Calling the Play (14 page)

“Not true,” Brian said. “Get over the pity party. How many guys have you let fuck you in the ass?” he asked, curious.

“You know, I’m sort of digging the fact that we can talk about this shit,” she said with a grin. “Most people get really uncomfortable talking about sex. Guys, too. I mean, they’ll do it, and they’ll talk dirty while they’re doing it, but sitting around shooting the shit about sex in the middle of the afternoon? Nope.”

“I’m not like most guys,” Brian reminded her. “And you didn’t answer the question.”

“One,” she said with a shrug. “Like I said, I didn’t like it and didn’t think I needed to go there again.”

“Oh, we’ll go there,” Brian promised. “He obviously had no idea what he was doing. I do. You can ask Ty.”

“Yeah, but that’s different,” she argued. “That’s fucking a guy.”

“News flash,” Brian told her. “Ass is ass.” He winked. “You can trust me with yours.”

“Wait a minute,” she said. “I thought we weren’t having sex anymore because of Ty.”

“I’ve changed my mind,” Brian said. “We’re going to have lots of sex. With Ty.”

“Brian,” she said sternly. He cut her off.

“But first you and I are going to make love. Look at me.” She met his eyes. “I’m going to erase the memory of that asshole’s hands on you. From now on, if you start to think of it, I want you to remember me. I want you to remember my hands caressing your breasts, my fingers fucking you. Me.”

She was breathing a little harder and her heart was racing as she tried to decide if she should really open up to Brian. She’d been keeping so much trapped inside that she felt ready to explode. Maybe he was right. Telling him about what Sullivan had done that night had helped. Maybe talking about it was a good thing. “That night, when I was with Ty, after it all happened. That’s why, you know. Even then I knew it wasn’t going anywhere with him. But I needed someone to make me forget, and he was so handsome and nice and everything I needed. And for the next couple of days that worked.”

“Then you left,” Brian said softly. She nodded.

“Knowing I wasn’t going to be with you guys again sort of made the bad memories come back.” Admitting it made her feel foolish. “I’m not used to that. I don’t like feeling so out of control and weak.”

“You’re not weak,” Brian told her. “You’re one of the strongest women I’ve ever met. But you can let go with me, Randi. I’ll catch you.”

A laugh escaped before she could stop it. “I don’t think I can,” she said honestly. “You should ask for something easier, like the moon.”

“You’ve got it backwards,” Brian said, brushing a curl off her cheek with heart-stopping tenderness. “I’m going to give
you
the moon.” He eased her down on the sofa so that she was lying between him and the back, her head pillowed on his arm. Then he slid down next to her, his hand resting lightly on her stomach. She was suddenly as nervous as a high school virgin.

“Brian,” she said, trying to sit up.

“Please,” he whispered, kissing her cheek. “Please.”

Randi gave in, just because she wanted to. She wanted Brian, wanted this. She ran her fingers through his hair and smiled at him as she kicked off her shoes. He smiled back and she almost laughed as he toed off his shoes and let them fall next to hers. He began to unbutton her shirt with one hand.

“You know,” he said, watching his hand work her buttons free, “when I first saw you in this outfit I thought it might as well be lingerie, you were so fucking sexy in it.”

“My work clothes?” she said in disbelief. “Please. This outfit is lame and you know it. I look like a soccer mom or something.”

“I guess soccer moms are going to turn me on from now on. Maybe it’s because I know what’s underneath,” he said spreading her shirt open, exposing her stomach and her plain cotton bra. Gently, he rolled her toward him, nuzzling her neck. She felt him unsnap her bra with one hand. She would have made a smartass comment about his talent if she wasn’t so stupid breathless from the way he was handling her, as if she were his, and he could do whatever he wanted, but was being careful because she was precious to him. He brushed the sleeve of her shirt off over her shoulder and then slid her bra strap down. Running his hand down her arms, he pushed both straps off over her hands, then laid her back. He pulled her bra out of the way, exposing her breasts. When he laid his hand on her stomach and gently caressed her until his hand covered her breast she was shaking, goosebumps breaking out on her arms.

“Anytime this doesn’t feel right, you tell me,” Brian said. Then he leaned over and licked her nipple and she gasped. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders, digging her fingers into him through his shirt. When he sucked on her, the pull of his mouth created a direct line from her breast to her pussy, and she thrust against the thigh he had wedged in between her legs.

“Brian,” she said breathlessly.

“I love your breasts,” he said, and she knew he meant it, meant that he thought of them that way, thought of her that way. Not cheap, not just a pair of tits, but a desirable woman. Today she needed that and he knew it. She didn’t know how, but he did. She needed his tenderness and his words and his gentle hands as much as she’d needed his rough handling the first time.

He lavished attention on her breasts, kissing and sucking them, caressing them, pinching them pleasurably. Before long, she was grinding against his thigh, desperate to come. He bit down on her nipple and rose over her, his weight on his forearms, the hard length of his cock pressed to her mons, and Randi came. She’d never come like that before, just from a man caressing and sucking her breasts. She moaned and he slid an arm under her waist, lifting her to his mouth as he kept on sucking and biting, and all she could do was writhe helplessly against him. Finally he kissed his way up her chest and neck, and then softly kissed her lips. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“More,” she pleaded. “Touch me.” She needed his hand on her, in her, needed him to erase the memories, just like he’d promised.

He kissed her then, a kiss that was so slow and carnal she thought she might come again. He licked her mouth like he was eating a treat, the way she’d expect him to eat her pussy. He nibbled on her lips and sucked on them and she just lay there and let him have her mouth, let him do whatever he wanted. He loved her mouth like he’d loved her breasts; everything he did was slow and sexy. It was wildly erotic. She was making little whimpering sounds, sounds that had always embarrassed her in the past. But not today, not with Brian. She’d pretended before that she was doing it because she knew a guy would get off on it, but there was only truth here between them, and she let him see that he’d reduced her to this, to hungry, whimpering need.

She felt his hand slipping between them and working the button on her pants. He kissed her neck while he fumbled a bit, but she knew better than to help him. He was in charge, that’s how he liked it, and she was getting pretty fond of it, too. When he got them undone, he skimmed the edge of her panties with his fingertips and she moaned as she undulated, trying to get those fingers inside.

“Can I touch?” he whispered in her ear. “Can I touch your pussy, Randi?”

“I feel like a teenager making out on the couch,” she confessed. “What if my brother walks in and finds us?”

“Will you be grounded?” he teased, before biting her jaw and then licking a path down to her collarbone.

“Only if he finds your hand in my pants,” she teased back. “If your fingers are fucking me I’ll never get to see you again.”

“We’ll run away,” Brian said a little breathlessly. He slid his fingers under the edge of her panties, down into her pubic hair, and rubbed them over her pubic bone. So close, and she bucked, trying to force them down to where she ached for them. “I want to touch your pussy so bad,” he said, and he sounded so desperate she just wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tipped her head back in surrender. “I’d leave everything behind and run away with you,” he said, “just to touch it.”

Her moan was long and low as he slid his fingers into her folds. She could feel how wet she was, swollen and sensitive. He ran his fingertips along her slick seam. “Mmm,” he said. “So wet. So soft. I want it, Randi. Let my fingers fuck it, sweetheart. Say yes.”

“Yes,” she said on a long, drawn-out sigh.

He slid just one finger inside her, slow enough to drive her crazy. She shook with the feelings gripping her at his simple possession. She ground the back of her head into the couch, biting her lip and trying not to come too soon.

“Perfect,” Brian breathed into her ear. “You’re perfect.” He pulled his finger out, then slid it in farther, and then did it again and again, each time going a little deeper, until at last his palm was pressed against her clit and he gently rocked his hand, fucking her with that one finger.

She was so turned on she couldn’t believe it, on the verge of a second orgasm from no more than a little teasing foreplay. But it was Brian, and the way he talked to her and held her and loved her. She pulled his head down next to hers, her arms tight around his shoulders. He kissed her ear and nibbled on her earlobe and she gave a high-pitched moan, hardly able to think, much less talk. The soft, cool fabric of his shirt brushing against her bare breasts felt wicked as his hand was trapped in her pants, his finger slowly fucking her.

“Let go,” he whispered in her ear, his breath fast and harsh. “Come for me. I need it. I need to make you come.”

She let go. She let every thought melt away, every reservation, until there was only Brian holding her, his hands on her, in her, his breath in her ear, his heart beating against hers. When she came it was like the tide as it carried her away, steady and relentless, not like the thundering wave she’d expected. It seemed to last forever as she clung to Brian and he whispered sweet nonsense in her ear.

When she could think again, she was lying in Brian’s arms and he was just holding her, her head on his shoulder, his hand rubbing up and down her back. “Your turn,” she said, her voice ragged. She didn’t think she’d made that much noise or said that much, but it sounded like she had. He’d had her completely at his mercy and he’d given her nothing but pleasure, taken none for himself.

“My turn was getting to make you come,” he said, kissing her temple. “That was the really fun part.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, it was. I’m still half-dressed, aren’t I?”

“Yep,” he said. “I wasn’t ready to give up the feeling of your amazing, naked tits pressed against me.”

This time she laughed out loud. “I knew there was a hardcore guy under all that tender lover crap.”

“Guilty,” Brian said. He kissed her temple again and eased away from her. “Come on, I’ll set you to rights before I go.”

“Go?” she said, her head still a little fuzzy. “Go where? I thought…you know. We were going to do this some more.”

His smile was predatory. “Oh, we are. Just not right now.” He looked at his watch. “I’ve already stretched my lunch break to two hours.”

She sat up and let him hook her bra. She tried to button her shirt, but he brushed her hands away and did it for her. Then he tried to untangle her hair with his fingers, but she winced at a sharp tug and he stopped. “Sorry,” he said.

“Dumb hair,” she mumbled, tucking it behind her ears. “Pain in the ass.”

“It’s the sexiest hair I’ve ever seen on a woman or a man,” he said solemnly. “Someday you’re going to let me jack off in your hair.”

“Eww,” she said, looking at him askance. “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” he said, and damn if he didn’t mean it.

“You’re washing it out,” she told him with a shrug. “Like, immediately.”

Once they had her pants buttoned, she walked him to the door. He pulled her in for a kiss and she palmed his hard dick through his shorts, making him groan into her mouth. He broke off the kiss with a curse and eased his hips away.

“I could still take care of that,” she teased, looking up at him through her lashes.

“I kind of like the idea of walking around hard from playing with your pussy and making you come,” he teased right back, kissing her behind the ear. It was the same spot he’d marked the other night, and she shivered at the memory. “Plus,” he added, “I know Ty will notice and he’ll be looking at my dick all afternoon.” She tried to pull away, not sure what to say to that, although the idea was pretty hot. Brian wouldn’t let her out of his arms. “Oh, no,” he said. “Don’t get all shy and prissy on me now. You know you like the idea of me and Ty turned on by each other.”

“I do,” she mumbled into his shoulder. “But that’s pretty slutty, isn’t it?”

“God, I hope so,” Brian said fervently. “What we did today was pretty hot, but I really, really like it when you’re slutty, too. When you fucked me and Ty the other night, it was so damned hot I thought I’d burn up.”

“Ditto,” she admitted, still mumbling into his shirt.

“Good,” he said, pushing her away with his hands on her shoulders. He looked straight into her eyes. “Promise me you’ll call Ty tonight, at nine.”

“Why at nine?” she asked, confused.

“Because that’s when I want you to call,” he told her. He didn’t say anything else and she felt like it was some sort of test. She wasn’t big on that kind of thing.

“And if I don’t?” she asked, full of sass.

“Then you’ll ruin my plans,” Brian said. “They’re good plans. Plans I think you’ll like. After all, I haven’t gotten to see you and Ty fuck yet. You wouldn’t ruin that, would you?”

“You think you’re so smart,” she said, crossing her arms. “Well, I’m not sure I’m ready to dance to your tune yet, no matter how many times you make me come.”

His grin was boyish and sexy as hell. “You’re just trying to get me to make you come again.”

“Guilty,” she said. She pushed him toward the door. “Either I’ll call or I won’t call. I suggest you have contingency plans.”

“I always do,” he said, caressing her cheek. “I always do.” He turned then and took the stairs down to her sidewalk two at a time. He looked like a man who owned the world. She felt like the woman who’d given it to him.

“Oh, hell, no,” Danny said as soon as he walked into Ty’s house and saw everyone else there. He turned around and headed back for the door. “I am not doing this again.”

Tom grabbed him by the arm and stopped him. “It’s poker,” he told him. He turned to the rest of them with a confused look. “Right?”

“Damn right it’s poker,” Marian said, standing next to the poker table Ty had set up in the living room. “I love you guys, but you aren’t getting this again.” Cass and Beau stood on either side of her with their arms crossed, glaring at Ty.

Ty held one hand up in surrender while he put three beers down on the table for them. “Just poker,” he agreed. “Things have been a little awkward between us and I was hoping we could just hang out and clear the air.”

“Hang out?” Danny said. “Boy, I don’t need to do that shit. Consider the air cleared.” He started walking and Tom quickly stepped in front of him, then braced his feet on the floor, hands on Danny’s shoulders. Ty was struck by what opposites the two of them were. Tom was clean-cut, with his pale, freckled face and crew cut, and Danny looked like the hard-ass he was, with his shaved head and dark skin and perpetual scowl. Their budding friendship was a mystery.

“Now, hold up,” Tom said. “Ty’s right. And I’m as guilty of it as you are. So we are going to sit our asses down and play some poker.” He glanced over Danny’s shoulder at Ty. “I don’t actually know how to play poker, but I’m willing to give it a shot.”

Danny stopped. He looked over his shoulder at Ty, too. “We playing for money?”

“Yep,” Ty said, admiring how easily Tom played him.

“I’m in.” Danny spun around and marched over to the table. He pulled out a chair and dropped into it. “Bring me a beer and don’t talk to me.”

Marian grinned as Beau pulled out her chair and she sat down. “Fish, meet hook,” she said. “That kid just conned you, totally.”

“Boy Scout can’t lie,” Danny said, grabbing the deck of cards sitting in the middle of the table. “Even if he knows how to play, he’s got to suck at it.”

Cass sat down next to Marian. “Deal me in,” he said. “Ante up.”

“I’m just watching,” Beau said, sitting next to Marian. “I have an addictive personality. Best not to go there.”

Ty stopped short a few feet from the table, hands full of beers and a bag of chips. “Oh, shit, Beau. I didn’t think of that. We could do something else.”

“No, we ain’t fuckin’ doing something else,” Danny said, shuffling the cards. “If the man wants to watch, let him watch.” He fumbled the shuffle as soon as the words were out and Ty knew his mind, just like everyone else’s at the table, had gone back to the night a few months ago when the five of them had fucked on Cass and Beau’s dining room table. Beau had started out watching then, too.

“Deal me in,” Tom said, sitting down next to Danny. “I’ve got five hundred dollars in my pocket.”

“Deal the man in,” Marian said with a sweet smile.

“Little-known Marian fact,” Danny said, dealing the cards. “She’s a card shark. And she cheats.”

“That’s two facts,” Marian said. “Shut up and deal.”

Ty just let them all play cards for the first hour. He was a decent player, about as good as Cass. Danny was a little better, but he was right, Marian was a shark. On the other hand, Danny had been wrong about Tom. The kid was born to play poker. He and Marian were fighting it out for most of the pots, and she had only a slight edge.

After several hands of poker and about as many beers, Ty eased into the tough conversation they all needed to have. “So, is everyone ready for practice next week?”

“I can’t wait,” Tom said excitedly. “I thought summer would never end.”

“Rookie,” Cass said with a laugh. “But I’ve got to admit that I feel the same way. This year—”

“—is going to be our year,” Beau finished for him. “He says that every year.”

“You better hope he’s right, Mr. We’re Bringing Trouble to Your Fucking Door,” Marian said, quoting Beau in an interview he’d given last spring. She was concentrating on the cards in her hand. Suddenly she looked up with a big grin. “Hey, that reminds me. Melody Ann called to say that by tomorrow we should be trending again.”

“What for?” Ty asked, taking a sip of beer. “Who got arrested?”

“Ha ha,” Marian said. “It’s the video from this morning, when you guys ran the stairs. She edited it down. It’s pretty funny.”

Ty choked on his beer. “Tell me she took out the part about my ass.”

“Nope. It’s the best part.” Marian grinned at Danny. “She left in your foulmouthed response, too.”

“Good,” Danny said. “I want everyone to know I don’t want his ass.”

“I did,” Tom said casually. “Brian sure ran a good race for it, too.”

Everyone at the table stopped and stared at Tom. “What?” he asked, and took a drink of his beer.

“Since when did you turn gay?” Danny asked.

“I don’t know if I’m gay,” Tom said. “I mean, I still want to fuck girls. But Ty was pretty damn hot with you and I liked what we did.”

Ty could have kissed him for finally getting around to talking about it, but he played it cool. “Thanks,” he said. “I liked it, too. But I wasn’t really going to give my ass to the winner.”

“Tease,” Tom said. “Well, a farm boy can dream.” He looked back down at his cards, not in the least bit upset.

“I don’t think you’re gay just because you like fucking guys,” Cass said.

“What are you looking at me for?” Danny said defensively. “I didn’t fuck him, or any of you all. Just Marian.”

“You kissed me,” Ty said. He was pushing it and he knew it, but he wanted to keep the conversation going. Danny hadn’t really said much, and he was the one who’d really jumped feetfirst out of his comfort zone that night. They had to get it all out on the table. Danny surprised him by not losing his temper.

“No,” Danny said, holding up a finger. “You kissed me. That’s different. And at that point I would have kissed your grandpa to make sure Marian didn’t get off my dick.”

“Gee, thanks,” Marian said dryly. “I think.”

“My grandfather is still a very handsome man,” Ty said. “You’re right, though. We didn’t really fuck, but I’m not sure that’s not arguing semantics, considering all that we did do. But what Cass said is true. I don’t think anything we did makes you gay if that’s not what you are, or what you feel. I always think of gay as exclusively preferring men or women, the same-sex stuff. But you know, there’s so much gray area there. I’m not really into labels, but I’ve identified as bisexual since college, because it’s easier for other people when you do have a label. I think if you like it and it feels good and you’re not hurting anybody, then that’s all right and no one else needs to know if that’s the way you want it.”

“I agree,” Marian said. “God knows what Cass and Beau and I have is considered kinky and all kinds of wrong by lots of people, but it works for us and we’re happy. And we’re not hurting anybody. I wish people would stop trying to label it and analyze it and just leave us alone.” Beau put his arm around her and gave her a hug and a kiss.

“That’s different,” Danny said. “You guys love each other. Ty and Tom just want to fuck everything.”

“I resent that,” Ty said. “I don’t fuck everything. As a matter of fact, I’m going to be pretty exclusive myself in the future. Maybe.”

“Brian?” Marian asked, raising an eyebrow in question. “I’m glad.”

“Well I do want to fuck everything.” Tom threw his cards facedown on the table. “And what’s wrong with that? I’m twenty-three, for fuck’s sake, and I’ve been with you guys, and one woman. I’ve decided it’s time to spread my wings.”

“Who the fuck talks like that?” Danny asked. “ ‘Spread my wings’?” He rolled his eyes. “You’re a horndog, farm boy. But I guess it’s what young guys do.”

“Even doing guys?” Tom challenged.

Danny shrugged. “These days, I guess so. I keep reading about it. ‘Experimenting’ is now a thing, like gay or straight. Did you know that?”

“How do
you
know that?” Tom asked.

“I see things,” Danny said in a superior voice. He dropped two hundred on the pot in the middle of the table. “I call.”

“Two hundred? What the fuck? I’m out,” Cass said, tossing his cards down.

“I’ll see you,” Marian said, carefully counting out the money and adding it to the pot.

“I’m out,” Ty said with a laugh. “Too rich for me. I’m only a quarterback.”

“Done,” Tom said, pulling the bills from the pile in front of him. “Call.”

Danny laid his cards on the table with a grin. “Flush, assholes,” he said, reaching for the pot.

“Shit,” Marian grumbled. “I’ve just got a pair. A big pair, but only a pair.” Everyone laughed at the double meaning.

“Not so fast,” Tom said. He carefully laid his cards down one at a time. “Four jacks. Four of a kind beats your flush.” He reached over Danny’s frozen hands and scooped the pot toward his pile of money. “Looks like it’s time to go.”

“Wait. What?” Marian said, scowling at him. “You’re not going to give us the chance to win it back?”

“You’ve got each other,” Tom said, tapping his pile of bills into a neat stack. “You don’t need money.”

“What about me?” Ty asked, amused at Tom’s antics.

“I was hoping you’d hook me up tonight, man,” Tom said. “But no ass, no money.”

“That option’s not on the table,” Brian said from behind Ty. Ty spun around in his chair to see Brian leaning against the frame of the open French doors that led to his backyard. “The gate was open,” he said in answer to Ty’s unasked question.

“How long has he been standing there?” Ty asked everyone at the table.

“A while,” Tom said with a lopsided grin. “I figured he was here to collect. He did win this morning, after all.”

“Fair and square,” Brian said, looking pretty damn smug.

“Yeah, well, what about me?” Danny asked, pushing back his chair. “I ain’t got nobody, no ass and no money.”

“You’re my roommate,” Tom said. He waved his wad of bills in the air. “We’ve got cash”—he reached in his pocket and pulled out a set of keys—“and a fast car. The ladies await. Or maybe the guys.” He backed away from the table.

“Did you steal the keys to my Porsche?” Ty asked, dismayed. “Who’s been teaching you this stuff?”

“Let’s roll,” Danny said, standing up and heading toward the door in Tom’s wake. “But I ain’t gonna help you pick up no dude, man.”

“All right,” Tom said, still walking backward, facing Danny. “How about a contest, then? You pick the girl, and we’ll see which one of us she goes home with.”

“Oh, you are on, farm boy,” Danny said. “I got moves you ain’t even seen yet.”

“We’ll see about that,” Tom said with a laugh as he spun around and sprinted for the door with Ty’s keys.

“Don’t wreck the car,” Ty yelled after them. “I’m down to one.”

After they left, Brian sauntered in and took a seat at the table. “You all have created a two-headed monster.” He was pretty thrilled at this little gathering. Clearly whatever had been bothering them had been worked out. Trust Ty to make it happen. He was good at straightening out everyone else’s lives. Too bad he was blind when it came to his own problems.

“I’m glad,” Marian said with satisfaction. “Danny deserves it. I haven’t seen him like this since college. He never got to have this, you know, being young and wild and carefree. Tom is just what he needs.”

“I sense a story here,” Brian said.

“How much did you hear?” Beau asked, watching him carefully.

“Enough to know Tom wasn’t kidding this morning when he told me he’d had my boy a few months ago.”

“What?” Ty exclaimed. “That little shit. He did not ‘have’ me. Not in the biblical sense.”

“I’m pretty sure that wasn’t in the Bible,” Cass said with a grin.

“I suppose you want all the gory details,” Marian said a little too casually. “All about my tragic past.”

“Nope,” Brian said. He could tell he’d surprised her, and Cass and Beau, too. He shrugged. “I don’t need to know unless you need to tell me. It’s not my business, and as you said, it’s in the past.” He looked at Ty. “And so is whatever happened with Tom.”

“Are you for real?” Cass asked skeptically. “No one could resist asking a few questions after what you must have heard.”

“Brian can,” Ty said, slowly spinning his beer bottle against the table. “He keeps secrets better than anyone I know. But the great thing is, he lets you keep yours, too.” Brian smiled at him in appreciation at the compliment.

“Well, then, no offense, but I think I’m going to keep this one for now,” Marian said, pushing her chair back and standing up. “Maybe someday.” She walked over and kissed Brian on the cheek, and then whispered in his ear loudly enough to be overheard. “You take care of our boy here.”

“Yes ma’am,” Brian said. “I intend to.”

“Don’t I have anything to say about who gets to take care of me?” Ty asked. He just sounded curious, not angry. He took a drink of beer as he watched Brian.

“Of course you do,” Brian said. “I always let you make the decisions, don’t I? Weren’t you complaining about that the other night?” He looked at Cass. “Can’t really play poker with only four,” he said. “And I didn’t bring cash.”

“Is that a subtle way of telling us to get lost?” Cass asked with a smile.

“Yep,” Brian told him, gathering up the cards from around the table.

“I’m tapped out anyway,” Cass said, standing up. Beau followed and the three of them headed toward the door. “See you on Monday,” he called out, and Beau laughed.

Ty didn’t say anything after the door closed behind them. The silence didn’t bother Brian. If Ty wanted him out, he’d have told him so. He finished putting the deck away and then picked up the beer bottles.

“Are you always going to show up and clean up my messes?” Ty asked, leaning both arms on the table as he watched Brian.

“If you want me to,” Brian said. “But I’d rather just help you clean up your messes, instead of doing it all myself.”

“What does that mean?” Ty asked, leaning back in his chair. Brian set the bottles on the kitchen counter and walked back into the living room to face Ty.

“It means I was glad to see you taking the lead in clearing up whatever has been bothering all of you.” He crossed his arms. “You’re a good leader, Ty. You see things in people that others miss. You’re good at figuring out what drives people, what they need and how to give it to them.”