All My Books

There's No Going Forward (Book 3 of The Triad Series)

Chapter One

Caysen Reznick was the youngest of a relatively large family of five siblings. Even at 22 and as a recent grad from business school, he felt just as small and awkward as he had when he was ten and his brother, Jay, had gotten his first girlfriend. He had remembered still thinking girls were gross and their PDA had been nauseating at the time. Ironically enough, the girl his brother was seeing had the same name—though she was definitely a different person—as the one he was thinking of, and had been thinking of ever since Stefan had started dating her.

Shelly.

While Shelly Corcoran had been a flash in the pan for Jamison Reznick, Shelly Landry seemed to be sticking around for a while. Only problem was, she was also steadily dating his twin brother, Stefan.

How many times had he asked himself why couldn't I have seen her first? in the last six months since Stefan had been dating Shelly? More times that he could count on all his large extended family's fingers and toes, certainly.

Caysen—whom many in his family had shortened to "Case" in the ensuing years since childhood—had just gotten off a phone call with his older brothers in Hawaii and was now stewing in his room, listening to Shelly's melodious giggle as she and Stefan watched some Rom Com in the living room. Even from the second floor he seemed to be attuned to her every sound, and he f*****g hated that he just couldn't leave the house and find some distraction, something—or someone, perhaps—to do.

But he found he couldn't. He would get as far as grabbing his car keys and a jacket—the nights were still pretty cool in South Lake Tahoe, even in the summertime—but he never got any further. At least, not when Shelly was there. And it seemed like she always was lately.

Even while working at the resort, she was there. That was the problem. Whether it was at home in his parents' house or at Every Season Resort and Spa—the name had gone through a change a few years previous—she was there. It was where they both worked, Caysen in the front office, and Shelly in the spa where she gave clients hot stone and deep tissue massages. He assumed that was why she had gone unnoticed for a bit. While he learned his father's trade, she was slipping from room to room near the back of the building where the spa was located.

At first, she only worked part-time, but when one of the masseuses went out on maternity leave, she was given full-time status. That was when Stefan had first seen her, with Caysen not following too far behind.

Stefan and Caysen were like two peas in a pod. While his father and older brothers had distinct personalities between them as twins, Stef and Case were more similar than dissimilar. Jokesters growing up and always the first to get off a prank, they had matured a bit over the years to the gratefulness of the entire family. And if they hadn't, they were sure their sister-in-law, Piper, would have out-pranked them every day of the week. She seemed sweet on the outside, but was a little devil in disguise.

It had almost been ten years since they first were outsmarted by their brother's girlfriend back when they were only 13, but they never crossed her again during their many family gatherings and holidays. It wasn't smart to rile the beast, they concluded. They stuck to more immediate family when their mischievous sides needed to come out.

Now that both Stefan and Caysen were 22 and learning to run the business from their fathers hands on, they were looking forward to one day opening up their own resort, possibly in southern California or Florida.

Stef and Case were identical twins, as were their older brothers. The lone wolf, their 25-year-old sister Emily, was the only singleton in the family. The twin gene in the Reznick family ran deep.

Both of the twins were almost exact images of their fathers, Ethan and Emmett, at their age. Dirty blond hair and light blue eyes over cut, chiseled chins. Their hair was cut short on the sides, only slightly longer on top. And since they worked at a resort with an impressive number of weights and exercise equipment, they kept in shape. It was where a lot of the time, Caysen stayed long after-hours, just so he wouldn't have to see Shelly and Stefan cuddling up at home, watching movies or cooking together like a perfectly domestic nightmare.

Or listening to them trying to be quiet as they f****d in Stefan's room.

Torture. Table for one?

Shelly was almost the exact polar opposite, looks-wise. With long, inky-black hair and deep hazel eyes, she was all soft curves compared to the hard lines of Caysen and Stefan, and if there wasn't that hint of competition between the two for many years running, Case was sure Stef would be as soft around the middle as his grandfather.

Another bout of giggles and laughter floated through the thick oak door of Caysen's room, and he let out a huff of exasperated air. He was sick to death of having a massive hard-on for his brother's girl, and there was only one way to get over her.

Of course, it was to get under someone else.

Everyone saw Stefan as the "Ethan" of the twins. Ethan was sturdy and dependable, a born one-woman man if there ever was one. Emmett, his other father, was seen as the manwhore—or at least that was until he had met their mother, Callie, accidentally at a club in downtown South Lake Tahoe. Both Ethan and Emmett had ended up falling in love with the same woman. Then, coincidentally, so had his older brothers with their wife, Piper. Stefan and Caysen were determined to break the cycle of sharing a girl. Shelly—though she didn't know it—was not helping.

And he couldn't find it in him to admit to his brother that he had the hots for his girl. The competition between them ran deep, even after all these years.

The city of South Lake Tahoe was by now used to the odd triads that the Reznick family took part in. It had become almost run of the mill that when you thought of the Reznicks, you thought of polyamory. Both the youngest of the brood were resolved on not becoming like their parents and older brothers.

While Stefan was seen as more dependable and strait-laced, Caysen had developed a bit of a reputation around town. Unlike Ethan and his brother Alex, Case was seen as an Emmett Junior—part player, a definite flirt, and was said to have seen more p***y in his life than the local animal clinic.

The sad part, it wasn't altogether untrue. He loved his women—many of them—and flirted like it was his oxygen in life. He didn't play games though. He let every girl he was with know just what their hook-up—just that. A hook-up. One and done, and he was onto the next.

It wasn't that Caysen was anti-relationship, he just hadn't found a girl he wanted to settle down with. With the exception of a girl he dated for six months in college, he was unimpressed with the selection of females that came across his path.

Shelly, however, was a different matter. She was everything he thought he could see himself settling down for. She was witty and always pleasant, never had a bad word to say about others, laidback, and beautiful. She wasn't high-maintenance like a lot of the women he "dated", and didn't seem to be out to impress anyone. It was refreshing to see that little guise in someone that gorgeous. She left the "catty" to the bitches that were clambering over each other to sit on one of the twins' d***s for a night.

And because of the Reznick family reputation, there were quite a few women that had tried to entice Stefan and Caysen into a threesome. As both men weren't all that into it, they always gave it a hard pass. Even Case, whose morals were a bit more lax, said no without hesitating every time.

Shelly...well, Shelly just might be the only exception he would have made in his "no threesomes with his twin" rule.

Desperate times called for desperate measures, and Caysen played with the keys to his Honda before deciding to make a quick call to his fuckbuddy, Laura. She always told him she was unavailable to date, but was always good for a quick lay. There were never any feelings between the two, just a booty-call when things ran dry.

Caysen knew why Laura never wanted anything more with a man, and...he couldn't say he blamed her. When your own f*****g mother actually stole your boyfriend, and your long-time boyfriend went willingly to the MILF, it was enough to make anyone go off relationships altogether.

As broken-hearted fuckbuddy, it was almost apropos that she went from a life of stable, monogamous relationships to having a friend with benefits that was just as unable to commit long-term. It was almost inevitable. Cliché might've been the word to describe the two of them, but neither of them cared what others thought. That was one good thing about living with his parents for his 22 years. There was nothing he hadn't experienced or witnessed being around a mother with two husbands, and older brothers that were in love with and married to the same woman.

Both Caysen and Stefan didn't see it going down for them that way. They had always been interested in different types of women, Caysen usually going for the petite, dark-haired variety, and Stefan leaning toward the curvier, light-haired contingent. That was until Shelly.

Shelly was lithe and dark-haired, with hazel eyes and an innocent pout to her lush lips. She was as far from Stefan's usual fare as could be.

She's more my style, Case though bitterly as he picked up his cell phone and opened up a text thread from Laura, his fuckbuddy.

Caysen: I'm f*****g thirsty and Stef's with his girl. You in?

He waited for a few minutes, each second passing longer than the last. Laura was the only person besides himself that knew he was utterly under Shelly Landry's spell. Though his friend sympathized with his plight, she was always the first to tell him to get over her by getting under someone else. Or on top of. And it was usually Laura, in any event. A bird in the hand was worth two in the bush.

Bubbles signifying her reply popped up after thirty seconds.

Laura: Sure. My place?

Since Laura lived alone, that was ideal, so Caysen quickly typed out a message in response.

Caysen: Thirty minutes?

Laura: Sure. That'll give me enough time to get ready. Shave and s**t like that.

Caysen: Okay, babe. See you then.

He locked the phone's screen and looked at his watch. Since Laura lived on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, it would take him only about ten minutes to get there. He decided he'd had enough laying about in his room while feeling sorry for himself, so he grabbed a light jacket before opening his bedroom door. It was difficult to sneak out of the house, and Stef was always bothering him about getting a steady girlfriend instead of living his hoe life by f*****g anonymous randoms he met in bars downtown. With the number of tourists coming to the area year-round, there was no lack of new faces he could get his d**k wet in. It was one of the upsides of living in a town where tourism kept it afloat.

Upon entering the living room, he saw Stefan and Shelly on the couch, cuddling up while watching 50 First Dates and laughing.

Hiding a scowl, he schooled his features before checking his pants for his wallet and keys, just as Stefan and Shelly turned their heads to look at him.

"Going out?" Stefan asked, nodding to Case's jacket that was slung over his forearm.

"Something like that," Case grumbled back.

"Fuckbuddy time, eh?"

Shelly frowned at Stefan but said nothing.

"Yup."

He was unashamed of his ongoing friends with benefits status.

"You should try dating instead of just f*****g. There's that new girl at the resort. Sheila, I think her name is. She's—"

"Not my type," Case interjected gruffly. "Get off my back about making me some one-woman man all the time. I don't bother the f**k out of you to have more fun and get out of the house every once in a while. Don't try to force your views on me to settle down."

Because if you only knew who I'd want that with, you'd beat me black and blue.

Stefan sighed in resignation. Case knew he reprieve would only last a little while, so he moved quickly to the front door before opening it.

"Have fun."

Shelly's voice stopped him. There was no judgment in it, and it took everything in Caysen not to turn around and say something—anything—back to her.

Before the wrong words could fall from his lips, he simply looked askance over his shoulder at her and nodded his head before walking out the door and shutting it behind him.

Chapter Two

Shelly flipped the switch off to the TV and stood up. She had been spending more time at Stefan's house than her own lately, and she was like one of the family now. Callie and her twin husbands seemed to take it in stride, though, and she was like treated like blood to them.

As it was date night out for the older Reznicks, it was date night in for Stefan and Shelly. They weren't the type to have to go out to have fun, and that suited the two of them just fine.

"Drink?" she asked, making a move toward the kitchen to refill her empty glass.

"I'll get it," Stefan told her, heaving himself up from the plush couch and walking toward her.

"I know where everything is and I can get it myself." She looked amused that Stefan, even after all this time, still treated her like a guest when Callie, Ethan, and Emmett insisted she treat the house as her own.

Only her own house was actually a small studio apartment and...well, lonely most days.

She hated feeling that way. Shelly had been alone since she had aged out of the foster system at age 18 and was sent packing by the state. A year on the street and a kind old woman later, she decided to go to school as a massage therapist, and had moved to South Lake Tahoe only a year before when Mrs. Wilkerson, the old lady who had taken her in when she was still only 18, had died and left her a little money to start a new life. One that was far away from the mean streets of Sin City.

Being with Stefan was like adopting a new family. They certainly treated her as such and were more welcoming than any of the foster families she had lived with growing up. It was a mixed bag she had lived with, some of them nice, hard-working people, and the others barely giving her a glance unless she specifically addressed them, but they had always treated her as a long-term visitor to their house and nothing more. And none of them had shared with her why she was in foster care and neither of her parents had ever come looking for her, so she assumed they were dead. At least she sort of hoped they were. There was nothing as depressing as thinking of your parents not wanting you—both of them.

Shelly loved the fact that she felt so welcomed into the Reznick's large family. It felt like home again, with a support system she had been lacking since the age of ten.

She had been working for Every Season Resort and Spa for almost six months before she had run into the twins that helped run the place. Or rather the younger twins that were learning the business of managing a resort as large as this one. She had first seen Caysen from afar, his tight slacks cupping his ass nicely as he bent over a desk in the front lobby to look over a female's shoulder and point out something on the large computer screen they were both staring at. He had never seen her and she couldn't dawdle and ogle his fine ass before being called away by one of the other massage therapists that was telling her that her next client was ready for her. Then she went from a nice, ridged body to that of a flabby, middle-aged man's hairy back. The difference couldn't have been more profound.

A week after staring at the fine backside of her future boyfriend's brother, she met Stefan. At first she had thought it was the same man until realizing that there was a slight different in haircut. Stefan's hair was more spikey, whereas Caysen grew his out a bit more. If it was simply to differentiate between the two, it didn't seem to be working. Few persons at the spa seemed to catch the slight difference, though it seemed obvious enough to Shelly.

As the days passed, she noted that Stefan was always the more professional of the two twins and dealt with the back office more efficiently than Caysen. Caysen, ever the flirt, would charm the capris off the young to the old women with assured wit and light banter. He seemed to welcome everyone in whether they were old and decrepit, or young and lively. He treated each client equally; charming and witty to the ladies, blooming bromance with the men.

Stefan was more manager material. He was concise and quick, but he didn't have his twin's easy rapport with their clientele.

Altogether, they were a matched set that worked quite nicely in the customer service business.

The two of them walked into the kitchen quietly, happy to be alone. It always bothered them when Case was around, and stifling their moans as they made love wasn't ideal to any degree.

Shelly added more ice to their glasses while Stefan picked the Brita water jug out of the fridge. He filled their glasses before taking a big gulp of the icy liquid.

Instead of going back to the living room, they both took their drinks upstairs to Stefan's room. It was a rare night that they were alone, and Shelly hoped that Stef's promise of finding a place for himself soon would come to fruition. Unfortunately, the only places in his price range were farther away than he would have liked, and everything downtown was prime real estate, therefore above his paygrade.

Stefan had also mentioned their work at ESRS might be only temporary. His fathers—as weird as that still sounded to her after six months—were looking into opening up a new resort in southern California or Florida.

That might have been a few months in the future, or years from now, but it still bothered Shelly, who was just getting used to being a part of the Reznick clan. She didn't want to be alone. Again.

As Stefan guided her upstairs, she grinned. s*x with her boyfriend was always phenomenal, and now that she didn't have to be quiet, it was likely to be epic. She was unceremoniously tossed onto the bed and let out a squeaky giggle just after putting her glass down on the nightstand.

Stefan was suddenly on top of her, taking her lips with his and devouring her pouty little mouth and soft moans.

As he undressed her, Stefan thought he couldn't have been luckier than to have found her when he did. It was true that Shelly was more his brother's style than his, but something about her made him forget the buxom blonds he was use to.

And he was so glad he had seen her first.

"Careful! I have neighbors next door!" Laura scolded as Case's hands snatched her up and gripped her wrists above her head.

"I don't give a s**t they know we're f*****g," he told her before punishing her lips with a harsh kiss.

"Yeah, well I have to live here. You don't," she reminded him.

"f*****g frigid pricks next door," he cursed, his lips brushing against hers. "Maybe they could learn something from those sweet little squeals you give when you're coming all over my cock."

Sex with Case was never gentle, Laura found out. It was a lesson in being ridden rough and put away wet, something she had zero problems with at the moment. After having had her loving boyfriend of a couple years leave her for her own mother—AKA his new Sugar Mama—she didn't want gentle and slow. She wanted something to take her out of her head and push away all the feelings she could have had for anyone she f****d.

That's what she wanted. f*****g. No love, no promises that would be reneged on when the guy she had feelings for found something better, no feelings whatsoever. Just a quick smash, get off, and roll over.

Case practically tore the shirt from her body and unsnapped the clasp of her bra in a hurry, taking one of her n*****s into his mouth with a suck as soon as it was bared to him. A light pinch of his teeth had her gasping, then moaning as she tossed her head back against the wall.

As his mouth licked and sucked, his hands were already on her jeans, unzipping them with a rasp and a pop of the button before he was sliding them down her soft, creamy legs.

Laura had legs to die for, and Caysen was pretty much a leg-man. And p***y. And definitely her fine, full t**s.

As he rubbed her over her panties, his mind flashed to seeing Shelly and Stefan, sitting cuddled up on the couch, her head on his shoulder and laughing.

Fuck, he wanted that. Not with Laura, but with...

No.

Why was it that what you couldn't have was all you ever thought about?

But when he thought of the smaller, rounder t**s of Shelly in comparison to the fuller, heavier ones of Laura, he found himself straining at the fabric covering his crotch.

He flung Laura onto the bed before pulling the light pink lacey panties down her legs quickly.

She gasped as she watched him, his eyes darkening and a hungry look on his face.

"I...I thought you were going to f**k me up against the wall," she commented, her tone both wispy and sultry.

"Next round," he told her as he pushed his pants down to his ankles and stepped out of them at the side of the bed. His thick girth pointed straight out at her, and he removed a packet of condoms from the right pocket of his pants before ripping one off and tearing the foil with his teeth.

He kneeled onto the bed between Laura's open thighs, rolling the latex down his length with steely precision before leaning forward and pecking at Laura's lips softly.

It was a surprising gesture, and when Laura looked at his face, she wasn't altogether sure Case was seeing her underneath him. The only time she had ever seen Caysen look so soft was the one time they had run into Stefan and Shelly in town. They were at a local bar and the two had come in for a cocktail to start a date. When she had looked at Case, she saw what he really felt for the girl. It went well past the "like" stage and was teetering on the "falling for" ledge. It was almost the same sad look her ex, Jason, had given her as he broke up with her and let her know he was sleeping with her mother as well.

Laura had wanted to hurl, she was so disgusted. He had broken her trust in all men and she vowed never to get close to one again—with the exception of the occasional f**k.

Shooing the unwanted images from her mind, she focused on Caysen who was placing his engorged c**k at her slit and sliding the head up and down, bumping her clit on the upward strokes.

"This first time's gonna be fast and hard," he told her as he slowed his motions. "But there will be seconds and thirds, if I have anything to say about it."

He started to slide into her before Laura's hand halted him on his chest.

"I know you think of her when we fuck."

Caysen opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off.

"It's okay and I understand." Giving him a soft smile, she continued. "If you want to say her name, I...I don't mind."

Case studied her face, waiting for a sign she was being insincere. He found none.

"You...you sure?" he rasped.

She nodded her head back up at him.

"I'm positive," she told him. "I don't listen to half of what you say when we f**k anyway, no offense."

Caysen nodded too, looking resigned.

"Same here," he told her before kissing her lips as he speared her with his shaft slowly.

And when he came in her three times that night, he called Shelly's name. Every. f*****g. Time.

Chapter Three

Callie and her two husbands, Emmett and Ethan, were talking animatedly over some travel brochures when Caysen and Stefan came back from the resort later on in the week. They had just completed grumbling their way home in Caysen's car about how their fathers were taking earlier and earlier days off. They had no idea why, but they had a feeling that the three parents were eager to see the backend of their youngest sons so they could get freaky any and all times in their own home. It had been a good 27 years since the triad had had the house to themselves, and at least Caysen was sure that his fathers were trying to get some alone time with their mother while everyone else was out, though he cringed to think about what depraved acts they were employing in their frequent ménages.

Even with their older sister, Emily, living in her own apartment downtown, Stefan and Caysen were the only ones still in the nest, and the oldest Reznicks were eager to have their house all to themselves again.

The chatter between their parents ceased as soon as Caysen and Stefan stomped through the front door, and they both looked over at their mother and fathers, who were hunched over a pamphlet with eager eyes and wide smiles. Behind them, a pot was bubbling and a gloopy sound was being made as silence ensued across the room.

"You're gonna burn the sauce," Caysen told them, to which Callie knifed up from her spot at the table to look into the smaller pot bubbling on the stovetop. She sighed in relief before placing it on a low simmer.

"I invited Shelly over for dinner tonight," Callie told them when she turned her back on the stove. "I knew you guys wouldn't mind. She's practically a part of the family these days."

The younger twins both grinned, though a nauseating lurch in Caysen's stomach made him wish he could follow through and give a pained look. For his brother's sake, though, he would grin and f*****g bear it.

"Cool," Stefan said as he clapped his hands together. His mood always brightened when Shelly was either present talked about. Hell—or even mentioned. Caysen thought his brother was the definition of p***y-whipped, not that the bastard could blame him.

"Great...fantastic."

Stop talking, Caysen, he thought to himself. Less was more in any situation, especially when you were in love—well, maybe love was too strong a word as of yet—with your brother's girlfriend.

Emmett's lip curled up, giving his son a confused stare that Caysen turned away from, and then turned his attention to his brother.

"Later," Ethan muttered, averting his eyes from his sons.

There it was again—that creepy twin thing the two had going between them. Speaking without actually talking, like they were some damned mind readers in a house full of completely unintuitive strangers.

Got to get the f**k outta here, Caysen thought, just as his brother was thinking the same damn thing.

"Food should be ready in a minute," Callie told them as she inspected the pot of boiling noodles. "Go get yourselves washed up for dinner."

While Caysen and Stefan was freshening up, the doorbell rang and female voices were heard from below, high pitched and excitable. It was ridiculous. Ever since Emily left to live with her boyfriend—now ex-boyfriend—their mother had been jonesing for a new best gal pal that was literally half her age.

To be fair, Callie got along with pretty much anyone, but she gravitated toward the younger folk who didn't seem to mind her odd family unit. A woman with two husbands was hard to wrap your mind around for some people, but many of Caysen's and Stefan's friends thought they were pretty f*****g cool for "old people".

And not to mention their older brothers were married and had a kid with their wife, Piper, in Hawaii. It was a regular three-ring threesome circus in the house whenever their older brothers and wife decided to come up for the holidays or to visit. Not to mention they usually invited Piper's grandparents as well. Thanksgiving with the Minkovs in Hawaii, Christmas in northern California. It had been a tradition for as long as Jay and Alex had gotten engaged, and neither rain not sleet nor snow could keep them from celebrating either holiday together.

As soon as Stefan's foot hit the bottom step, his eyes were searching the room for Shelly, who was sitting in the living room and chatting with Ethan about her job at the resort. She was enthusiastic about having a full-time position, and by the way she was gushing about her employment, you would think she was vying for the position instead of waxing poetic about one she already had.

"Baby," Stefan's voice called out before she turned her head. Her face lit up with a brilliant smile and she stood up in place as Stefan came over to give her a soft hug and a kiss. His father looked on with a grin.

"Food's ready," Emmett called out from the doorway of the kitchen, his eyes flickering between his two sons.

Ethan stood up, clapped Stefan on the back, and made his way over to Caysen, who was standing mute at the bottom of the steps, watching Shelly and Stef in his peripherals.

After everyone was seated, Callie gestured for them all to dig in. Food was passed around, bowls of side dishes being shunted from person to person. Knives and forks clinked, and people murmured their enjoyment of the food as insignificant small talk was made.

As soon as most of the table was about two-thirds done, Callie cleared her throat. Eyes peered over at her and she gave them all a slow, steady grin.

"Your fathers and I are heading on a business-s***h-personal trip for a month."

The hum of noise quieted as Case put his fork down and looked between his parents.

"What does that mean, business-s***h-personal trip?" he questioned, his tone measured and voice low.

His mother shrugged.

"Just what it sounds like, dear," she told him. "We are going to Colorado Springs to look into a property that's for sale."

Emmett spoke up.

"We'll split our time between looking into the new place and having some vacation time. Just to ourselves."

"It's been ages since we've had a trip alone and with you two manning the wheel at ESRS, we can finally go on a vacation," Ethan spoke. "Just the three of us."

Callie turned to Shelly who sat two feet to the right of her. "You're always welcome to stay here, Shell. There's plenty of room, and—"

Callie blanked, her face tinging pink in the cheeks.

Ethan's hand cupped his wife's as he rubbed his thumb over her knuckles.

"We figure it would be stupid to offer you Emily's old room," he said diplomatically, hinting at what his wife meant to say.

"What these two prudes are unable to say and mean to—" Emmett started to say. "—is that you can stay here with Stefan. In his room." He eyed Emmett and Callie warily. "You're grown-ups, for f**k's sake and you can act like them whether we're here or not."

He shrugged and went back to his pasta as if he hadn't just given one of his youngest sons the go-ahead to shack it up with his girlfriend for thirty days.

"When are you guys leaving?" Case asked, trying to push past the fact that Shelly would be there, in the house, all the motherfucking time.

This was going to be torture.

"Next week," Callie mumbled around a bite of her food and averting her eyes.

"Next week?" Stefan blanched. "We just started working at the resort! How the hell are we supposed to run that place without running it into the ground?"

Emmett rolled his eyes but said nothing. Ethan gave a smirk, but thankfully opened his damn mouth to reply.

"You'll be fine," he told Stefan, who had Shelly at his side, soothing him with a hand on his bicep and rubbing. "Your father and I will do the payroll remotely. All's you two have to do is keep the ship afloat. It's easy enough."

"For Christ's sake, you went to business school." Emmett lifted his head, swallowing the last bite of his meal before eyeing both his children down. "Act like it."

If there was anything that could keep Caysen from snarling and growling at his parent at that point, it was a stab to his pride. Stefan may have been great behind the scenes in the back office, but he was the one thrust into the lion's den of customers, vendors, and employees with trifling issues that needed to be attended to posthaste.

"We'll be fine," Case pushed out gruffly, irritated that Stefan was taking this like he'd been offered as a sacrifice to some ancient Pagan ritual.

How hard could it be to keep moral up? To keep the influx of people attending and spending their hard-earned cash at their luxurious spa? To keep the money flowing and the customers happy and tipping their hard-working employees

It couldn't be that difficult.

At least Caysen hoped not.

Callie was bubbly and bouncing around the house, humming and singing as she gave it a good cleaning before leaving. Often, she would warn Case and Stef to keep the house tidy while they were away. She didn't need it looking like a "frat house" when she got back from her extended vacation-s***h-business trip.

But most of her words were heady musings about what to do while they were in Colorado, where they would go, and the occasional wondering about the place they were going to see. It was obvious she was looking at the trip as more of a personal one, and that the two men could look more into the business side of it. After all, it was Ethan's baby, and Emmett and Callie were just along for the ride.

After settling back on the west coast, Emmett had taken up the reins with his brother, and he had always been the one closest to Caysen in demeanor. He was the welcoming, jovial, meet-the-people type guy, whereas Ethan was more stoic, better at the numbers and employee part of the business. It was why Case had spent so much of his time after graduating college with Emmett, and Ethan had steered Stefan towards the back-office portion. The two men knew their youngest sons entirely too well.

Much, much too well.

"My Spidey senses are tingling," Emmett muttered as he pressed socks and some of his underwear into a suitcase.

"What's up?" Though Ethan had a feeling he already knew what his brother wanted to say. Call it a sixth sense, call it a twin thing—the two men were as different as could be, but they just got each other.

"Case is...he's acting different lately." He gave Ethan a look that said, don't be a fool. You know exactly what I'm talking about.

"No s**t," Ethan groaned. "It's like he's us all over again."

"Shelly."

"Yeah."

There was pregnant pause that clouded the clouded the room.

"Think Stefan knows?" Emmett eyeballed his brother's frowning face.

"Nope," he sputtered out on a short, dark bark of laughter. "He's as clueless as a babe. All he sees is Shelly, and never how Case looks at her. He's like one of those horses that pull the carriages in Central Park. Has blinders on so he can only see what's ahead."

"You think everything'll be good while we're gone?"

Ethan shrugged and zipped up his luggage. He had no f*****g clue what he had put in there, not that it mattered. The place that went out of business was selling the building for half of what it was worth and wouldn't care if the Reznicks came to their business meeting in track suits and sneakers.

The joys of filing for bankruptcy.

"It'll have to be," Ethan stated.

"And if it's not?"

The two older men looked at each other before nodding their heads, no words needing to be uttered.

"Then we put out the flames when we get back."

"If there's anything to come back to."

This book is found for free on w*****d, Inkitt and Dreame for a limited time. Once it is published on sss in ebook and paperback, it will be taken down, though not for a while yet