Page 40 of Fifty-Fifty

“It’s actually great you decided to make the trip,” I start in an overly enthusiastic tone. “This is my grandpa’s bed and breakfast that he left to me and Beau. She’s his surrogate granddaughter.” I smile at her in hopes of lessening the tension in the room. She can feel it as well as I do. “You’re actually lucky you got a couple of rooms. We’re completely booked out for the next six weeks.” My voice is dripping with pride because we did that. Beau and me.

“That’s fucking awesome!” Shane congratulates me before grimacing. “I mean… that’s... freaking awesome?” The word sounds foreign on his tongue, and I snort at his attempt at manners.

Beau tries to contain her amusement too, barely restraining herself from rolling her eyes.

Slater is still silent, and his lack of commentary makes me nervous. I don’t want his opinion to affect me, but it does. This is the guy I’ve been trying to impress for the past seven years while I was working for him in hopes of becoming his right hand man. I was so close, too. Until a man I never knew passed away and left me something that rocked my world from its axis.

Slater’s piercing gaze is stone cold as he assesses the freshly painted family room and dining area.

“So this is the investment property Shane’s been telling me about?”

“Yeah.”

“And you said you’re booked out for… six weeks?”

“Yeah.”

He nods. “Well, I can see the appeal. A small little town, a gorgeous host, what’s not to love?” His gaze lingers on Beau for a split second, but it isn’t exactly sexual. Instead, it reminds me of the way an artist would examine a painting at a museum. You can see his appreciation, but that’s as far as it goes.

Ricky, however, is a different story.

He’s staring at her like she’s his next meal and he plans on pouncing at any second. My hackles rise. My fists clench. My attention laser focuses.

What an asshole.

Ricky and I have never seen eye to eye. We were hired within a few months of each other, and he’s been one step behind me ever since. I was the one Slater trusted to open the shop. I was the one without a record. I was the one who was reliable enough to pick up the food because I wouldn’t screw it up. Me. Not Ricky. Which is why I get pissed off every time I think about Slater trusting him with a new shop instead of me. He doesn’t deserve the place. He never has.

Shane must see the tension radiating off me, because he steps in. Literally.

Jumping from his seat, he stands between Ricky and me with his hands raised a few inches from his sides and his palms facing us. “Well I think we’d love to check out the rooms and get unpacked. Maybe take a shower or something?”

Ricky opens his mouth to make another smartass comment when Slater interrupts, “Yeah.” He turns to me. “Noah, can you show us to our rooms?”

I don’t know why I’m nervous. I’ve worked with these guys for years. But the time away seems to have changed the dynamic somehow. I don’t know what to say, I don’t know who to trust, and I don’t know what’s been said.

I feel different. Like maybe the small town has rubbed off on me. Transformed me into a lesser Noah. A weaker Noah.

The thought is bitter and is immediately followed by guilt. My gaze shifts to Beau, who watches the interaction from the corner of the room. She isn’t a lesser person or a weaker person just because she was raised here. She’s had her own kind of hard life. Her own kind of shitty experiences that made her into the person she is today. And I couldn’t be more attracted to her. I don’t think it’s love. Not yet. But it could be. And that’s scary as shit.

I swallow before nodding to Slater. “Yeah. It’s right up here.”

I head toward the stairs in the entryway when Ricky calls over to me. “Uh, you gonna get my bags, man? Give me the full small-town treatment? I wouldn’t wanna have to write a Yelp review. Just sayin’.”

I grit my teeth before turning on my heel and picking up his duffle bag.

What an ass.

I don’t bother to look at his smug expression. It’ll only encourage me to wipe the look off his face with my fist.

“This way,” I mumble before heading up the stairs.

When we reach the top, I drop Ricky’s luggage at the threshold to the room farthest from Beau’s before opening the door to Shane’s and Slater’s a few steps down.

“Here you go.” I motion to the rooms.

“Can I talk with you for a minute? I think we have a few things to discuss,” Slater states.

“Yeah,” Ricky starts. “We’d love to––”

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