Hunter stares at Jax for a beat or two longer before tearing his gaze off Jaxon and fixing his eyes on me. “It’s nothing really. We just …” Hunter wavers, chewing on his lip ring. Well, I guess it’s more like he’s sucking on it. “Benton is still part of our fathers’ world, so he can be kind of sketchy sometimes.”

“He’s not completely awful,” Jax stresses. “And, to be honest, we’ve all questioned if he actually wants to work for our fathers or if he has a hidden agenda. Whatever the reason, he’s still part of that world, so if we meet up with him, it’s best to make the visit brief in order to avoid any of his shit drifting into our lives.”

“Okay.” I dither. “Is Zay going to get pissed off that you guys are having him buy us booze? I mean, maybe it’d be better if you just found someone else who’s twenty-one.”

“Benton’s not twenty-one. He’s barely twenty.” Hunter props his boot-clad foot onto his knee.

“Oh … How does he get alcohol for you, then?” I wonder. “Does he have, like, a fake ID?”

Jaxon shakes his head, wisps of his hair falling into his eyes. “No, he just has connections at bars because his father owns most of them.”

My lips form an O. “So, Zay’s dad owns all the bars in town? That’s impressive because, when I went exploring the town, I noticed there’s a lot of freaking bars here.”

“There are underground ones, too,” Hunter informs me. “They’re not really underground, but they’re not visible to anyone just wandering around town. You have to know where they are to find them.” He rises to his feet. “But, trust me; you don’t want to even know where they are, because the only people who hang out there are corrupt, evil bastards.” He digs his phone out of his pocket. “Anyway, enough with the heavy talk. We’re supposed to be having fun tonight, so let me see if I can get a hold of Benton, and then we’ll get this little party started.” He grins, but I can tell a hint of nervousness resides in his eyes as he dials Benton’s number, wandering toward the doorway with the phone up to his ear.

I turn to Jax, who looks a bit anxious himself, as Hunter walks out of the room. “Are you sure we should use this Benton to get our alcohol? It kind of seems like you guys are suddenly getting nervous.”

Jax promptly shakes his head. “Nah, we’ll be fine. I promise.”

If that’s the case, then why is he bouncing his knee up and down? Then, to add to my confusion, he suddenly gets to his feet.

“I’ll be right back, okay?” With that, he exits the room, heading off in the direction Hunter did.

Awesome. They’re clearly keeping something from me.

I guess it doesn’t really matter. I barely know them …

Right?

4

HUNTER

“Are you sure we should use Benton?” Jax asks as he enters the kitchen, where I wandered off to call Benton.