Page 3 of Can't Win 'Em All
Mom looked genuinely amused. “Just be careful if you spend time with your father. I’m not telling you what to do—that has never worked out well for me—but either way, he’s going to try to manipulate you. That’s the last thing I want.”
“Oh, I’m not going to fall for his nonsense,” I assured her. “I’m not an idiot.”
“Just … be careful.”
Talk returned to the crisis management team. Everybody agreed that Lapidus Communications was the way to go. Mom said she would reach out to them herself and set up a meeting. We would all be included in the initial conversation.
Once the meeting broke up, I shot Rex a dirty look as he used my nickname once again. He used it more and more often now that we were interacting daily. The fact that it irritated me was only fuel for the fire. I ignored him and sidled over to Olivia.
“So … party at the Chandelier bar tonight, right?” I asked her.
Olivia smiled—that’s all she did these days because she and my brother were so giddily in love—and nodded her head. “Yes. You can make it, can’t you?”
“I can,” I confirmed. Tonight was a celebration of Olivia and Zach’s love. Since their first wedding had been a hastily slapped together affair at one of the local twenty-four-hour chapels, they were doing it up right for a second wedding. Their anniversary date wouldn’t change but this time they wanted to exchange vows with one another in front of our families. It wouldn’t be an overblown affair, but it would be classy. “I’m actually looking forward to it.”
Olivia cocked her head as she regarded me. “Is something wrong? You seem tense.” She’d become something of a third sister since marrying my brother. The dynamics weren’t exactly the same, but she fit in well with us. I liked her a great deal.
“I’m fine,” I said. “I’m just … stressed.” I thought about my father and scowled. “I wish this was all behind us.”
“Well, you know what they say about stress, right?” Olivia prodded.
I waited without responding. I had a feeling I knew where she was going, but I wanted to be certain.
“You need someone to help you relieve that stress,” she said. “Are you dating?”
I shook my head. “I’ve been considering it. Dating seems like a lot of work given everything that’s going on now, though. I just … I don’t know.” I held out my hands. “I’m not sure I have the patience for all of that.”
“You don’t have to date them,” Olivia noted. “You can just be a man, use them for sex for a night, and then go on your merry way.” She laughed as if it were a joke, and yet I found I was intrigued.
“You know, that’s not the worst idea I’ve ever heard.”
“I was kidding.”
“Yes, well, I’m not.” I straightened. “Now I’m really looking forward to tonight.”
“Oh, geez.” Olivia closed her eyes. “It’s going to be a train wreck. I won’t be able to watch.”
“You’re going to spend the whole night watching my brother pretend he can dance. Who are you kidding?”
“You make a good point. That does do it for me.”
“You’re kind of gross.”
Olivia’s blissful smile was back. “I’m okay with that.”
And she was. I could see it. What would it take for me to be okay with something like that?
2
TWO
The Chandelier at the Cosmopolitan was one of my sister’s favorite places along the Vegas Strip. She wasn’t an out-of-control partier by any stretch of the imagination, but she did like her cocktails. I wasn’t surprised to find that the bar was making a signature cocktail for the party tonight. It was pink and I could only imagine it somehow tasted pink.
I made a face when Zach extended a martini glass in my direction. The pink concoction inside turned my stomach. “Um … I’m not drinking that.”
Zach glanced over his shoulder. “It’s called The Olivia,” he argued. “Your sister got the head mixologist to design it to mark the occasion. She wants everybody to have one.”
I continued to stare at the glass. “Dude, I can’t drink that and keep my man card.” I was deadly serious. “There’s no way.”
