Page 50 of Chasing Storm

Sean turns to me, eyes roaming my face, brows narrowing, when he responds, “He seems nice.”

I give amhmmfor him to continue. His eyes are trying to gauge my reaction, but he looks like he’s in pain.

My head tilts, and I ask, “What’s wrong?”

He shakes his head to clear his mind and turns back to the guy. “I don’t know.He’s not you?It’s hard to talk about this with you?The list goes on.”

“Sean.” His gaze meets mine. “It’s time to let go of those feelings. Time for you to find someone whocangive you what you want.”

With a hard, long sigh, he responds, “You’re right. It’s just proving harder than I thought.”

I nod my chin toward the guy. “And him? What’s his name?”

“Micah Hayden.”

Placing my hand on my chest, I mention, “Aside from my good looks…” I give him a lopsided smile, “…do you find him attractive?”

Sean’s face crumples, and he steps away. “This is weird. I’m not talking to you about it.”

He walks to the office, and I’m on his heels. “Yeah, it’s weird, but who else can you talk to?”

Sean falls into his desk chair, scrubs his face with his hand and says, “Look, Joe. I appreciate your support and all, but sharing my sexual feelings for another guy is going above and beyond. You don’t want to hear it, and I’m uncomfortable opening up.”

I throw my feet up on the desk, crossing at the ankles, and intertwine my hands behind my head. “Comfortable or not, we’ve been there for each other. You’ve listened to my complaints and needs for Tea.”

“That’s different. Besides, you never went into detail about anything.”

“And I’m not asking you to do that. Hell, keep your bum love to yourself, but I can handle you expressing interest in a guy’s looks and personality.”

Quiet falls within the office. There’s a knock on the door, and Sean tells whoever it is to come in.

One of his male employees opens the door and says, “The guy you were working with earlier is asking for you.”

“Okay, I’ll be out in a minute.”

The guy leaves, and I attempt to lighten the mood by saying, “I think he wants his Beefcake.” He whips a pen at me, only goading me on. “Maybe he wants to partake in a little Hershey Highway.”

Sean jumps to his feet, and I hightail it out of there, hearing him yell, “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

As I collect my things in the locker room, my phone pings, so I take it out of my bag. It’s Teagan requesting to be picked up. I shoot her a message with the time of arrival. By the mats in the corner, I find my mom sitting there, talking to a guy while drinking a smoothie.

Walking over to her, she stands to give me a hug, and introduces me to the man. “Henry, this is my son, Joey. Joey, this is Henry.” She sees my brow hike up, taking the guy in, so she adds, “Henry owns a construction company. We met here a couple of weeks ago.”

He must have offered his hand at some point because it’s thrusted at me. I take it, tighten my grip a bit, and he does the same. It turns into a contest of wills. The guy has a good grip. Our arms jolt in different directions for a better hold. The fucker’s grasp hurts. Finally, I relent, and he releases my hand. I shake it out, getting the circulation back into it and he does the same.

My mom narrows her eyes at me, so I change the subject, asking her, “How’s the self-defense coming along?”

“Good. Sean’s an excellent teacher.”

“I told you I could teach you.”

She pats my arm like I’m a little boy. “I know, Joey, but this is what Sean does. And you have enough work on your plate.”

I throw the bag over my shoulder. “Well, I gotta pick up Tea.”

My mom kisses my cheek and says, “Give her my best.”

Henry and I exchange nods, and I leave. She never told me about this guy. I’ll have to ask Elijah to check on him. If he’s talking to my mom, he’s going to be investigated. It’s bad enough I’m on edge, conscious of James’ shadow slinking not far from us. Between worrying about my mom, Sean, and Teagan, I’m going to go nuts until James is caught. Elijah is aware Teagan saw him three-weeks ago. With his money and FBI friends, he should be able to keep him in hiding or flush him out.

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