Page 128 of Daily Grind
Despite the suit and the warmth of the day, Rob wasn’t winded at all. They hauled their bikes into the house. Once stowed, Rob tore off his jacket and tossed it onto a chair. His tie followed. “Would you like some coffee?”
“Love some.” That deep lack-of-caffeine headache was creeping through his skull. Might explain his inability to keep it together. “I don’t suppose you have an espresso maker hidden somewhere?”
Rob chuckled. “Still only the drip maker and the French press. Pick your poison.” He headed toward the kitchen, rolling up his shirtsleeves as he went.
Brian followed. “You joining me in drinking?”
“Yeah. I need something better than the stuff we have at work.” Rob dug a bag of coffee beans out of his cabinet and handed it over. “Hope this will do.”
Not from Grounds N’at, but from a good local roaster. Single origin. Expensive stuff. “More than.” He headed over to the grinder. In the few steps he took, it occurred to him how fast he and Rob had fallen back into their normal routine. They fit soperfectly. He put the beans down and pressed his hands against the edge of the counter. “We—we need to talk.”
“I know.” Weight and a touch of heat in Rob’s voice. “Believe me, Iknow.”
Of course he did. After all, they were in his house during the day on aThursdaywhen they both should have been working.
Brian opened the beans and poured some into the grinder, eyeballing it. After all these years, he knew exactly how much coffee he’d need for a pot for two. “Drip maker. I could drink an entire press’s worth of coffee myself.”
A grunt. Rob rooted around in a cabinet above the machine and pulled out a pack of paper filters. Unbleached, thank goodness. Brian ran the grinder while Rob filled the carafe with water. “Ten cups?”
“Reading my mind.”
A hollow laugh. “If only…” Soft words.
Yeah, that might have helped them both. He wasn’t bad with communication, just with talking about the stuff he… didn’t want to talk about.
Okay, so he was shit with communication.
Fuck. Tears returned to ring his eyes and he blinked them away. Together they finished setting up the coffee and started it brewing.
Rob gestured to the back porch. “It’s nice out. And private enough.”
Outside, they settled onto Rob’s chaise lounge.
Brian stared out at the garden his father had planted for Rob. Time to start working on the whole communication thing. “Truth is, you were right. The shop is falling apart.”
Rob nodded, his face tinged with sadness.
“And I was a complete ass to you because I didn’t want to see that.” Brian dug his fingers into the cloth beneath his thighs, his chest aching. “I shouldn’t have been snide. I shouldn’t have thrown all my paperwork at you. And I certainly shouldn’t have…”
He swallowed and met Rob’s stare. The pain from the lump in his stomach—the one he’d had for days—was unbearable. “I shouldn’t have broken up with you.”
“Not likethat, anyway.” Amazing how soft Rob’s words could sound while still cutting harder than diamond.
“Not at all,” Brian said.
Rob gazed away, his hands twisting in his lap and his jawline so very hard. “Took you quite a while to realize that.”
Not even an inch, Rob?“Yes… and no.”
When Rob looked over, there was pain there. “I was trying tohelp, Bri. Because I fucking care. And you kicked me in the teeth for it.”
Couldn’t help the flinch. Wouldn’t deny what Rob said.
A moment later, Rob softened. “I mean, I could have been kinder, too. But it’s been damned hard watching you drive yourself to exhaustion. You have no time foryou, let alone me. That’s no way to live.”
He nodded. This conversation he knew well. Same one he’d had with his parents. And Len. And Zoe. “I know. Well,nowI know.”
Rob furrowed his brows. “Now?”
