“You know what I mean, smartass. Why are youhere? In my town.”
“I wasn’t aware this was your town, Jaybird, or that I needed my baby brother’s permission,” Finch replied, sounding amused.
King cleared his throat. “Why don’t we all take a break?” He motioned for the rest of the guys to follow him. Everyone except Ryden quickly followed.
Ryden stood, his gaze going from Jay to Finch and back. He was unsure what to do, and Jay was touched that he’d stayed behind to support him.
“I’ll be okay,” Jay promised. He stood, rounded his shoulders, and narrowed his eyes at Finch. “I need a minute alone with my brother.”
Ryden nodded. He glanced at Finch, whowinkedat him.Winked.
Are you kidding me?
“Sure.” Ryden squeezed Jay’s shoulder. “I’ll be outside if you need me.” Then he disappeared, closing the door to the conference room behind him. Jay pretended he didn’t see Finch following Ryden’s every move with his eyes or the fact that he had blatantly zoned in on Ryden’s ass.
“Why are you here?” Jay repeated, getting right to it. The sooner they got this over with, the sooner his brother could go on his merry way, and they could pretend they weren’t living in the same city. Had his brother planned on calling him? Clearly not, since he’d already been around who knew how long and hadn’t reached out. Then again, would Jay have answered?
“I’m working in private security.”
Private security? Everything fell into place. “That’s why you’re in St. Augustine and agreed to help. You want a job. More importantly, you wantmeto get you a job.”
Finch snorted. “Jaybird, I don’t need you to get me anything.”
“Is that why you’ve been calling me?” Jay demanded, planting his hands on his hips. “So I could hook you up?” It made sense that his brother would go into private security once he’d completed his service, and knowing his brother as well as he did, Finch would want to work with the best. After all this time of not talking to him, he showed up because he wanted something from Jay? The fucking nerve.
“No, it’s not why I’ve been calling you. Thanks, by the way, for ignoring my calls.” Finch pushed away from the wall and folded his ridiculously muscled arms over his chest. Somehow, he’d gotten even bigger than Jay remembered. Probably to fit all that ego. Or hot air. Both. Definitely both.
“What were you expecting?” Jay asked. “A happy reunion?”
Finch narrowed his gaze, but Jay was immune to that icy stare. It might have intimidated him as a kid, but things werevery different now. “I was expecting my brother to at least pick up the damn phone.”
“Really? After what you did?”
“After whatIdid?”
What the hell was his brother so damned surprised about? He was the one who’d been an asshole to Jay. “Well, it wasn’t anythingIdid.”
Finch scoffed. “Of course not. Because the Darling Starling can do no wrong.”
“Ugh, gross. Don’t call me that,” Jay grumbled. “You know how much I hate it.” Which was why Finch did it. Their parents’ high-society friends used to call him that when he was little. “Mom and Dad went along with that stupid name, not thinking about the pressure it put on me.”
“Oh, poor you.” Finch put a hand to his chest, his bottom lip jutted out. “It must have been so hard having everyone’s love and attention, doing whatever you pleased, knowing everyone would find it just so adorable.”
Jay gritted his teeth. “Go home.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Jaybird. I like your friends.” His grin suggested he more than liked Jay’s friends or, rather, one friend in particular.
“Since when are you into guys?” Jay motioned to Finch’s general person. “What is this? You’re not gay.”
“Really? I didn’t know there was a timeline. And since when is it gay or straight?” Finch snorted. “This from the guy who spent his teen years yelling at me not to put him in a box.”
Damn. He hated when Finch was right. Now Jay was even more pissed off, but Finch didn’t notice.
Finch shrugged. “I’ve been into menandwomen for years now, Jaybird. I came out as bi before I was discharged. You would have known that ifyou’d answered my damn calls.”
Jay’s head was about to explode. Finch was bisexual? Was that really why he’d been calling Jay? It didn’t matter. Being bi didn’t change the fact that Finch had been a dick to him for years. Instead of talking to Jay about it, Finch had decided to take his denial and frustration out on Jay.
This was too much. He needed time to process, preferably with a giant, delicious, iced coffee or, better yet, a ginormous glass of wine. Wine would be so much better. In the meantime, though, he had to make one thingveryclear to his brother. He jabbed a finger in Finch’s direction.
