A smile spread across Bikram’s face, and just like that, his brother was back to his usual sunny self. “We don’t care what you think.”
“Well, I’ll—” Jas hesitated, trying to navigate this odd conversation. “I’ll tell you what I think anyway. You’re barely old enough to rent cars, the two of you—”
“Okay, that’s enough opinion-sharing for now.” But Bikram had a big grin on his face, and Jas returned it.
Bikram bumped his elbow. “This is the brother I know.”
Jas’s smile froze. No. He wasn’t.
“Something wrong?” Bikram asked.
“No.” He looked out the big tinted windows lining the front of the restaurant, toward the parking lot. “Can you do me a favor?”
Bikram looked wary. “What?”
Jas lowered his voice. “You remember that shotgun in the little house?”
“Above the mantel?”
He nodded. “I can’t have it there.”
“I doubt that firearm’s still functional.”
“It doesn’t matter. I can’t be around a gun.”
Bikram stilled. “Jas,” he said softly. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. I don’t like the reminder. That’s all.” He could still hear McGuire’s gun going off that night, the pain and the blood, but above all the noise. It had been so loud.
Bikram blew out a breath. “I’m sorry. I was only eleven when the trial happened. Sometimes I forget, you know? What you must have gone through.”
Jas shifted. He hated that sympathetic look Bikram was giving him. He was fine. Other men and women had it much worse than him. Stuff those feelings back. Don’t think about them. “Actually, never mind.”
“No.” Bikram’s tone was brisk now. “What can I do? Do you want me to pick it up?”
His desire to be rid of the thing won out. “I put it in the trunk of my car. It’s wrapped in a blanket. Can you take it? It can go in Grandpa’s collection in the big house.” Their grandfather was obsessed with collecting pieces of family history.
Bikram reached across the table and grabbed Jas’s arm. It was only then that Jas realized he was rubbing his ear. He stopped.
“Give me your car keys,” Bikram said. “I’ll take care of it now. You stay here with the dog.”
He didn’t argue with his brother, he was too grateful to be rid of the thing. He handed over his keys and stayed put. As if she sensed his discomfort, Doodle shifted so she could put her head on his thigh. He rubbed the spot between her eyes until they started to close.
Jas signaled the owner for the check, and pulled out two twenties when she came over with a pad in her hand. Her eyes widened at the cash. “It’s fifteen ninety-eight.”
Oh right. The year might change, but the $7.99 buffet was a constant. He handed her the cash anyway. “Can you pack up some food for me? A nonveg entrée, a samosa, and whatever sweet you have.” Katrina was only cooking vegetarian food here because of him, and he didn’t want her to not eat what she liked.
Bikram came back inside as the aunty brought Jas his go-bag. His brother handed him his car keys and nodded at the bag. “What’s that? Bones for the hellhound?”
Doodle showed all her teeth, saliva dripping off them. The vet had given her a little much-needed teeth cleaning. Bikram took a step back.
“No. Food for Katrina.” He stiffened when his brother smirked. “She has to eat too.”
“Riiight.” His brother tilted his head at the door and sat back down. “Your trunk is empty.”
He swallowed. “Thank you.”
Bikram shrugged. “I’ll call you if I hear anything from the neighbors.”
It was a dismissal, but Jas took heart in the fact that it wasn’t a harsh one. Bikram and he might still have issues, but at least he’d aired his grievances.
When Jas got in the car, the vehicle felt lighter, like Bikram had removed a couple of tons of weight instead of one old shotgun. He was relieved now, that he’d asked for the favor.
Doodle poked her head out from the back seat and rested it on Jas’s shoulder. The reflection in the rearview mirror made him smile, and he carefully maneuvered his phone out of his pocket and took a selfie.
He sent it to Samson. I think Katrina found a new best friend here.
The response was immediate. Is that a wolf?!
No, a rottweiler mix. She’s very sweet.
Hang on, Dean and Harris will want to see her. Let me loop you into a group chat.
He thought about those words on the ride home, group chat, even while his phone lit up with message after message, from his new group chat.
The only group chat he was a member of was his immediate family’s. He liked being in another one. Being a part of a group.
Doodle clambered out of the car when they got home and raced inside. Jas followed more slowly, coming to a stop when he peeked into the living room and found Katrina fast asleep on the couch, her open laptop precariously resting on her chest.
She never napped during the day, as far as he knew. But then again, she probably hadn’t been sleeping much lately. She was going to be so annoyed when she woke up and discovered a nap had derailed whatever she’d planned for the afternoon.
He rescued the computer from toppling over with her next big breath and covered her with a blanket. Seemed like tucking her in was just his role in her life, and that was okay. Jas gestured to Doodle. “Stick close,” he whispered, though the dog was already on it, climbing up on the big couch to rest next to her.
He turned his attention to his new group chat as he left the room, his thumbs already composing his replies.
Chapter Fifteen
UGH, HOW COULD she have fallen asleep?
Katrina yawned and waited for Doodle to finish her business in the yard. She was so groggy, and if the dog hadn’t woken her up to go outside, she would have easily slept for another hour. Watching the Good Morning Live segment this morning must have really sapped her of her energy.
She staggered back into the house once Doodle was done and nearly yelped when she saw her face in the mirror. She tried to make some order of her hair and rubbed her cheek in a vain attempt to get the sleep creases out. She checked her watch. Almost two o’clock. “Jas?” she called out. He must be back. Doodle was back, after all, and with a cute new red collar and pretty white teeth.
Doodle sniffed the floor and then paused in front of a door. “What’s that, girl?” Katrina went to the door and opened it, startled to find stairs. She hadn’t realized any houses in California had basements, but she supposed some of the ones built earlier in the century might.
The clang of metal on metal told her Jas was down there. She petted Doodle. “Good girl. You can go lie down.” Doodle huffed as if she understood, and turned away, her tail thwacking Katrina hard on her thigh.
Katrina rubbed her leg and descended to the basement. This was no fancy place. The basement was one large cold concrete room, unfinished, so she caught sight of Jas immediately.
And promptly almost swallowed her tongue.
Welp.
He wore only gym shorts and reclined on the bench press, hefting the heavy weight above his head. His thighs were thick and muscular on either side of the bench, feet on the floor. His bare chest was sprinkled with dark hair, and it was wide and shiny with sweat. The muscles of his abs were clearly delineated, each one perfectly carved.