13
Jack
Can’t. Eli’s putting me right to work. Raincheck?
Slade couldn’t have known how his reply to my invitation to get together affected me. From the little I knew about him—and, logically, I knew we were still practically strangers—he wouldn’t believe me if I told him that was the perfect response. He’d tapped the brakes while I was going full throttle. Until I could explain why I was so drawn to him, I needed to be careful to keep from overwhelming him.
I pocketed my phone and stood, needing to touch base with Sam before we opened for the night. I found him at the bar, hunched over a stack of papers. After grabbing each of us a bottle of water, I slid onto the stool next to his, watching him scribble notes, referring back to his original class project. “You know I don’t expect perfection before Monday, right?”
He startled, as if he hadn’t realized I was there, quickly shuffling the papers into a neat stack and turning them over. “Sorry, I know I should be finishing the inventory and processing a few membership applications, but I had an idea and wanted to get it written down before I forgot.”
I placed a hand on Sam’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Sam. Relax. I’m not upset. On the contrary, I love seeing you so passionate about this project. Now, show me what you’ve been working on.”
We spent the next hour going over the progress he’d made so far. It was hard to believe he’d only told me about his ideas yesterday. It seemed as if an entire lifetime had passed in twenty-four hours. His plans were solid, and his proposed budget was realistic, yet conservative.
An alarm played on Sam’s phone, and he started packing away his drawings and lists. It was odd not to be the one calling the shots for a change, but his determination to not let the new project distract him from his duties at The Lodge was admirable.
I envied Sam as I watched him stuff everything into his messenger bag, then bound off for his own small office down the hall from mine. How many years had it been since I felt that sort of excitement and anticipation about anything?
“Too damn many,” I muttered to myself.
As if to emphasize the years I’d spent drifting through life on autopilot, my knees creaked in protest as I pushed off the stool. There had to be work I should be attending to in the office,
but there wasn’t. There rarely was anymore. I spent my nights flipping from one program to the next in my computer, scanning the week’s invoices, and just trying to appear busy in general to affirm my need to be in the building, ready for the next crisis.
“Fancy meeting you here.” I barely had time to register the low rumbling voice before I felt a broad hand clamp down on my shoulder. “I was starting to think you were like the Wizard of Oz or some shit.”
“I’m not that bad,” I protested.
“Actually, you are,” William argued. “It’s been months since you sat in on any of the education events. The only time we catch a glimpse to know you’re still alive is if you’re sneaking to the bathroom. We barely see you anymore.”
“I’m here every night,” I told him.
“Of course, you are,” William agreed. I stared at him as he walked around the end of the bar and poured himself a drink. What was he doing here this early? The doors weren’t even open to the public yet. “You practically live here, Jack.” He swiped my, now lukewarm, bottled water off the bar and replaced it with a cold one. “But you sit back in that cage of yours, safely away from anyone who may want to get close to you.”
“Are you seriously criticizing me for setting boundaries?” I scoffed. “You know how fast shit can go wrong if you blur those lines.”
The moment I saw William flinch, I regretted my words. The two of us both took our work seriously, but for years, William had much more dire consequences than I could have dreamed of if he’d pursued any sort of relationship. And yet, William found ways to get what he needed.
So do you, a little voice, that sounded suspiciously like Slade’s, mocked me.You just took your sweet time about it.
“True enough, but you’re never going to move on if you keep hiding from the rest of the world.” William slid onto the seat I’d just vacated, pulling out another with his foot, urging me to sit.
“Who says I’m hiding?” I crossed my arms tightly over my chest and flashed him a smug grin. “For all you know, I might be spending all my time in the office because I have a pretty little boy on his knees under my desk, waiting to take care of me.”
William let out a bark of laughter.
“What? It could happen.”
“It could,” William agreed. “But we both know that’s not the case. You’re not the type to keep secrets. When you have a new toy, you like to show him off—maybe even let your friends play with him, just so they know what you’ve got that they don’t.”
I sneered, a low growl escaping my lips. William wasn’t lying, but there was something different about Slade. I didn’t want to let him play with anyone else. As long as he was mine, I didn’t have to worry about him realizing how much better off he would be with someone younger. Someone who wasn’t a workaholic and could pay him the attention he deserved.
“Holy shit!” William’s eyes grew wide. “There really is someone, isn’t there?”
He stood, and I pulled him back to the stool before he could march into my office to see someone who wasn’t there.
“I’m not sure I’d go that far,” I argued. My stomach churned at the truth of those words. It was just a couple hours ago that I had been stunned over how much my life had changed in the past few days. No, I wasn’t going to rush into things and declare myself off the market. Not that I had been on the market before meeting Slade, but whatever.
