Page 21 of The Seascape Between Us

“All right, hold on.” He turned to the younger man serving drinks at the end of the bar. “Are you okay on your own for a few minutes while I talk to Daniel?”

Jett looked up from the drink he was pouring, smiled and nodded at me. I offered him a wave in return.

“I’m good. I can get Damien to help if I get overwhelmed.”

Brody came out from behind the bar, and I trailed him back to his office.

“How’s that going?” I nodded at Jett working behind the bar.

“Good, actually. Customers love him, and he’s picked up bartending like a pro.”

“Is he still thinking about working as a private investigator?”

He nodded and sank into the chair behind his desk. “He starts a course this fall.”

I dropped into a chair opposite him. “Are you okay about that?”

“If he’s happy, then I’m happy,” Brody said, but I wasn’t convinced. I knew how close he’d come to losing Jett just a few months ago and how terrifying it had been for him, especially after losing Ryan seven years ago. Before I could ask him more, he said, “Things are good with me and Jett.Reallygood.”

“I’m happy for you.” And I meant it. Sometimes it was strange seeing Brody with someone who wasn't Ryan, but Brody was happier with Jett than I had seen him in years, and I knew Ryan would want that for him.

“But we’re here to talk about you,” Brody prompted.

“Right.” I drew a deep breath and then told Brody everything going on with me and Grey, going back all the way to when we first started dating seventeen years ago. I wasn’t sure how much Ryan had told him before he’d passed away.

“He sounds like a jerk,” Brody’s expression considerably darker from when we’d first sat down. “I don’t know why you’re having anything to do with him at all.”

Me either, to be perfectly honest. Especially knowing how tenuous things were between us, and we still had to get the hotel up and running and making money. “Given our history, it was pretty stupid to mess around with him now that we’re essentially business partners.”

“So why did you?” He leaned back in his chair. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not asking because I’m judging, but you’re one of the most rational-thinking people I know. While I understand getting caught up in the moment, there is still that point when you say yes and let go. Why did you let go?”

“Because I wanted him,” I admitted.

Brody nodded thoughtfully. “He doesn’t sound like the kind of guy you date seriously.”

“He’s not.”

“So, are you willing to just take this as a onetime thing?”

“Yeah, I guess. I mean, I don’t know if Grey would even want to do anything with me again.”

Brody snorted. “He will if he has eyes.”

I shot him a wry smirk. “He had eyes when he dumped my ass seventeen years ago.”

“Are you here because you want me to talk you out of doing anything else with this guy, to tell you to stay away from him and that you’re making a huge mistake, or that it’s okay?”

“Oh, I’m sure I am making a mistake, huge or otherwise,” I said. “I don’t need you to convince me of that.”

“I guess then, you’re looking for me to tell you it’s okay.”

My mouth opened to tell him I wasn’t, but he pressed on.

“And itisokay if all you’re looking for is exactly what you did—no-strings sex that’s completely separate from whatever it is you guys are doing with the hotel. But you have to be able to accept that’s all it will ever be. If you’re fucking him because you think you can make him into the guy you thought he was seventeen years ago, it’s not going to happen, and you’re setting yourself up to get hurt.”

I sighed and nodded slowly, considering his words. “You’re right.”

“The thing is, Daniel. I’m not sure this guy, with the history you have with him, is someone youcanjust fuck and walk away from. I’m not sure you’re built that way.”

---