Page 27 of Conan
“That sounds like heaven,” I concede. “That means you two are released from guard duty because we’ll be calling it an early night.”
I’m mentally and emotionally drained since I’ve had two sessions of sharing with Luna. A comedy would be up the right alley, it’d allow me to decompress and forget—even if just temporarily.
The Mexican food settles in my tummy while Luna and I cuddle on the couch.
It’s a snugglefest.
Both of us are content to watch the show in comfortable yet companionable silence. We laugh when it’s appropriate, but other than that, we don’t say a single word—there’s no reason for it.
When we’re together, we don’t need to talk, we can just be.
This is just what the doctor ordered.
CHAPTER
TWELVE
CONAN
I wasn’ta fan of school, but I’m even less so of these mundane lectures, it’s why I didn’t further my education once I received my high school diploma. I’m slouched back in my seat, my head tossed back staring at the ceiling as the speaker drolls on and on and on like the motherfucking Energizer bunny. His voice is monotone, no animation in it whatsoever to make the bullshit he’s spewing more interesting and noteworthy.
We don’t have women in our business to worry about sexual harassment accusations. And as brothers, if one of us was to swing for the same sex, we wouldn’t disrespect them by making passes at another one of us, especially if they wouldn’t reciprocate. Respect is a big thing for us, most importantly, when it comes to his extra-curricular activities that take place behind his bedroom door, that’s his jam and has nothing to do with who we are or what we stand for.
One of my closest friends in high school, Teddy, batted for the other team. We met when I stood up for him after Iwalked around the corner in the locker room and noticed he was cornered by the jock squad, they were saying some nasty, homophobic comments and it had me seeing red.
Some people are just born assholes.
I nearly got expelled for dishing out a little justice, but I gained a friend and shadow from it. It felt good to use my brawn and bravado for something other than intimidation.
Damn, I miss that fool but last I heard from him, he was traveling abroad, looking for a place where he could make a stamp for himself on the world. I think, if memory serves, he was hitting up some fancy township in Italy next. I’m a bad friend for not reaching out and staying in touch but life took us in two different directions and we drifted apart.
“Snap out of it,” Marcum orders, his voice low to where it doesn’t carry throughout the auditorium as he, not too gently, elbows me in the rib cage. “We have to be able to participate if we get asked any questions.”
“This is all common sense shit, Marcum,” I whisper back.
“According to the instructor, it’s not,” he comments, releasing a deep sigh. “Where did your thoughts lead you to anyhow?”
“Teddy,” I answer beneath my breath so we don’t draw an audience.
“I got an email from him the other day,” he confesses. “Did you see yours?”
“What makes you think I got one too, Marcum?”
My brother dramatically rolls his eyes and says, “He never sends one without sending us both one, and you damn well know it.”
Teddy managed to earn himself a duo of crazy ass brothers when I took him underneath my wing.
If anyone was scared of me if they had the audacity to either physically or verbally attack Teddy, it was nothing compared to when Marcum went charging in to save the day. He was brutal and ruthless in his protection of our adopted brother.
“I didn’t get a chance to check them before we left and hadn’t thought about it since we’ve been here,” I admit. “What did he have to say?”
Thank fuck our group is in the back of this room so we can carry on with our chattering, all by our lonesome selves, otherwise, everyone would be up in our business and we’d be shushed plus called out.
“He found himself a man and he was all Manny this, and Manny that,” he growls and huffs, unhappy about the fact that he’s not there to interrogate Teddy’s new love interest.
“Manny and Teddy?” I ask, snickering. “It couldn’t get any more perfectly matched than that. I’m gonna give him hell.”
“He’s bringing him to meet us around the holidays,” my brother informs me.
