“Oh yeah. Ari mentioned she was on a date. When I asked Liv about it afterward, she said she thought Ari was exaggerating. Something about you wanting to punch the guy?” Mason adds.
I groan, wishing my adorable niece didn’t have such great ears.
“I mumbled under my breath that I could punch the guy in the face for the way he was looking at her. I didn’t like it. I didn’t know Ari caught it,” I admit.
The guys all burst out laughing.
“You’ve got it bad, my friend. The question is, why are you letting her date other people? It is obvious it should be you,” Brantley says, slapping my shoulder.
“It’s not that easy,” I grumble.
“Sure it is. You have already wasted ten years, bro. Are you going to let some other guy run away with her?” Mason asks.
Truth is, I think I am. Mason would never get it. He has always had it easy. Speaking to people never bothered him. He never had to talk to girls because they would come to him.
That is, until he met Olivia. She gives him a run for his money now, but even then, life seems to have settled quite well for him.
Me? I am crippled by these mental obstacles that I know are all made up by my own mind. He would never understand how hard it is to live life when you feel like your own brain is battling against you most days.
Sure, I make it look easy dealing with this shit, but it’s not.
The thought of losing Iris in any way petrifies me. Even making a move makes my heart feel like it is lodged in my throat.
I feel like I am stuck. I can’t move. There is no way out for me.
I take a swig of my beer before I answer him. “I want her to be happy. If that is with someone else, then I will stand next to her as her man of honor or whatever and watch the lucky bastard get to marry her.”
They all shake their heads, but it’s Eli that speaks up. “You can’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”
“We are at a hockey game. Not baseball,” I tease him, trying to get the attention off of me.
It doesn’t work. It never does with these guys. They are as bad as the girls gossiping over near the window.
“Max…” Mason starts.
I shake my head. “I don’t want to talk about it. I know you guys are trying to help, but not everything works out the way it should. Can we leave it at that?”
Mason nods. “Yeah. We can. When you are ready to talk, though, we are one number away. I don’t want you using The Williamson Group as an excuse either. We can make changes and find a way.”
“Actually, I was thinking about that. What do you think about seeing if maybe we can move our home base close to, well, home,” I tell him.
He thinks it over. “What would we do with the employees? We can’t move bases and leave most of them without jobs.”
I shake my head. “We still keep our offices there.”
My heart is racing in my chest. This is my brother, but still, the idea of having to speak up is starting to weigh on me. I glance over at Iris and find her looking back at me. A little of the pressure eases as I wink at her before giving the guys my attention once more.
“It could work,” Eli says. “Most of the reports and such are monthly. They could email them in for review, and then one of us could fly out once a month to meet in person. Those who are willing to relocate could come, but those who want to stay, could. Hell, even some of the jobs that don’t need to be done in person could become remote.”
“Wait, what do you mean, ‘one of us’?” I ask, frowning.
“Brother, we are a team. It means you don’t always have to do the flying. We could pitch in. Well, me and Eli. Brantley here would fuck everything up,” Mason jokes.
“Fuck you. Sorry I’m not some corporate snob like you.”
I snort. “You run a hockey team as the owner. You are as corporate as we are, buddy. Hate to break it to you.”
“Fuck you too, man.” He shakes his head.
