Guilty Pleasures Read online

  Zachary took another breath, words returning. “You and I had been dating the same women since we started dating. Why was this different?”

  “You always chased after the women I dated!”

  “And you were guilty of doing the same thing! You were never serious about any of them, so what did it matter? It’s not like you ever really cared!”

  “I cared about Felicia!”

  “Before I married her or only after?”

  “I loved Felicia!”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “How could you not know? You were my brother. You knew she was the only woman I was seeing.”

  There was a moment of pause as the two stared at each other. Alexander pulled his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs.

  “And what about Stacy?” Zachary asked, his tone accusing.

  “Stacy? Who’s Stacy?”

  “She worked at the hotdog place. The cheerleader with the big . . .” Zachary’s comment stalled as he gestured with his hands, the appendages waving over his chest.

  Alexander blinked. “What does she have to do with anything?”

  “If you were so in love with Felicia, why did you sleep with Stacy?”

  “I didn’t sleep with Stacy!”

  “It was the night after midterm exams. You and Felicia had been fighting and you drove Stacy home. She says you slept together. She told everyone, including me and Felicia, how you two had something going on.”

  “I . . . we . . . well,” Alexander stammered, trying to remember a time in their lives that had come and gone. Then the memory hit him. He locked gazes with his brother as he tried to explain himself. “Felicia and I were on a break. We had needed to take some time apart.”

  “Exactly.”

  “But . . .”

  “But nothing. You dated someone else and Felicia did too. It just happened that she dated me.”

  “But we were trying to make things work when you turned around and married her!”

  “I fell in love with her! And I thought she loved me.” Zachary’s voice cracked, and there was no missing the hurt that simmered in his tone.

  “She married you, didn’t she?” Alexander said, no longer yelling.

  His brother shrugged. “She did but she didn’t love me. She only married me for the image she had for her life.”

  “And she didn’t see that with me?”

  “You weren’t interested in playing ball back then. This was well before you were thinking about going pro. Back then you wanted the two-point-three kids, the picket fence, and the dog. You would have been happy being a high-school English teacher.”

  “And Felicia really wanted to be with a baller. Or a rapper!” The comment was clearly a statement and not a question, Alexander knowing the answer as he remembered back to that time and the woman he and his brother had allowed to come between them. This time he took a deep breath before he continued. “Why didn’t you at least talk to me? We had never done anything that we didn’t talk about first. But you actually married her and never said anything to me.”

  Zachary’s gaze drifted into thought as he pondered his brother’s question. “You would have stopped me,” he finally answered, his eyes reconnecting with Alexander’s stare. “And back then I really thought it was time I did something on my own without you being a part of it. Or at least that was what Felicia had me thinking.”

  “She didn’t want me to stop you either. She thought she was going to lose her meal ticket!”

  Zachary laughed, and the faintest hint of a smile lifted his brother’s lips.

  Another blanket of silence dropped down between them, the two falling into their own thoughts. Suddenly everything that had been their past seemed irrelevant.

  “I’m sorry,” Zachary said. “I’m sorry because I did need you. I never should have let her convince me that not having you in my life was better for me. Because it wasn’t. It’s the worst thing that could have happened to me.”

  “Yeah, you were wrong. And you hurt my damn feelings.”

  His brother nodded. “I hate that it happened but I swear, I’ll do whatever it takes to make things good with us again. I love you, A.” He swiped a heavy hand across his eyes, moisture pooling behind his lids.

  Alexander reached for the scotch bottle that had fallen to the floor and the glass that had rolled beneath the bed. He started to pour them both another shot, then stopped, lifting the last of the bottle to his own lips instead.

  “I thought we were making up? Now you’re not even going to share?” Zachary said, his eyes wide as he held out his empty glass.

  Alexander shook his head. “You’re supposed to be in training. If you’re going to attach my name to how you do your business, then you’re going to follow my rules. And rule number one is no drinking. Tomorrow we’re turning that diet of yours around, too. Today, though, I’m going to let you have one more slice of Mama Lynn’s pie.”

  Zachary grinned. “So we’re good, A?”

  His twin shrugged. “We’re getting there.”

  “I’ll take that,” Zachary said. “I’ll definitely take that.”

  * * *

  Sarai pressed an ice pack to the side of Alexander’s face and over his eye. Her touch was anything but gentle, and he winced from the pain that shot through his head. “That hurts!” he hissed, leaning away from her heavy hand. “Don’t be so rough!”

  She shook her head as she flipped her eyes at Zachary. “You should both be ashamed of yourselves,” she said as she cut her gaze back toward Alexander.

  Zachary laughed, his wide grin like a beacon in the center of his face. “We’ve done worse.” He sat with a bag of frozen peas against his bottom lip as Mama Lynn bandaged a gash across his forehead.

  Alexander nodded. “We have,” he said, shooting Sarai a look out of the corner of his eye. “This really wasn’t bad at all. Zachary’s gone soft.”

  “Soft! That black eye you’re sporting shows just how soft I am!”

  “This black eye was a lucky punch. There’s no way the world heavyweight UFC champion could have been beaten by an amateur if he wasn’t soft.”

  “I didn’t get beat.”

  “No, you got slaughtered! By an ex–professional basketball player, no less!”

  Zachary rolled his eyes skyward.

  “Well, I don’t know who beat who,” Mama Lynn said, “but I do know you tore that spare room apart. Just made a holy mess up there!”

  “Zach has to replace the chair,” Alexander said.

  “You have to buy a lamp!”

  “You both will have to replace that closet door,” Westley said.

  “Well, I don’t care who fixes that big hole in the wall,” Mama Lynn interjected, “but I definitely want that fixed!”

  The two men pointed at each other, both laughing.

  Sarai slapped Alexander against the back of his head with the flat of her palm.

  “Ouch!” he snapped, drawing his hand against the new spot that suddenly stung.

  She crossed the room toward the sink, pausing only briefly to give Zachary a swift punch in his arm as she passed by him.

  “What did I do?” he said, rubbing at the offending bruise.

  She tossed him a narrowed gaze, but she said nothing as she dampened a bath cloth with warm water. She moved back to Alexander’s side. She gently dabbed at the dried blood that had crusted beneath his nose and on his face.

  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Zachary said, meeting the look his brother was giving him, “but she has a mean streak. Do not let that demure appearance fool you!”

  The look Sarai gave her friend was cutting, her eyes thin slits of displeasure. She bit back the comment that pulled at the tip of her tongue, instead turning her attention back to Alexander, who was smiling at her with amusement. He took her hand in his and squeezed it gently, giving her a wink of his eye. The gesture moved her to smile, a glint of light shimmering in her eyes.

  Zachary sat, staring at the
two of them. Sarai stood leaning into Alexander’s body as she gently nursed his bruises. They were so close that had his brother turned his head, he would have planted his face right between her small breasts. She drew a slow hand across his back, and under different circumstances, the gesture could have been seen as salacious. But there was something in how Sarai interacted with his twin that was new to Zachary, her gentle mutterings so loving in nature that they surprised him, and only because he’d never heard such a thing from her before. It didn’t go unnoticed, despite what she or Alexander might have thought.

  “You should probably go have that hand looked at,” Westley suddenly said, interrupting Zachary’s thoughts.

  He dropped his gaze down to his fingers, then shrugged his broad shoulders. “It’ll be fine. They’re just going to tell me I have some hairline fractures. It happens all the time.” He winced as he squeezed a fist and then relaxed it.

  Mama Lynn sucked her teeth in frustration. “I don’t know why you two couldn’t have studied law or medicine or something easier on your bodies. And my nerves!”

  Minutes later, with both men cleaned up and bandaged, the family sat back down at the dining table for the second round of dessert. Laughter was abundant as they shared stories and caught up on the time they’d missed being together. The oversized clock that decorated the living room wall chimed on the midnight hour before the brothers stood up again to leave. Hugs and kisses were exchanged as the family wished each other a good night.

  As the door closed behind her family, Mama Lynn shook her head. She turned to meet her husband’s stare.

  “What’s wrong?” Westley asked as the woman moved past him to clear the last of the dirty dishes away.

  Mama Lynn shook her head. “I’m glad the boys were able to put all their mess behind them, but I swear, it didn’t take no time at all for another woman to get between them.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I know Sarai said she and Zachary are just friends, but you wouldn’t have known it by the way he was watching her and Alexander. And how could you miss how Alexander and that girl were making eyes at each other? It’s bound to be a problem. Sooner or later she’s bound to be a problem between them.”

  Westley shook his head. He wrapped his arms around the woman’s waist and hugged her warmly. “Stop worrying about them boys. They’ll figure out things with that little girl all on their own.”

  Chapter Six

  Still hyped on adrenaline, the twins and Sarai moved their reunion from the Barrett home to the Denny’s on Baseline Road. The clientele in the twenty-four-hour eatery was minimal, and they had their pick of tables.

  Sarai took the inside seat in one of the rear booths. Zachary slid into the cushioned seat across from her, and after a brief moment of hesitation, Alexander sat on the seat by the young woman’s side.

  “Does it hurt?” she asked, the pads of her fingers gently tracing the outline of his bruised eye.

  Alexander shrugged, a slight smile spreading across his face. “I’ll pop a Tylenol before I go to bed. It’ll be better in the morning,” he answered.

  “Oh, please,” Zachary quipped. “I think that first punch he threw broke my nose and you don’t see me complaining. And I use this face to help build my brand!”

  Sarai stared at him, tilting her head left, then right, concern washing across her face as she shook her head.

  “What?” Zachary asked anxiously. He sat forward in his seat, trying to see his reflection in the glass windows. His eyes were wide as he tapped at the bridge of his nose with his fingers. “Does it look bad?”

  Alexander laughed. “There is nothing wrong with your nose. Sarai’s just messing with you!”

  Sarai giggled, mischief shimmering in her dark eyes. “Your brother doesn’t want to hurt your feelings,” she said teasingly.

  “Hahaha, you are so funny,” Zachary jeered. “You don’t see me cracking jokes about your breasts . . . or lack thereof... do you?”

  She gave him a sneer, her expression smug. “Yeah, they’re small. I can’t help it if I’m still waiting patiently for puberty to fully kick in,” she joked. “But you don’t have an excuse for that football sitting in the center of your face.”

  Alexander laughed at the two of them. “Are you two always this entertaining to be around?”

  Zachary grinned. “We have our moments.”

  Sarai rolled her eyes.

  Before she could comment, the waitress came to take their order. The woman was long and lean, with skin the color of black licorice, and a Kewpie-doll pout. Her hair was braided in an intricate updo that flattered her profile.

  “I’ll just have coffee,” Alexander said. “Black.”

  “I want scrambled eggs with whole wheat toast, please,” Sarai said.

  The waitress turned her attention to Zachary. “And, what can I get you, good-looking?” she grinned, her expression showing her rising interest.

  Zachary grinned back. “What’s sweet, besides you, beautiful?”

  The woman leaned forward, lightly licking her lips. “I’m the sweetest thing you’ll get here, Hammer. And I’m off the clock at four.”

  Alexander laughed. “So, you know who he is?” he asked, pointing at Zachary.

  She nodded. “I know who you both are, Mr. Barrett. I’m a big fan!”

  Sarai rolled her eyes skyward.

  The flirtatious banter continued between them until Zachary finally ordered a slice of peach pie with ice cream and a side of country linked sausage. Admiring the expanse of her assets, both men watched with appreciation as the young woman walked away.

  Sarai cleared her throat, her gaze shifting back and forth between the two men. “You, too?” she questioned, her eyes resting on Alexander.

  “What?”

  “I’m used to your brother staring at other women’s asses. I didn’t expect it from you.”

  He laughed. “I wasn’t staring at that woman’s ass!”

  “Yes, you were!”

  Zachary chuckled with the two of them. “She’s just upset because she doesn’t have any ass either. She’s still waiting for puberty to bring that, too!”

  Alexander tried not to laugh at his brother’s joke, but the exchange was too funny, their playful razzing overly amusing. He waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t listen to him, Sarai. You have a very nice ass! Even if it is a little small!”

  “It’s not as . . . how do you say it, Zach? It’s not as thick as the women’s here in the United States but it’s firm. I work very hard to get this bubble!”

  “Yes, you do,” Zachary said, his smile filling his face. “Most Thai women aren’t known for their curves. It’s their petite, slender figures that men are drawn to. I talked to a lot of guys who visit Thailand who say that Western women have become too masculine-like with their muscular bodies.”

  Sarai nodded. “The European men who visit Thailand just think we are submissive and nonconfrontational. That’s what they’re drawn to!”

  “Clearly, they haven’t met you!” Zachary said. “Or any of the women in Thailand that I thought about dating.”

  Alexander looked at him with a raised eye.

  “It was all fantasy. I’ve sworn off women so I haven’t been dating anyone,” Zachary added with a soft chuckle.

  His brother turned his attention back to Sarai and continued the conversation. “But most of that is just individuals perpetuating the stereotypes,” Alexander interjected. “It’s no different from people saying all black women have attitudes and are bitter and angry. Or that blond and blue-eyed women are every man’s ideal. They’re generalizations, not fact.”

  She nodded. “That’s true but it still amazes me that there are so many men who think all Thai women are just sexual kittens for them to play with.”

  “I’m sure it’s not that bad,” Alexander said. He chuckled softly.

  She laughed. “Do you know how many times I’ve had men say, fucky sucky five dolla’ to me? It’s really insulting!”
>
  Alexander laughed, amused by how her Asian accent had thickened with the comment.

  “Don’t waste your breath,” Zachary said as he licked the sugar from his fingers. “I’ve argued this with her more times than I care to count.”

  Sarai tossed him a look. “Because you know I’m right. It’s been one extreme or the other. Here in the States, more people are surprised that I actually have a college degree and don’t work in a nail salon than not. It’s bad.”

  Zachary shrugged. “Like my brother said, I know that it’s just people being stupid about stereotypes. No one makes any effort anymore to get to know someone who is not like them.”

  Alexander threw an arm across the back of the booth, turning in his seat to face her. “So, tell me again how you two met?” He looked from her to his brother and back.

  Zachary popped a sausage link into his mouth, holding up a hand as he chewed. “Pop gave me her mother’s contact information when I moved to Thailand.”

  Sarai nodded. “My mother had died a few months earlier. So, when he called he got me and my father instead.”

  “Her father came to work for me. He taught me the lay of the land. Helped me get acclimated. And he watched my back.”

  “Your brother was a big help to us. My father has great respect for him.” The woman smiled.

  “Sarai was a real pain back then. She should have been in school but she had to work in the rice paddies to help support the home. It was either that or prostitution.”

  “And that was not an option for me,” Sarai said emphatically.

  “Anyway, I had a friend associated with a boarding school in Paris. He pulled some strings to get her in and the rest is history.”

  Alexander smiled. “So what was the deal with your mother and our father? Do you know?”

  “I want to know that too!” Zachary interjected. “I just thought they were casual friends but now I’m not so sure!” He sat forward in his seat, leaning over the table in anticipation.

  Sarai dropped into a moment of reflection as she thought about her mother. Khim Montri had been a beautiful woman, and there had been stories about the men who had fawned over her, lavishing her family with gifts in hopes of garnering her attention. Khim’s father had been overly protective, banishing most of her suitors away. When Sarai had asked about the men who’d come calling, her mother had only spoken of one, Sarai’s father, the farmer with the shy smile who’d become her husband. But even as a little girl, Sarai had known there was something, or someone, her mother had kept secret, taking that tale to her grave.