Page 20 of Turning Tides
“Dude. Are you okay?” The concern in his voice made me feel a little bad. He was supposed to be traveling and having fun doing his own thing. Not worrying about me because I was a mopey asshole.
“I’m good. I promise. I just got up, that’s all.”
“It’s afternoon.”
“You morning people make me sick. Remind me why I asked you to come home for a visit?”
“Because I’m the best one.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
“You were the prototype. Kieran was the failed attempt at perfection. I am perfection.”
Airport noises filled the background of the call. Announcements about boarding. The murmur of other people talking as Brodie passed them on the way to his destination.
“That’s not how that works.”
“I have to go, Shane. I’m at my gate and my flight is boarding.”
“Cutting it close as always.”
“I live on life on the edge, what can I say?”
“Come home. At least think about it. I won’t tell Mom I called. If you come, it can be a surprise.”
“I’ll think about it. I have to go.” The call ended abruptly, but I didn’t mind. I was shocked he’d picked up at all.
After seeing that Archer hadn’t texted, I sent him one asking if he needed a hand with the move. I had a couple hours to kill and if I didn’t occupy myself, I’d just end up at The Anchor anyway.
My phone pinged with a reply from Archer.
Cyrus and Marshall got me covered, but thanks.
He sent a happy face emoji after the text and my phone went silent. I shouldn’t have been so disappointed, but I couldn’t help it. I’d hoped he needed my help. It would’ve been a good excuse to see him.
It was probably for the best that I didn’t. I wanted him too much.
Chapter 10
Archer
The couch that camewith the apartment was sinfully comfortable. And speaking of sin, the things I did to Shane on it whirled through my head. The only thing that stopped me from popping a boner was the presence of my brother, scowling as usual. Sometimes I swore he wasn’t happy unless he was unhappy.
Flinging my arm over my eyes, I let out a sigh. “Thanks for helping on such short notice.”
My life’s possessions had been packed away in a storage unit and I was living out of a single suitcase in Cyrus’s cramped house. I was a long way from getting my shop up and going, but everything had been carted up the stairs and stacked in the living room.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Cyrus pushed my feet off the couch and sat down where they’d been.
“Why would it be a bad idea? You like Shane. You’re always on about what a good guy he is. You have some sort of hero worship going on for the guy.” The notion that Cyrus might have a secret thing for his boss, even though he was married, entered my mind. But I quickly brushed it away as unimportant regardless of whether or not it was true. Cyrus was ridiculously in love with his husband, so whatever he may or may not feel for Shane didn’t matter.
“I don’t want things to get awkward if this business venture goes south again.”
Slowly, I uncovered my face and looked at him. “Are you serious right now? Clayton is the only reason my shop failed. We were doing good. If we weren’t, there wouldn’t have been anything for him to steal from me.”
Every time I had to talk about him, it was like rubbing salt in an open wound. I wanted nothing more than to pretend he never existed. I’d cut all ties with him, personally and financially. I’d blocked him on all my social media accounts and changed my phone number. I’d have happily pretended he was never born, but some wounds took longer to heal.
“But you never pressed charges. You rolled over and let him fuck off with your money.”
