My chest twisted as I listened to Danny recount the stories they’d shared across the fire. Whether he’d admit it or not, it was obvious to me that he missed his family. “And the best part is, none of them are pissed at me for leaving. I think they get it.”
“That’s good, baby,” I reassured him. “I’m glad you’re having a good time with your brothers.”
“I’m coming back. You know that, right?”
“I do,” I reassured him. Maybe it was selfish of me to ignore how happy he sounded. There was a little voice in the back of my head telling me to make sure he was promising to come back to me because it’s what he wanted and not because he felt obligated to be with me. This time with his brothers was obviously something he needed. I hadn’t heard him sounding this carefree the entire time I’d known him.
At the same time, the fact he was trying to ease my mind about his return spoke volumes. I hadn’t implied I thought he might choose to stay with his family, and he hadn’t said anything to that effect.
What would I do if he did tell me he realized his place was in Harmony Grove? God, the town sounded like it had been yanked right out of a prime-time drama. It was probably this quaint little village, surrounded by rolling hills and trees, complete with the small-town shop owners who could be seen sweeping the sidewalk as they waved to residents heading off to work each morning.
The thought of living somewhere everyone knew everyone else made me itch. I needed the anonymity a city provided in order to ease my own paranoia about people judging my lifestyle.
“Blake? Is everything okay?”
I jerked out of my premature fretting and sat up straighter. “Sorry, Danny. I was thinking.”
It wasn’t a lie. Besides my sudden fear over Danny’s trip home, there was the fact I’d put the wheels into motion for him to move in with me without his knowledge. What sort of asshole was I to offer his apartment to someone without his permission?
The worst kind, that was what I was.
Fuck. It was like I was incapable of doing right by Danny. Maybe he was better off moving home where he could actually make his own decisions. I needed to call John and tell him to hold off on offering Justice a place to stay. If he wanted to start working to take control of his life, we’d figure out a way to make it work. If nothing else, I’d drive out to pick him up and take him home on the nights he worked.
“Anything I can help you work through?”
“No, it was just a long, strange day,” I told him. “John’s brother called him today. Apparently, there are some complications with Justice staying with Tex.”
“That’s the guy that came in with the jerk that one night, right?” We hadn’t talked much about what had happened that night. Until now, there hadn’t been a reason to and I didn’t want to bring up any bad memories about Danny’s past.
I didn’t even know how their relationship was before everything fell apart because every time I tried bringing it up, Danny quickly changed the subject. That felt like one more mark in the negative column for me.
“Yeah, that’s him.” I needed to keep my mind in the present, otherwise Danny was going to start worrying that I was lying to him. “Tex doesn’t live in town, so Justice hasn’t been able to find work because he doesn’t have a car or anything.”
“That’s why I ended up where I did. Even if I hadn’t found DeSires, it was close enough to the bus line I could have worked anywhere in the city.” Danny didn’t even realize how capable he was. His ex had made him feel like he’d fall apart on his own, and yet he’d been making wise decisions since the moment he arrived in town. That was strength, not failing. “He should talk to Jack. I know they’re looking for kitchen help on the other side, and we’ve been talking about hiring a barback on our side.”
“That’s one thing we were talking about.” I wanted to keep this line of communication going. If Danny came to the same conclusion I had, we could talk to Justice, get him settled, and later, I could apologize for over-stepping. But it had to be Danny’s decision to offer his place. “But that would still leave the transportation issue, and from the sounds of it, Stephen’s ready for Justice to be out from under Tex’s thumb.”
“What does it matter to Stephen?” Danny sounded offended on their behalf. “Unless Tex is sick of having him around, it’s not really up to Stephen.”
“Yeah, well you’d have to know Stephen. He lives in his own little world and, as much as it might not seem like it, appearances are everything to them,” I explained. “Having Justice around all the time because Tex doesn’t want to leave him alone, is starting the gossip mill.”
“Some people need to learn to mind their own damn business. Hang on a sec.” Danny must have covered up the speaker on the phone because his conversation was muffled. “Sorry about that. Carson’s heading home and wanted to make plans for tomorrow. We’re trying to plan a quick birthday party for my mom while I’m home.”
“That sounds like a great idea.” My chest ached with longing, wishing we were at a point where I could have flown home with him. The more he talked about his family, the more I hoped I’d eventually get to meet them. But I understood Danny’s reluctance. We hadn’t been together that long, and this trip was about proving to them he was capable of being independent. Given his past, showing up with a new boyfriend wouldn’t have helped his case.
“I wish you were here with me.” Danny sighed, then yawned loudly. It had been a long day for him between work, travel, and time with his brothers. “I think you’d like my brothers.”
“Tell me about them?” I wasn’t ready to hang up, and this seemed like a good way to pass the time. With hundreds of miles between us, we couldn’t get distracted by sex.
I kicked my feet up on the couch and pulled an afghan over my legs. I thumbed the loose stitches, laughing because this wasn’t mine. When Danny first brought it over, I teased him for having a blankie, but there was no malice in my jabs. It was cute how worked up he got when he explained how his grandmother made each of the kids a blanket when they graduated from high school. Now, I was grateful to have it as a physical reminder of the man I loved.
“Ansel’s the oldest. He works with a non-profit in town. He’s super protective of me, but that’s because I was a scrawny shit when I was a kid and he got used to having to fight my battles for me.” Danny chuckled, as if remembering something from long ago. “Then there’s Billy. He drives our parents nuts because he’s got a bad case of Peter Pan syndrome.”
“Convinced growing up is stupid?” I guessed. The corner of my mouth turned up as I slid lower on the couch, bringing the edge of the blanket under my chin as I rolled to my side.
“Pretty much. He’s almost thirty and still isn’t sure what he wants to do with his life, so he does a lot of day labor. But it works for him, so I guess it’s not such a bad thing.” There was another interruption. I picked up the remote and started scrolling for something to fall asleep to while Danny talked to whichever brother had come up to him. “Sorry, that was Carson. He’s two years older than me and a total stick in the mud.”
“Screw you!” I chuckled at the protest from the background. “Just because I’m focused doesn’t mean I’m incapable of having fun.”
