way.”
“You keep using Pegasus and I’ll keep using my books.”
He grinned. “Pegasus slides a bit easier on the cock.”
I laughed. Bash was okay.
“You hear from your brother yet?” he asked suddenly.
Bash knew the basics. About Erin. About Con. About why I’d been in prison. He also knew that I jumped every time there was a knock at the door because I was hoping it was Conway.
“No,” I answered tersely. “Nothing.”
“He knows you’re out though?”
“Not sure. He really doesn’t even keep in touch with my cousins these days, although if he’s been following the calendar he’s got to realize that my release day has come and gone.”
Chase wasn’t even sure where Conway was living now, although Deck managed to keep close enough tabs on his activities to find out he was definitely in the area. He was definitely still living on the wild side as well. The fact that Deck seemed troubled by Conway’s antics worried me. I’d given Con some space and hoped he would come to me. It was not exactly my choice since I didn’t have the first idea where to search for him but I couldn’t let any more time to go by. It was time to seek my brother out whether he felt like seeing me or not.
Cord called while I was dressing for work. It still felt strange to have choices when it came to things like clothes. Deck had advanced me some money to get everything I needed and even bought me a prepaid phone to tide me over until my paychecks started coming in regularly. That was another thing that felt strange; money of my own.
“How’s it going, cousin?” he asked cheerfully and I smiled over the fact that at least one of the triplets had called every day since I’d been out. It was like they’d made a pact or something, a ‘Help Cousin Stone’ project. They were all in on it except Deck and that was only because he called every day no matter what.
Not that I was complaining. I looked forward to hearing from them. Creed never really had much to say and his calls didn’t last long. Chase had too much to say and it was tough to break in and tell him I actually had something to do. Cord was always pleasant and to the point.
“You got anything going on this Sunday afternoon?” he asked.
“There’s no work on Sunday but hold on while I check my overstuffed social calendar.”
My words were sarcastic. My social calendar was nonexistent. We were close to the university so that meant there were pretty girls everywhere. Mostly I kept my head down but I’d noticed a few who’d tossed some interested glances my way. I never responded no matter how much my balls ached for the chance to be of some use. Although I’d enjoyed twice my rightful share of ass before getting locked up, that was a long time ago. It was an understatement to say I was a little out of practice when it came to the fairer sex. Somehow I imagined that decent girls could see the scarlet C for Convict emblazoned on my aura. Of course there were those types who got off on the whole bad boy from prison thing but they were the girls who could get you into trouble. The last thing I was on the lookout for was trouble.
“Nope,” I told Cord. “Nothing going on Sunday but church.”
“Church?”
“Kidding.”
“Good because the ladies have been after us to have a complete Gentry get together.” He paused. “Deck’s going to try and track Conway down to issue an invite.”
My heart skipped. “You think he’ll come?”
“He might,” Cord answered, although his tone said he doubted it.
In the end I agreed to show up at Cord’s house on Sunday afternoon for a family barbecue. He asked if I wanted him to come pick me up since his address was only a few miles away but I assured him I could get there on my own. My probation terms allowed for the issuance of a driver’s license and Deck had handed over the keys to an old Ford