Page 8 of His Middle

“Hmm.” Sawyer’s brow creased. “Okay. Let’s address your concerns. Why do you find it surprising that your father would leave his business to his only child?”

Noah arched his eyebrows. “Oh. Well, I guess when you put it that way…” He frowned. “But still, wouldn’t he realize I’d eventually run the place into the ground?”

“No. I think he figured that Jonathan would’ve continued in his role as manager, while you signed the paychecks, handled the finances and basically, behaved as an owner.” Sawyer crossed his arms. “You see, Noah, many businesses operate without the owner on the premises day in and day out. It’s depends on how the chain of command is set up and how tasks are delegated. I’m sure your father assumed you would be less hands-on than he was.” Sawyer lowered his head, pausing before raising it again. “I’m also sure he assumed he’d be around for many years to come and that what you’re struggling through right now would be a non-issue at that point.”

Noah hadn’t thought of things that way either. Ofcoursehis dad didn’t expect to go the way he did, let alonewhenhe did.

“You’re totally right. Man, I just wish Jonathan hadn’t been such a dick about the whole thing.”

Sawyer nodded. “Tell me about that situation. Why did Jonathan leave?”

Noah rolled his eyes. “Oh my God. He had a complete meltdown when he found out I inherited the club. He was ranting and raving, shouting that I was going to ruin everything and that he should’ve gotten the club. He said my dad had promised it would be his someday, and that I should sign it over. He offered me a ten percent cut if I would, said I’d have that income, wouldn’t have to do anything all day but make my stupid T-shirts and pet my llama.”

Sawyer coughed into his fist. “Llama?”

“Yeah. I have a llama that I board in Nicasio. I sometimes take him when I go camping. Bob carries all the gear, plus he’s super cute and fluffy.” Noah gave Sawyer a sheepish smile. “Llamas are my favorite animal.”

Sawyer rubbed his forehead with thumb and forefinger. “Okay. A real live llama.” He straightened and cleared his throat. “That’s actually very sweet. I’m glad to hear you still enjoy the outdoors. However, Jonathan is full of shit. I know for a fact your father never promised him the club. I bet that snake thought he could intimidate you into signing over your birthright.”

Sawyer shook his head. “I was never a big fan of his, but your father insisted he was a great manager and that he needed him. However, I always sensed there was something off about the guy.”

Noah nodded. “Yeah, I stayed out of his way when Dad was alive.” Noah drew his eyebrows together. “So…you think he was trying to trick me? It was stupid, really. I totally would’ve kept him on since I clearly have no clue how to run this club. It seems like he fucked himself over by freaking out.”

Sawyer massaged his chin, and more than once since he’d arrived, Noah tried to force himself to stop staring at how handsome Sawyer was, how masculine. How he filled out the form-fitting, long-sleeve stretch T-shirt, the royal blue of the fabric highlighting the bright blue of Sawyer’s eyes. Noah’s gaze landed on Sawyer’s long, graceful fingers as they moved over Sawyer’s chin. He licked his lips. What would they feel like wrapped around his—?

“Noah? Did you hear me?”

Noah jumped in his seat, choking on his spit as he tried to gather his thoughts. “Oh, uh sorry. I sort of drifted there.” Heat flushed his skin. “You know, not getting enough sleep and all that.”

Sawyer narrowed his gaze as if he could see right into Noah’s brain and spot the naked truth. The deep, dark secret that Noah had hidden not only from him, but his dad. The secret where Noah would give anything if Sawyer would claim him as his boy. But for all he knew, Sawyer wasn’t attracted to him in the slightest, and maybe he already had a boy waiting for him at home. He still knew very little of his dad’s best friend’s private world.

“Well,” Sawyer said. “That’s one of the first things we need to address, your lack of rest. That’s not healthy.” He crossed his arms again. “Regarding Jonathan, who knows what was going through his addled brain. It could certainly be that his pride was hurt so much over the situation that the paycheck was secondary. Plenty of people allow their egos to overrule their common sense.”

Like before, Noah hadn’t thought of the situation that way. Sawyer was already making things better in the mere few minutes since he’d arrived.

“That’s true. He was kind of an idiot.”

Sawyer chuckled. “That’s the spirit. But let’s move on from him. He’s a non-issue anymore, so let’s focus on what needs to be done.”

Noah grinned. “Cool. Where do we start?”

“We start with me finding a place to stay. I was going to look into an Airbnb outside of the city, so I don’t have to pony up for a pricey hotel.”

Noah cleared his throat. “Oh. Uh, actually, I sort of assumed you’d be staying at Dad—I mean, my place. It’s huge and empty.” Noah sighed. “Really, really empty.”

Sawyer lowered his head, shifting on the desk. His jaw ticked as he stared at the floor. After a few moments, he lifted his gaze.

“I wouldn’t want to put you out.”

Noah snorted. “Hardly. I could have a small village living there and probably wouldn’t notice.” He swallowed hard. “I was thinking I should sell the place. I…I don’t know. It seems silly to have such a huge house living all alone, but at the same time, Dad loved it so much that it feels like a betrayal to let it go.” He shook his head. “I have no idea what to do.”

Sawyer placed a hand on Noah’s shoulder. “Nothing right now. It’s too soon after everything and it’s best to tackle one thing at a time. What needs to be handled first is the club.”

Noah was back to stuffing down his emotions. “Yeah, okay.” He locked eyes with Sawyer. “But I was serious about you staying there.”Even if I’m asking for trouble. “It’s only fair since you dropped everything to come help me. I can’t expect you to pay to stay somewhere when I have plenty of room.”

Sawyer’s jaw twitched away as he regarded Noah, his intense gaze masking whatever jumble of issues he might be analyzing.

“What about your Daddy? Wouldn’t he have a problem with another Daddy living under the same roof as you? If you were mine, I’d certainly disapprove.”

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