I winced at the vulgar way he put it. “I’d say he’s fucking me but...” I shrugged again.
“How did this start?” Noah asked. “Does Brady know? Are you dating his dad? I need to know everything.”
I laughed that time. “We’re supposed to be working together on this project to help both of our businesses. One thing led to another and...he took me on a date tonight.” And I wanted it to happen again and again. The fact that Rhett was Brady’s dad, didn’t bother me so much. Not anymore. It was how Brady was going to feel about it, that bugged me. I didn’t know how he would react. I thought I knew him but there was an unwritten rule that clearly, I broke.
“How do you think Brady will react?” Presley asked, taking the question out of my head.
“I don’t know. How did you react when you found out your brother was sleeping with Noah?” I didn’t mean to put Noah on the spot like that, but I had to know I wasn’t alone.
“Uh...” Presley looked at Noah before glancing back at me.
Noah seemed to cower in his seat. I bet if he could, he would let the couch swallow him up or punch me in the face.
“I didn’t take it well,” Presley said softly. “But it wasn’t because Noah was...is sleeping with my brother. It’s because I don’t want him—” He jutted his chin in Noah’s direction. “—to get hurt. My brother is an ass and refuses to settle down.”
“I’m fine with what we’re doing,” Noah muttered but a sense of longing practically seeped from his pores. It didn’t need to be written on his face or for him to even voice those words. He wanted more with Nicky.
“Yeah.” Presley snorted, rolling his eyes. “Sure.”
“Okay, so you obviously got over it. How?” I tried to take the pressure off of Noah but clearly Presley was having none of it.
“I didn’t.” Presley stood from the couch and went to the kitchen.
“I’m sorry,” I told Noah.
“It’s fine. I made my bed.” He shrugged. “I don’t know what Nicky’s deal is, but I think he was hurt by someone or maybe he’s just bored. I don’t know. He won’t tell me. I even tried asking his dad.”
“Did that help?”
“Not really.” Noah paused. “I guess my only piece of advice is...do what you want and follow your heart, but you do have to tell Brady.”
“That’s not overly helpful,” I muttered.
“Well...” He shrugged. “I never said it was good advice.”
THIRTEEN
Shane
A couple days laterand I hadn’t heard from Rhett. Again. I even tried texting and calling him but never got an answer. This time, instead of waiting for him to reach out first, I decided that I would approach him instead.I was done with this shit. Either he wanted more out of this, or he wanted it to end. I didn’t want just sex. I also didn’t want to be used. I was too damn old for games.
I wasn’t sure what was going on with him.
My thoughts traveled back to the other night. Talking to Presley and Noah about my situation helped more than I thought it would. Even though no advice was really offered, it still helped me get my head on straight. I needed to talk to Rhett. I wanted to try and make this work. Every relationship struggled at times. It was normal. Life was fucking hard. But I liked Rhett. I liked the way he made me feel. I liked that he didn’t treat me as a kid or someone who was much younger than he was. Technically there was only sixteen years between us. That wasn’t completely uncommon.
As soon as I was less than a block from the bar, I saw Brady leave the building. My stomach flipped at the sight of him, only because I was about to approach his father over possibly building a relationship between us. I waited for that old feeling, that feeling where I longed for Brady and craved more, but when it never came, a sigh of relief left me.
Brady glanced my way, a smile widening on his face.
I waved, picking up the pace to meet my best friend.
When I took those final steps between us, I wrapped him in my arms.
He laughed, hugging me back.
“How are you?” He squeezed me one last time before leaning back.
“Not too bad. You?” It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him about his dad and me. But I didn’t. I wouldn’t do that without speaking to Rhett first. If nothing came of it, then I would leave it alone and our one and only night together would fade away into the distance,never to be thought of again.
