Page 72 of Blackmail
A throat clears behind us. I turn to find a burly man in flannel staring back. “Glad to see you made it, Simon. I’m gonna need to ask you guys to move on, though. A homeless person hanging around the store might make the customers uneasy.”
“He’s not homeless.” Simon bristles.
The man raises an eyebrow. “Sure looks it, though.”
“Right. Fine.” Simon turns to shake the big man’s hand. “Thank you for getting in touch.”
The man nods and turns to head back inside.
Simon turns to me. “Thank you for the ride. I’ve got it from here.”
“It’s not much farther into town. I can take you.”
“Like you said, it’s not much farther into town. I can order a car.” He pulls out his phone and studiously ignores me while he does so.
The night we met I saw his profile and thought he was attractive. Now, he’s devastating. The side of his face is a punch in the stomach. He owes me two more days, but I won’t humiliate myself by begging.
I’ve been dismissed. So I get in the car and go home.
Chapter
Twenty-Five
SIMON
“So, I don’t get it.” Gabe lays a sheet out on my ancient sofa. The one I rescued from the curb after I found this apartment. “Is that guy your boyfriend or not?”
“Very much not,” I tell him from the kitchen. More like a kitchen nook, with just enough room for a two-burner stove, a fridge, and a small dishwasher. Enough room for me to make my hungry brother some pasta, which I’m doing now, while I wait for Brennan to answer the text I sent him a few minutes ago.
Simon: You got any work for me?
After Sebastian left us at the Grub N Grow, he texted me to tell me he was releasing me from the rest of my obligation to him.
It’s a relief, right? It fucking should be. My debt to Brennan is a few grand from being cleared and my savings are in decent shape. My sick leave is maxed out from having the flu, but I can cash in a couple of unused vacation days from work and spend time with Gabe while I finish studying for my nursing certification and look for jobs. We can be out of town in a few months, maybe less. I’m optimistic about my chances, since a lot of places elsewhere around the country are facing a staffing shortage.
Then why the fuck do I feel like shit?
Gabe clears his throat. “You said guys pay you to spend time with them. He was one of those guys?”
“To spend time with them, to have sex with them. Yes, Sebastian was one of those guys.”
Am I throwing my sheltered baby brother into the deep end with this information? Yes. I got thrown into the deep end too, and I didn’t even have any floaties to keep me from drowning or smashing my head on the bottom of the pool. The sooner he understands how the world outside the farm works, the better.
Gabe scrunches his nose. “You don’t ever date these guys for real?”
“Nope. That doesn’t happen.”
“You sure? Because he seemed like he liked you. He brought you to see me. He wanted to drive us home. Didn’t seem like an obligation.”
“He didn’t… No. He needed my help with something.” He told me he didn’t want my help with Tony. I keep telling myself he didn’t mean it. “I happened to be with him when I got the message about you. I don’t mean anything to these guys besides what I can do for them, Gabe. I’m basically like a rental car.”
My brother probably isn’t familiar with the idea of a rental car, but he’s smart enough to catch my meaning.
Never mind that if Sebastian had asked me for more, I’m not sure I would’ve had it in me to say no again.
“It’s just…”
I turn to my brother, thrumming with a tension I don’t want to examine. “Just what?”
