Second Chance Holiday (7 page)

“Want a beer?”
Asher asks.

Brandon’s face lights up and his hand goes forward to take the beer when Nico snatches the beer from Asher and opens it.

“Sorry, kid. You need to get some hair on your chest. Then you can have a beer,” Trevor says, handing Brandon a soda, smirking.

“Whatever,” Brandon grumbles, sitting back in his chair and taking a drink of his soda before looking around the campsite.

It’s been over a month since I picked up Brandon from the station. He has made a lot of changes since then. He is home more often than not or he is hanging out with me, Joe, or one of the Maysons. His grades have improved, and his and Kat’s relationship has done a complete one-eighty. Not only has he been helping November, but he has also shown a great interest in the club and improving it. I know nothing about social media, but the kid is a damn wiz and he has helped build clientele online with Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Joe is completely impressed with the damn kid, and I have to say I’m proud as hell of him.

“So, who is the girl you were hanging around the other day?” Nico asks.

I look at Brandon and then Nico and raise an eyebrow.

“No one,” Brandon mumbles, glaring at Nico.

“Didn’t look like no one to me, kid. You were making goo-goo eyes at her.”

Brandon glares harder. “I wasn’t.”

“Shut up, Nico,” Cash says and smiles at Brandon. “That’s his study partner, right?” Cash asks, looking at Brandon.

Brandon’s eyes narrow even further. “She’s a friend,” he grits out.

‘Who’s this?” I ask.

“She’s no one. Just a friend from school,” Brandon says.

“Friend… Hmmm,” Trevor says.

Brandon glares at him. “She is a friend,” he says.

Trevor gets a strange smile on his face. “Liz is my best friend,” he says, which makes me chuckle.

“You’re an idiot,” Brandon says, laughing, and the rest of the guys laugh too.

“So, are we going to go fishing or sit around all day gossiping?” James asks, walking up to the group with his fishing pole.

“Come with me for a second, bud,” I tell Brandon.

He follows me to the back of Asher’s Jeep, where we have all our stuff stowed. When I open the hatch, I pull out the gift I got for him and hand it to him. His eyes go from me to the box then back again.

“What is it?” he asks.

“Open it,” I tell him.

He pulls off the paper his mom insisted I wrap it in last night and his eyes go from his new pole to me.

“It’s a good one,”

He swallows hard and nods.

“Your mom insisted on wrapping it even though I told her not to,” I tell him.

His lips twitch and he looks at me again. “Thanks,” he says.

I nod, patting him on the back. I fell in love with Kat a long time ago, but I have slowly fallen in love with her son over the last month.

“You want me to help you set it up?” I ask him.

He nods again, pulling it completely from the box. We spend the next ten minutes getting his new trigger pole ready to use. Once it’s completely set up, I grab my pole and the tackle box I brought and head out to the boat we launched into the water when we arrived at the lake.

Once we all get in the boat, we head out into the middle of the lake, where the water is deeper and the fish radar is showing a school of fish below. We all cast off into the water and settle in for the day.

My dad used to bring my brother and me to this same lake when I was growing up. Most of our summers were spent out on the water. I have a lot of good memories here, and it feels good to share this place with Brandon. It makes me feel closer to him.

“I think you got something, bud,” I tell Brandon as I watch the end of his pole bend slightly.

“How do you know?” he asks, looking from the pole to me.

“Watch the point of your pole,” I tell him, and his eyes move to the pole. The end moves again.

“What do I do?” he asks quietly.

I look around the boat and see that everyone is focused on Brandon and me. “You’re gonna give your pole a tug. If something is on there, you want to make sure that it’s hooked good and tight. Then you’re gonna start reeling it in,” I tell him.

He nods then does as I said, giving the pole a firm tug before reeling in the line.

“It’s heavy,” he says, his body and arms flexing as he fights against the fish that is determined to get away.

“You can do it,” I tell him, standing at his side, coaching him the whole time—letting him know when to release some and when to bring the line in.

It takes a good half hour to get the fish to the top, and I’m surprised to see a giant bass break the surface of the water.

“Holy shit,” Asher says, leaning over the side of the boat.

“That’s one big fish!” Nico laughs and Brandon smiles looking over at me.

“Get the net,” Cash tells Trevor.

“You did good, Kid,” Trevor tells Brandon, leaning into the water to help Asher scoop out the fish.

“Well, you caught dinner,” James says.

The smile that was on Brandon’s face disappears in an instant. “You mean we’re going to eat it?”

“Hell yes, we’re going to eat it!” Asher smiles bringing the fish onto the boat.

“I never agreed to eating fish. Didn’t we bring hot dogs or something?” Brandon asks, making me laugh.

“This is like the Wild West, Kid. You live off what you catch,” Trevor tells Brandon, and all the boys laugh when Brandon shudders.

“You did good, bud,” I say, bringing Brandon’s attention to me. “I’m proud of you.”

“It was cool,” he says. Then he looks back at the fish then to me again. “Are you sure we don’t have hot dogs?”

“I may have a pack in the cooler,” I tell him, squeezing his shoulder.

“Thank God,” he mumbles under his breath, making James and me laugh.

*

“So, what college
are you going to?” Cash asks Brandon. We just finished dinner and are now all sitting around the bonfire.

“I’m not sure. I may stay local and just do some business classes,” Brandon tells him then looks over at me. “Joe said that, if I worked hard and proved to you both, he would talk to you about me managing Teasers.”

“Did he?” I say. It doesn’t surprise me that my brother would say something like that. I know he has been thinking about stepping back from the club just like I have.

“Well, he said that you guys are old,” Brandon says with a smile, making me smile into the beer I just brought to my mouth.

“Didn’t you just turn eighteen?” Cash asks, and Brandon nods. “You think you can run a strip club?”

“I don’t think I can. I know I can,” Brandon says, and pride fills my chest.

“You’re a kid,” Nico says.

“That doesn’t mean anything.”

“It does when there are naked women around,” Trevor says.

“So, are you tryin’ to say that Mike sleeps with the women who work at the club?” Brandon asks. “Or that Joe does?”

“I didn’t say that,” Trevor says, looking at me.

“Well, then, why would you think that I would do that?”

“You just turned eighteen,” Cash repeats.

“And?”

“I think he could do it,” I say.

All eyes come to me.

“Look at it this way. Joe and I opened teasers when we were in our twenties. I have never slept with or even touched one of the women who work for me nor do I want to. It’s a job and nothing more. I think that, if he went to school, got some business classes or management classes under his belt, he could do good by the club and the girls. I know that he is young, but if he continues down the road he is on now, he will do amazing things one day,” I say and turn to look at Brandon. “If you prove to me and Joe that you really want to run the club one day, I would be honored to hand the reins over to you.”

I watch as his eyes go soft and a look I often see from his mom appears on his face before he looks away. I now know that I will do anything in my power to make sure he succeeds in whatever he chooses for his life and fully understands what my mom said to me when I told her that I wanted to own a strip club.

“All I have ever wanted was for you to be happy, son. So if this is what makes you happy and is a reason for you to get out of bed every day, then who am I judge it?”

From that moment on, my mom was my biggest ally, and I know that I will be that for Brandon.

“Thanks,” Brandon says quietly.

*

“How do you
think Brandon would feel about you guys living with me?” I ask Kat.

We have been going strong for a few months. Most mornings, when I get off work, I just come straight to Kat’s. Even if I’m just going to be sleeping, I like knowing that Kat is in the next room. I can’t stand being away from her. The idea of her moving in with me has been floating around in my head for some time now. Her townhouse is nice, but my house is nicer. I also have more space. Brandon wouldn’t feel like we are living on top of him like he does now. I remember what it’s like to be a teenage boy, and no way would I want my mom’s room next to mine.

“You want us to move in with you?” Kat asks, her already large eyes getting larger.

“We basically live together now. I just figured we should make it official.” I shrug like it’s not a big deal even though my gut is twisting and my heart rate has sped up.

“Are you sure you want that?”

“Yes,” I say immediately.

This is the next step for us. At this point, we’re just putting off the inevitable. We spend all of our free time together and I never go home to my place anymore when I get off work unless there is something I need to do.

“I…” She pauses, looking around her place. “I wouldn’t feel good about moving Brandon. Not right now in the middle of the school year.”

Shit. I didn’t even think about that. “Okay, so we wait and I’ll move in here until the school year’s done.”

“You would do that?”

“Living with you isn’t a hardship.” I smile, crowding her against the counter in the kitchen. “Sleeping next to you.” I nip her neck. “Waking up with you.” I kiss her lips.

“So then, I guess we just need to sit down and talk to Brandon about it?” she whispers against my lips.

“You want both of us to talk to him or do you want to do it on your own?”

“I think I should talk to him first,” she mumbles, looking down at her fingers that are now playing with the buttons of my shirt.

“Are you worried?” I ask, tilting her head back so I can see her eyes.

“No. I mean… I don’t know.” She shrugs. “He’s been so good lately that I’m nervous about messing that up.”

“Look, if we have to keep things the way they are right now, I’m cool with that.”

She nods, and I kiss her on the mouth just as the front door is opens.

“Mom, Mike, I’m home!” Brandon yells.

“I’m gonna head home and you call me when you’re done talking with him,” I tell her, kissing her once more.

“Hey,” Brandon says when he walks into the kitchen. His eyes go from his mom to me then back again.

“How was school?” Kat asks him as he opens the fridge door.

“School,” he mumbles, pulling up his pants.

I don’t even understand why he’s wearing a belt when his pants are hanging off his ass anyways. I look at Kat, who blows out a long breath, looking at her son.

“I’m gonna head out,” I say.

Kat pulls her eyes from Brandon’s back before looking at me. “I’ll walk you to the door.”

“See you soon,” I tell Brandon. I know he is supposed to be meeting me at the club in a few hours. Joe has some questions for him and wants to have a sit-down.

“I’m just gonna grab some food then change. I’ll see you in a while,” he mutters, not pulling his head from the fridge.

Kat squeezes my hand, and I follow her out of the kitchen to the front door.

“Call if you need me.” I lean in and kiss her forehead then lips.

She nods when I pull away, and I can tell she’s worried about talking to him about us.

“Look, if he’s not okay with us moving in together, I’m cool with that.”

“Who’s moving in?” Brandon says from behind us.

Kat whispers, “Shit,” under her breath before turning her head to look over her shoulder.

“If Mike’s moving in, then I want to move to his house.”