Page 110 of Daily Grind
He should go for a ride tonight. Would do him some good and maybe clear his head. If only he could entice Brian out, too. Rob sighed, sipped his tea, and contemplated switching back to the office coffee.
He hadn’t been to Grounds N’at for more than two weeks—not to drink coffee ortalkwith Brian. He’d picked Brian up a few times and they’d fucked and slept and murmured a half-dozen words between them, but that had been it.
Not enough—not for his soul, not for a relationship. That fucking shop was eating the life out of Brian, slowly but surely. Any attempt he’d made to talk about the issues had been met with snappish disdain.
While Rob knew the aggravation of being second-guessed, at some point Brian needed to grow the hell up, realize he needed help, and not treat every overture of support as if Rob were trying to school him in business.
Anger didn’t become Brian, at all.
Worst of all, hemissedthe man he was supposedly dating. Ached for the laughing Brian, who talked photography and biked, and even watched old movies with him. Rob hadn’t seenthatBrian since their Saturday together over Memorial Day weekend.
Hell, even Brian’s mum had called Rob, asking after her son. Apparently, he’d missed their family dinner due to work. Talk aboutawkwardconversations. He didn’t want to dump on Brian’s family about Brian.
“I know they’re understaffed,” he’d murmured back. “And he’s been working nonstop since Miranda’s grandmother came home.”
“I thought he’d hired a few people?”
So had he. “I guess they’re not trained up yet? I don’t know.” Brian still hadn’t given any of his newer employees a key or the code to the store.
Silence for a bit on the other end. “It’ll get better,” she said.
He nearly laughed, but it would’ve come out dark and bitter. Brian kept saying that too, and so far it had only gotten worse. “I hope so.”
They’d ended the conversation after a short discussion about his garden and when Rob had hung up, the hole in his heart had only ripped open wider.
He couldn’t keep doing this. He’d told Brian he’d hold on—but he’d also told him from the beginning that he wanted to be more than a cock.
All he was right now was someone for Brian to fuck or be fucked by. Stress relief. A way to get off.
Rob finished his tea and crumpled the paper cup in his hand. Something had to change. They had to talk, work this out.
For the hell of it, he made one of the office coffees and lugged that back to his desk. Bitter as all hell. No cream. Fit his mood perfectly.
He pulled out his cell phone and chanced a text to Brian.
Hey, thinking about you. Don’t suppose you have any time off coming up?
No reply—which meant Brian was probably busy. He slid the phone on his desk and pulled up his e-mail and calendar.
A nudge on a request from one of their larger customers, Agella, for an in-person meeting, which meant flying to California. He’d put off scheduling it, mostly because he and Brian had talked about some long-distance biking over the summer.
He snorted and glanced at his phone. Summer was here. Rob rubbed the scar on his wrist and swallowed against the sudden pain in his throat.
Dreams upon dreams. He couldn’t hold up his business for Brian, not when he was merely an afterthought nowadays. He shot an e-mail back, more or less stating he was free whenever they were. He wouldn’t—couldn’t—let his life revolve around Brian anymore.
He loved Brian, but he’d been an idiot for love and sex before. CirroBot deserved better from him. Time to get serious about both parts of his life.
He sat forward and sorted through his e-mails. His contact at Agella sent back a set of possible dates. Rob chose mid-July—a month from now—to fly out for a weeklong meeting. He sent the details to Mallory to finalize and plan.
A month gave him enough time to figure out what the hell was going to happen with him and Brian and—
His phone buzzed.
Hey, sorry. We’ve been slammed. Lots of kids now that school’s out.
Brian should hire some of them, but Rob wasn’t even going to suggest it, lest he get his head bitten off.
No full days, but Mark is closing tomorrow and Saturday.
