Page 137 of Beautiful Thing

She’s having dinner with her mother tonight. I know it won’t be easy for Layla, especially with the drama that woman just dragged into town last night.

So I snuck in here with the guys to get this painting job done quickly. Painting after dark is never ideal, but I’ve set up extra lights around the place to make sure we don’t miss any spots. I just want to do this as a surprise for Layla, to give her something to smile about at the end of an otherwise stressful day.

We’d get this project done a whole lot faster if the guys weren’t bullshitting and horsing around. But I guess I’ll take what I can get. We’ve got a bluetooth speaker blaring in the corner and all the windows wide open. Nolan brought over two six-packs of beer—which are almost gone—and there’s talk of getting burgers after we finish up.

This whole thing could actually be a good fucking time, if there wasn’t this dark cloud hanging over my head.

I think back to the morning I took Layla to the waterfall. I was stupid to think that would actually change anything. I’ve heard all these stupid stories from my siblings about that place being a good omen for love. And well, I was fresh out of ideas. So as a last ditch effort, I gave it a try, took Layla on a date by the falls, and hoped the water would work its magic and make her fall in love with me.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Now, here I am, helping her move out.

“Really, though,” Darius pipes up. “Aren’t you disappointed that she’s leaving?”

“It is what it is,” I mumble.

“Please,” Mason hawks. “Nobody’s buying the nonchalant act.”

Nolan nods in agreement. “You’re so freaking obvious. We know you’re obsessed with that girl.”

Darius eyeballs me. “Let’s not forget the lengths you’ve gone to, to save her time and time again.”

“So what? I did her a couple of favors. It was no big deal,” I try to rationalize.

He laughs. “Well, a hardware store is one hell of an impulse buy.”

I exhale loudly. “Look, you all know I don’t have a good track record with love. It’s just not in the cards for me. I have a thing for emotionally unavailable women. It’s always been that way,” I remind them, taking a stab at myself.

My very first love ditched me for someone else. The other women I’ve tried dating were all dating other people. I don’t particularly enjoy being the rebound, but it seems that’s all I can get.

Layla may not currently have plans to go back to her ex. But whether I like it or not, they’re a family, so who knows what the future holds?

“Or maybe you just have a thing for giving up when relationships get hard,” Nolan snipes back, surprising the heck out of me.

Darius nods. “Dude, this is probably your very last chance to make things right with Layla. Before you lose her for good.”

“I don’t know how,” I admit, feeling defeated.

“Serenade her at the farmer’s market,” Mason suggests.

“Take out an ad spot in the newspaper,” Darius says.

“Announce your love over the intercom at work.” Nolan grins at his brilliance.

I glare at them. It’s a mystery that they all have women in their lives.

I’m obviously not taking any of their ridiculous suggestions. But still, my brain is churning.

I’ve been trying to play it cool for so long. Now, I can’t do it anymore. I just burst, my free arm flinging wildly as I speak. “She doesn’t want me, dammit! Do I need to remind you all that my entire relationship with Layla was fake? All of it was fake. Everything you saw. The family dinners, the dates, the wedding, all of it. We were faking the whole damn thing, and it doesn’t matter what—”

My words cut off at the sound of a loud gasp behind me. I swing around to find my mother standing in the doorway.

Fuuuck.

I stand there with a paint roller in my hand as my mom’s eyes fill with tears. It’s obvious she heard everything. Mom knows I lied about my relationship with Layla. She knows I lied to her.

“Oh, shit,” one of my brothers mutters in the background.

---