Asher plucked the towel from the hook and wiped his hands dry before leaning against the counter across from Zane, the pair of Navy SEALs flanking him like they were going in for the kill. “You can’t keep doing this to yourself.”
Zane shrugged. “It’s not like you’re drowning in student loans like I was, and you’re not going to be waiting in the unemployment lines. Black Op is young, but you know our financials. It’ll be tight for the next few months, but we can afford for you to take a regular income.”
“I’m not worried about the money.” He shook his head, digging his hands in his hair. “I mean, I have a decent savings account, but I don’t want to dip into that. The security blanket of my steady paycheck has been my excuse. But you’re not wrong. I’m so burned out.”
“See? You know it’s time. Your cheek is still purple from one of many assholes you’ve pissed off,” Asher said.
Zane winked and said, “I don’t know, I think Grady will find a way to get coldcocked all on his own.”
Mug raising to toast after topping off Grady’s coffee, Asher said, “Stop worrying and rip off the Band-Aid. Take a few weeks to just exist, without thinking about it. Give that overactive brain of yours a break.”
Zane nodded. “Take that vacation. Just leave me some notes on what all I need to do while you’re out.”
“I fucking hate being a lawyer.” Nodding, Grady’s eyes wandered the ceiling, considering what it might be like to actually relax. He hadn’t taken time for himself in... ever? “Okay. But—”
Zane whacked him on the arm. “Stop butting.”
Grady nodded, nauseous as he thought about it. What idiot wound up with two of his best friends counting on him as business partners? Didn’t matter what he did, he was going to let one of them down.
Zane winked. “If it helps, you have to survive your mother’s party first.”
“Fuck. Let’s hope the roads will still be impassable. Cross your fingers it snows again.”
“If all hell breaks loose and Patricia condemns you in front of her peers, or if she’s completely humiliated by your antics... Well, let’s just say Zane and I know how to raise hell.”
Chuckling, he flexed his crossed arms and grinned mischievously. “Hell, yeah. Like that party in Syria that we weren’t supposed to infiltrate.”
Asher winked. “Exactly. Those greedy assholes didn’t know what hit them.”
Hysterics shuddering through his broad shoulders, tears flooding from his eyes, Zane said, “Or what they were smelling.”
Grady couldn’t help but laugh, rolling his eyes at his friends. Although he’d love to see the look on Patricia’s face if her party were to turn disastrous, he’d rather lie low and suffer a quiet night.
17
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