Page 135 of Story of My Life
Suddenly, I had all three brothers lined up, forming an impenetrable wall of muscle and crossed arms.
“This asshole live in New York?” Cam asked.
“Upper West Side,” Levi read from his phone.
Gage looked at his watch. “That’s about two, two and a half hours from here.”
“We can be back before dark,” Cam said.
Levi grunted. “We can stop at that diner with the donuts on the way back.”
I waved my hands in the air. “Hold on. You can’t be serious.”
I was met with three very serious, very stubborn scowls.
“Zoey? A little help here?”
“I don’t want to help. I wanna see them kick his ass.”
“There will be no ass-kicking,” I insisted.
“Ugh. Fine. Be a responsible adult,” she complained. Then she turned to face the Bishops. “Gentlemen, this is a small unfortunate side effect of life as an author. It’s like dealing with a high school bully. The best thing to do is ignore them and keep on focusing on the good.” She said the last part through clenched teeth.
The brothers exchanged an incredulous look. “All due respect, but that is not the best way to deal with a bully,” Gage countered.
“What is?” I asked.
“Escalation,” the men said together.
I pursed my lips together to keep from laughing. “Escalation, huh?”
“A bully slaps your geography book out of your hand, you pick it up and slap him across the face with it until he hits the floor,” Cam explained.
“Someone pushes you into a locker, you punch ’em in the face until someone pulls you off him,” Gage continued.
“Some asshole steals your friend’s lunch money, you break into their house and steal everything out of their bedroom, then auction it all off at school the next day,” Levi added.
“Those are very specific examples.” I reached for my notebook.
Zoey managed to crack a smile. “This is different, guys. You can’t show up at every single Crabby Cathy’s house for every mean blog post or one-star review and threaten them. I mean, that would be a full-time job. Two full-time jobs during a release. Jims are a dime a dozen. Oh my God, Haze! Do you remember that grumpy blogger who started an online campaign to get their followers to report your books for copyright infringement on online retailers because she didn’t like that your main character cheered for the wrong college football team?”
All three brothers removed their tool belts.
“I’m driving,” Cam said.
I made a slashing motion across my throat. “Not the best time for a walk down memory lane, Zoey.”
“I am getting that now,” she said.
“Hang on.” I got between the Bishops and the door. “What do you guys do when someone leaves a bad review of your company online?”
“It’s only happened once,” Gage said ominously.
“Fuckin’ Emilie,” Levi muttered.
“Why is she the way she is?” I asked.
“Middle child. Her older sister was a star gymnast, almost made the Olympics. Her younger brother is a brain surgeon,” Gage said.
