Page 153 of Love Thy Brother
Yes.
No.
For the longest minute, I wanted that line more than anything. More than I cared about Cam and Orla.
About Rubi.
Then I pictured him stretched out in his bed. In front of the fire in his cosy living room, vinyl spread out around us. Tea mugs and weed pipes. Buttered toast and blankets.
Fuck. I wanted that. I wantedhim.
And I wasn’t gonna give him up for a shitty line of unidentified blow.
No. Just fucking no.
I was stronger than that. I had to be, or me and Rubi?
We were dead in the water.
27
RUBI
The battery took hours to fit. And even then the electrics in the cab were shagged. No heat. No charge for our phones.
No music, but we made our own and bellowed old Irish songs all the way home to keep ourselves awake, not daring to stop and try to buy a power bank in case we couldn’t get started again.
The battery held. Just. It was the wrong side oftomorrowby the time the truck limped into the yard.
Cam waited for us. I sang the final chorus of A Pair of Brown Eyes in his face.
His glare was impressive. “I see you two made up.”
“We did.”
“No fighting?”
“Just loving, brother. You know we ain’t about that shit.”
“Bible.” Nash hopped from the passenger seat. “We’re all good. Everything okay here?”
A strange expression crossed Cam’s face, erasing the grumpy with something more like excitement. “Juana went into labour.”
I jumped down from the cab, landing at Cam’s feet. “For real? When?”
“A few hours ago. Mateo took her in. Liliana’s with Orla at the cottage. Saint and Alexei are with her.”
“That’s the freakiest slumber party I’ve ever not been invited to.”
“You’re definitely not invited. You both look homeless. Take a shower, then go find my brother if you’re safe to drive.”
“He’s not here?”
“He went home.”
My happy buzz aborted take-off. “To Porth Luck?”
Cam’s expression soured. “That’s where he lives. Unless I’ve missed something monumental.”
