Page 25 of Wilde's End
“I have, actually,” I say through a grin that feels painful and probably looks it. “We fucked before I got here, so I should be okay for a while. Thanks for being worried about me, brother.”
Kennedy huffs and shoves a full egg into his mouth. “He’s an asshole,” he grumbles around his food. “He doesn’t deserve you.”
“Him being an asshole is kind of the whole point.” I wave a hand over myself. “Gay, remember?”
His half smile makes his mustache tremble. “I don’t mean the literal kind. I mean that he’s horrible to you, and you shouldn’t have to put up with that.”
“It’s sex,” I say, trying to brush it off. This is why I don’t talk about Sutton with him. My brother is a romantic, and I don’t think he’s slept with someone he hasn’t fallen madly in love with. “It doesn’t matter how he treats me. It only matters that I get off.”
“Your life makes me sad.”
“At least I haven’t been through three heartbreaks already this year.”
The smile slips from Kennedy’s face, and Hart murmurs, “Cold, bro.”
He’s right. “Sorry,” I say to Kennedy. “Wilde’s got me frustrated.”
Kennedy, always a better person than me and Hart, lets metake the out. “What do we do about him? We can’t let him keep messing with our stuff. It’ll bankrupt us before long.”
“Could hire security,” Hart says.
“We could, but that would cost a fortune.”
“Put fences up to keep them out?” Kennedy suggests.
I run my gaze along the perimeter, from one end of the street to the other, then along behind the houses where the trees slope up the hillside. “That’s a lot of fencing.”
Hart drums his fingers on the canvas chair. “And I doubt a little thing like a fence would stop that guy.”
“Back to the guns, then?” I watch Kennedy for a reaction.
He kicks at the dirt, still thinking. “Where does this guy even come from anyway? And the others? I’ve counted three people other than him, you can’t tell me they’re all just … just … living in trees or something.”
I catch on fast. “They have to have a house somewhere.”
“Probably close since they’re up there watching us every day.”
I look from Hart to Kennedy and back to Hart again. If they have a home, they’re as vulnerable as we are. Maybe even more so. None of our personal items are here; it’s only tired old buildings that we’re trying to breathe life into. Mountain man or not, he’d have belongings. Things he likes or needs.
“That’s it.”
Kennedy’s eyebrows jump up. “What’s it?”
“If they want to wreck our things, we’re going to wreck theirs.”
“That was not at all where I was going with it.”
“I’m in,” Hartwell says before Kennedy even finishes talking. “Let’s break some stuff.”
“We’re not breaking anything.” Kennedy stares us both down. “We’re trying to deescalate here. Not escalate. What do you think they’ll do to us if we mess with their belongings?”
“No clue.” I look at Hart, and for a tiny second, there’s life in his eyes. “But we’re going to find out.”
“No.”
I jump at Kennedy’s whiplike word. At first, I think he’s joking since he’s the most easygoing guy ever, but his expression matches his tone. “Excuse me?”
“Please don’t do this. We’re onto a good thing here, and I’m tired of waking up and wondering what the fuck is going to set us back today. I want to focus on the three of us and our plans for this place. That’s it.”
