Page 46 of Roughing It

“It’s my job. I’m the oldest; I have an obligation to the family business and to them.” My muscles tense. She’s pushing buttons I didn’t know I had.

The cool touch of Blakely’s hand on my cheek soothes my temper. “I’m trying to understand you and them. That’s a heavy weight to put on a kid’s shoulders, but you, no pun intended, bear it well.”

“I wouldn’t be who I am today without those experiences.”

“And is who you are now who you want to be?” she asks, studying my face.

My initial reaction is to lash out. That’s a bold question coming from her. What with the social media persona she built. But I’m not trying to dig my current hole deeper.

When I stay silent, she sighs, and her features soften. “I’m sorry I pushed the topic about your family stuff. Tell me about your brothers.”

Her apology makes me feel worse. I brought her out here to apologize. To explain about Paige. To learn more about her. Not to shut down. And for sure not to kiss, though the guilt of that isn’t as potent as it was.

Before I can say anything, my phone rings with a video call—as if mentioning their names summoned them. Bo’s number is on my screen, and if Bo is calling, Gray is right there with him.

“I need to take this. Something could be wrong.”

Her smile is gentle. “Always the responsible one.”

My brow creases with my frown. Why do her words feel more like an accusation than an observation?

“Yeah?” I bark as I hit the answer button.

Bo’s grinning face fills the screen. “How’s it going? You unfuck things yet?”

Blakely covers her mouth but can’t stifle her giggle. “Yeah, Bear, did you unfuck things?”

“Bear?” Gray asks as he shoves his way into the video frame.

I glare at my brothers, a warning in my scowl.

“Fuck yeah,” Bo says, “I’m totally calling you that from now on.”

“No,” I grunt. “Only one person gets to call me that.” The evil gleam in my brothers’ eyes tells me I haven’t heard the last of it.

But Blakely, being Blakely, takes this as her cue. She elbows me over and grins into the camera. “Hi! I’m the one who gets to call him Bear. You must be Bo and Gray?”

Bo’s mouth drops open. “You’re pretty.”

I not-so-subtly guide Blakely out of frame. “Did you two need something? Everything okay?”

“Hey, put Blakely back on. We have to look at your ugly mug all the time,” Gray says, smirking.

The familiar throb I associate with my brothers starts ticking behind my eye. “Gray,” I snap, “is everything okay?”

“Yeah, man. We called to check on you, that’s all. You need to relax, Hudson. We’re not kids anymore. Shit, Baby Bo will be thirty this year. We aren’t gonna bankrupt the business in a month without you there to triple-check everything.”

My jaw aches, and it isn’t until Blakely snakes the phone out of my hands that I realize how tightly I’m clenching my teeth.

She slips into her social media voice and dives into conversation with practiced ease. “Have you seen an uptick in bookings yet?”

Gray nods. “Yeah, we’re booked out through the spring with more requests coming in daily. It’s fucking unbelievable. We’ve had to push some a ways out because, with just the three of us and Dad as reserve, we don’t have the staff to take them all on. It’s the best problem we could have.”

Blakely preens and gives me a smug smile before turning to the phone. “Hudson told me about how you guys used to go camping with your dad when you were young.”

Bo’s face lights up. “Yeah, it was awesome. Hudson taught Gray and me everything we know.”

“He sounds like a great big brother.”

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