Page 84 of My Three Hometown Hard Hats
Me:I miss you, too. All of you.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Conrad
Brooks slamsthe tailgate closed with all the wood that we need to take out to the site loaded into the back. He leans against the truck, facing me.
“What the hell is going on with Austin this week?”
I’ve been wondering the same damn thing since last weekend. Everything at the gala was great. Everything that night was hot as fuck.
We all didn’t know how this was going to go, but it was just working. When I’ve asked him if he was having a hard time with sharing her, he assured me that it wasn’t that at all.
He wouldn’t elaborate on what was bothering him, though.
I lace my fingers behind my head. “I have no idea. But something’s off.”
“He’s barely texting in the group chat, and he doesn’t talk about her at all,” he says.
My hands fall back down to my sides. “I think Hadley’s picking up on it, too.”
“She is,” he says, kicking at some of the dirt on the warehouse floor. “When I stopped to see her yesterday for a few minutes, she looked like she was trying not to cry the whole time.”
I want to punch Austin in the face for doing anything that could hurt Hadley, but I also understand. This type of relationship doesn’t work for everyone, and I would never force Austin to continue this if it wasn’t working for him.
“We need to talk to him,” I say, tilting my head back to stare up at the lofted ceiling like it might give me the answers I need.
“Speaking of the devil,” Brooks says, pointing to the parking lot as the sound of gravel crunching under tires meets my ears.
Without another word, Brooks walks over to the door Austin will be walking through any minute.I guess we’re doing this now.
“Oh, shit,” Austin says, seeing us both standing there as he walks in the door.
Brooks’ arms are crossed over his chest. “Talk, Austin.”
Austin looks like he’s going to say something, but clamps his mouth shut.
“Because if you don’t, I’m pretty sure we’re going to lose the best thing to ever happen to any of us—besides Evelyn,” my brother says in the most serious tone I’ve heard him use in years.
Austin’s shoulders sag in defeat. “I’m pretty sure we’re losing her anyway,” he says, looking down at his feet.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“She wants to open her own photography business.” His eyes dart up to us. “Which is amazing. I want that for her. I really do.”
He swallows like he doesn’t want to say the next part out loud, making it that much more real.
“This isn’t where she’s going to do that, though. She’s going to go follow her dreams in some city where she can have a fancy studio and so many people who will love her work.”
“She never said that,” Brooks half-growls. His anger is being restrained by a thread.
Austin shrugs. “She didn’t need to.”
“Yeah, she did,” Brooks says, taking a small step in Austin’s direction. “She trusted us when we all agreed to start this relationship. We owe her the same level of respect.”
Austin swallows but doesn’t respond.
“Hadley isn’t your shitty ex. She doesn’t have dreams of getting out of this town and going somewhere else. She lived in New York City, yet she moved back here. She’s happy here,” Brooks continues.
