Chapter 46

* * * *

A couple more of those Jack Daniels-laced beers and my brother reels off the dance floor. “Damn,” he mutters, sliding into an empty chair at our table. The brunette blows him a kiss as she heads for the bathroom and Joey reaches for another beer. “I must be getting too old for this. I’m wore out.”

Sweat drips from the back of his hair, which has begun to curl near the nape of his neck. His face is practically white, with twin spots of color blazing high on his cheeks. His lips look too red, his eyes almost black. When he runs a hand through his hair, the strands stick up on their own like a crown. Fanning himself with a napkin, Joey asks, “Is it hot in here?”

“You’re flushed,” I tell him. Nudging his foot beneath the table, I joke, “I told you you’d be the hottest guy here.”