Really good. Totally wrong for me.”
“No kidding,” Nick interjected.
Jade slapped his arm.
“I never guessed it would turn into anything beyond… I figured I’d just do what she asked, then move on.”
