LITMIR.BIZ

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dive-bombing squirrels.”

      Katie rested her head on Tully’s shoulder. “I think it’s so sweet, you going with Jamie to take care of her bird.”

      “And, yep,” Kyle muttered, “said out loud it does sound stupid.”

      Tully kissed the top of his baby sister’s head. “It was the right thing to do.”

      “Why?” Kyle asked, placing the now-empty beer bottle back in Tully’s hand. “It’s not your fault. Seems to me if anyone went with her it should have been Luther.”

      “Luther Ray Smith in the same car with Jamie Meacham?”

      “Why not? Set up a camera in the car for that trip and we could have sold that mess to pay-per-view.”

      The brothers laughed while Katie tugged on Tully’s long-sleeved T-shirt. “What’s going on with you and Jamie?”

      “Nothing.”

      “Are you sure? ’Cause if you’re going to get serious, she’s going to have to stop calling me Snaggle.”

      “I’ll talk to her about that,” Tully said quickly and loudly to cover up Kyle’s laugh.

      Jamie walked in to the bar and immediately stopped. “A reggae bar in the middle of Nowhere, North Carolina,” she said to her coven. “I find this a little frightening.”

      Sen pushed past her, once again all smiles and cheer. Her rage from that afternoon already forgotten. “You’ve missed some bands! I told you to come with me before, but no. You never listen!” She stepped farther into the bar and a table full of enormous men called out her name.

      “See you guys later!” She ran off and launched herself at the biggest male there.

      “Bears,” Mac said next to Jamie.

      “Polar, to be specific,” Kenny added.

      “Where was I when this happened?”

      “We’ve been asking ourselves that a lot lately.”

      Jamie let out a breath, way too tired for this conversation. “Don’t start, Mac.”

      “I wasn’t. You asked a question, I answered it.”

      “Is it love?” Jamie asked.

      “For now,” Emma said, looking around the bar until she caught sight of Kyle and walked off.

      “I hope it lasts until next winter,” Kenny sighed out and both cousins turned to look at her.

      “You want Sen to be happy and in love?” Jamie asked.

      “Until winter time.”

      Mac shrugged. “Why?”

      “Because…I wanna be there when she finds her polar-bear sweetheart splayed out on one of the frozen man-made saltwater lakes, patiently waiting for one of those baby seals we’ll have flown in just for this reason to pop its head up so the polar can snatch it out of the ice cold water, tear it open, and devour it like a Girl Scout Thin Mint cookie.”

      “She really drives you crazy doesn’t she?”

      “Yes! Because no one should be that fucking perky and mean it!” She let out a breath, once again relaxed. “And on that note, I’m going home.” When Jamie frowned, she added, “Gaming.” As if that should explain everything and for Jamie and Mac…it did.

      “You staying?” Jamie asked Mac.

      “I could go for a drink.”

      “Yeah. Me, too.” Jamie handed over the SUV keys to Kenny. “Take the car, we’ll walk back.”

      “You sure?”

      “Yep.”

      Together Mac and Jamie headed toward the bar but Emma was motioning them over. When they ignored her, she yelled out, “Hey!”

      Jamie sighed as the pair changed course. “Remember when she was the painfully shy, insecure one?”

      “Heady days.”

      “Now that she’s getting regular cock, she’s extremely pushy and demanding.”

      “Magick cat cock,” her cousin whispered in her ear, which sounded so funny to Jamie she was still laughing when they arrived at the booth. And when Kyle said “Hey, y’all,” the laughing only got worse.

      “What’s so funny?” Emma asked.

      “Don’t mind her,” Mac said, pushing Jamie toward a chair.

      “Wait,” Katie said, sliding out of the booth. “I want that seat.”

      Mac stared at the chair. “Why?”

      “Don’t argue.” Katie took Jamie’s arm and shoved her into the booth. Jamie had finally stopped laughing until she looked at who she was sitting next to. Tully winked at her and gave her the biggest, cheesiest grin—which made her start laughing all over again, this time Tully laughing with her.

      “What?” Emma demanded.

      “I can’t believe you actually ordered Long Island Iced Tea,” Tully said to Jamie as she sipped her drink. “That’s so cliché.”

      Jamie reached over and picked up his beer bottle. She held it up with the Coors label showing and Tully shrugged. “If it’s good enough for NASCAR…”

      “I don’t even know what that sentence means.”

      “Yankee.”

      “Hillbilly.”

      Tully glared at her. “Do you know how wrong it is to call me that?”

      “I didn’t mean—”

      “I don’t even live in the hills.”

      Rolling her eyes, Jamie handed him his beer and relaxed back into the booth.

      “You look tired,” he told her.

      “Gee, thanks.”

      He leaned back until their shoulders were touching. “I don’t mean you look tired and old and it’s time to put you in a nice old folks’ home.”

      “Is this your idea of a pep talk?”

      “I just mean you look worn out.”

      She sipped her drink. “Maybe I am. A little. Nothing to worry about.”

      But he wasn’t sure he believed her.

      “Are you getting enough sleep?”

      “Are you seriously asking me about my sleep habits while we’re listening to pretty good reggae, enjoying our favorite alcoholic beverages, and have so many people around us to make fun of?”

      “Yes. I am. You know I like to take care of you. Wipe your nose when you’ve got the sniffles. Feed you when you’re hungry…burp you when you’re gassy.”

      “I don’t even have a response for that.”

      His phone rang and while he pulled it out of his back pocket he said, “If you could excuse me a moment, beautiful. My adoring constituency is calling.”

      “It’s your mother.”

      Without looking at the caller ID, Tully said into the phone, “Momma?”

      “Hi, sweetheart. Do you have a minute?”

      “Yeah, Momma. Hold on.” He covered up the mouthpiece. “You freak me out.”

      “You and so many others.”

      Shaking his head, he went back to his call. “What’s up, Momma?”

      “I need to talk to you about something.”

      “It

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