17
Dane
When I was a little boy, you taught me I could do anything I set my mind to. You led by example, making more of your life than anyone thought you could. I wish you were here to see that I’m still trying to follow in your footsteps. I hope you’d be proud of the man I’ve become. I wish you knew my family. Hell, I wish they knew you from more than the stories I’ve shared. -M
Despite the factI’d told Grady it was no problem for me to Uber home from the airport, my phone started pinging with messages the moment I turned it back on as we taxied to the gate. He was possibly the only man I knew more stubborn than me when he got a plan in his mind. In this case he was determined to pick me up and help pack my apartment. According to the messages, his car was already filled with empty boxes, packing tape, and padding for the breakables. I hoped he hadn’t bought all of that, because he undoubtedly went overboard. I didn’t own much, and a lot of that wouldn’t be making the trip south.
Just getting to the gate. Be out as soon as possible, I texted as I waited for the passengers in front of me to wrestle their bags into the aisle.
“Hey, man, you look good,” Grady welcomed me as I slid into the passenger seat a few minutes later.
“It’s amazing what a bit of fresh air and no work can do for you,” I said, knowing damn well he wouldn’t leave the topic alone.
“Not to mention having someone to share your bed with at night,” he teased. “At least now you can’t give me shit about Jen.”
“Sure I can. But I won’t, because Jen could kick my ass.” I needed to make sure I stayed on her good side. I owed that woman a lifetime of fancy dinners and spa days for everything she’d done to help me pull together the money to pay off my uncle’s debts.
“But you have to admit, it’s nice to know there’s someone waiting for you.”
Nicely terrifying was more like it. Yes, I looked forward to seeing Brook at the end of every day, but the pressure to bail out the inn weighed on my shoulders like an anvil. If my plan didn’t work, there was nothing else keeping me in North Carolina and the job prospects weren’t great in the area where he lived. I could ask him to move north with me, but even here I would soon be jobless without a place to crash. Not ideal circumstances for a new relationship, even for those who hadn’t spent their adult lives running from commitment.
I missed him. It hadn’t even been six hours since I kissed him on the forehead while he slept and snuck out of the room, and I already wished I was back there. Life was simpler when you didn’t have anything rooting you to anyone or anywhere.
“Things still going well on that front?” Grady asked as he pulled onto the freeway.
“Yep.” Given our history, it felt awkward talking to Grady about my relationship with Brook. Grady was the past, Brook was my present and, if I was lucky, my future.
“Dude, you’re so gone for this guy.”
I slugged his shoulder, calling him an asshole under my breath.
“That’s a good thing, Dane. I know you said you were happy on your own, but that’s a shitty way to live. I’m glad you’re not running this time.”
“I haven’t run in the past,” I argued. Ironically, right before Grady told me he was ending the benefits to our friendship, I’d been wishing he wasn’t such a commitment-phobe.
“Because you never let anyone hang around long enough to even think about tying you down.”
“Sure I have, but not very often. A little bit of light bondage can be a nice change of pace from time to time,” I taunted him, just because I knew it’d make him squirm. Grady might be living the all-American life with his wife, kid, dog, and the picket fence, but I knew there were times he missed his single life.
“I don’t need to hear about what you’re getting up to in the bedroom,” he groaned.
“Then quit prying into my relationship,” I shot back.Bad move, Montgomery.I realized my mistake as a shitty smirk broke out on my best friend’s face. “Fine. You win. Yes, it’s a relationship. Things are going well. Yes, I’m happy. No, I’m not planning to fuck things up this time. Does that about cover it?”
“Yep.”
The rest of the drive to my place, we talked about the nonprofit Grady had arranged to pick up most of my furniture. I’d load as much of the smaller stuff as possible into the back of my Tahoe, and the rest would sit in his garage until I figured out where I was going to settle down.
With nothing better to do, I spent those quiet minutes on the drive really looking at the town I called home. What struck me was the lack of attachment to anything here. There were no memories in the buildings we passed, no familiar faces walking down the sidewalk. No one would miss me once I packed up and left.
The life I’d carefully created for myself suddenly felt sad and lonely. I’d shut out as many people as possible, hadn’t gotten attached to the community where I lived because then it couldn’t be ripped away from me. But now, I’d had a glimpse of what it felt like to have a purpose in life, to have a person to share it with, and I wanted to get back home as soon as possible. The inn might not have been my dream, but it was my reality, and the future would be amazing as long as James agreed to let me buy him out.
I looked forward to the challenge of learning how to run the business side of the inn while encouraging Brook to handle the day-to-day operations. I wanted us to be partners in every sense of the word.
“Hey, space cadet, we’re here.”
I blinked a few times, realizing Grady was right. We were parked in front of my building. I couldn’t say I was home, because in my mind, home was officially wherever Brook was.
“You wanna bust ass today to get everything packed up and leave the rest?”
