“It is. It can be.”
Andy didn’t move, except to wipe his palms down the front of his jeans. The scrape of skin against denim was grating to Leonidas’s ears, and he closed his eyes, looking down at the floor.
“How long would you have me kneel for you?” he whispered.
Andy reached forward and threaded his fingers through Leonidas’s hair, then he answered, “Just for a moment.”
Leonidas whimpered, and Andy released him, stepping back and breaking the touch.
“A list.”
Leonidas swallowed. “You should know I’m checking out this afternoon.”
“I assumed,” Andy said. “With the talk of the cabin and everything.”
“So, you know where to find me, then.” His voice didn’t sound like his own. “When it’s time for our date.”
23
Andy
“Can we talk?”Andy stuck his head around the corner of the office. The door was cracked, and Brad sat behind the desk, glaring at some paperwork like it had personally offended their mother.
“As long as it’s not about the declining trend of summer tourists, yes.” Brad pushed the stack of papers away, then slammed the pencil cup down on top of them for good measure.
“Is business bad?” Andy sat in one of the small chairs on the opposite side of the desk.
“Compared to ten years ago, yeah.” Brad shrugged. “Charlie said he was going to talk to Rene about it. See if there was anything that could be done from a wider perspective to drum up more traffic to the town.”
“Well, speaking of the town.” Andy fidgeted a bit. “I need a good date idea.”
“I’m not your guy.” Brad leaned back and laughed. “You should ask Theo. He’s lived here his whole life.”
“I don’t want to talk to Theo.”
“I know,” Brad sighed. “And that’s the problem.”
“You can love him all you want, but I don’t need to like him.”
Andy had tried to like him. But Theo was a mental roadblock Andy struggled to somersault over.
“I appreciate the concern, Andy. I promise I really do, but it’s misplaced. I have a therapist, I’m good with where I’m at, okay?”
“You cried in my lap.” Andy pointed wildly toward the lobby. “I remember what happened.”
“You don’t, though,” Brad snapped, then he worked his jaw side to side and blew out a breath. “You don’t remember what happened because you weren’t there. I was. What happened out there was me feeling safe enough to tell you about it, and when you act this way… you make me wish I hadn’t.”
“Brad.”
“No.” Brad held up a hand, and Andy reeled back. “You don’t need to tell me how you think I should process my own trauma. This is my life, Andy, and I’m living it. For the first time in a really long time, I’m living my life. Okay?”
“Alright,” he agreed.
His brother was right, and he knew it. He had no place to tell Brad how he should feel or what he should want, and of all the people he might end up alienating in Cherry Creek, he didn’t want it to be any of his brothers. Even if he wasn’t okay with Theo in this moment, he would need to figure out how to get there.
He looked up and found Brad staring at him, doubt etched across his face.
“I said alright,” he repeated. “You’re not wrong. I’m sorry.”
