Chapter Thirteen
Riley’s stomach hurt as he gripped Brent’s hand on the plane. He didn’t love flying, but that wasn’t what was upsetting him.
He’d had Brent. For a few beautiful, shining moments, he’d had everything he wanted.
Now it was all over. Brent was probably suffering through Riley’s death grip on him, and he’d be relieved when Riley let go.
“You shoulda said you hated flying,” Brent murmured next to him.
“I don’t hate it,” Riley said.
That was a lie.
He hated it. He hated the noise a plane made while it was hurtling through the air at speeds human beings weren’t supposed to travel at. He hated the way his ears popped at high altitude. He hated the smell of stale air being pumped into the cabin.
He hated that it made him feel afraid.
“Okay,” Brent said, like a parent indulging a child who said they weren’t sleepy. “You prefer driving.”
“I prefer driving,” Riley agreed, trying to ease up his grip on Brent’s hand.
To his surprise, Brent reached over with his free hand and put it on top of Riley’s, holding him in place. “You don’t need to let go.”
Riley breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t hate flying so much that he was likely to demand to be let out of the plane, but he did still hate it.
More than that, though, he hated the thought of losing Brent.
Not that he was going tolosehim. They’d still be friends. They’d always be friends, as far as Riley was concerned.
But he was losing what they’d had over the last few days. The closeness he wanted so much. The feeling of being so important to someone that they actually wanted him to stick around.
It was a lot to give up in such a short space of time.
“Thanks,” Riley said eventually, forcing himself to relax back into his seat.
“Always,” Brent murmured, keeping both of his hands clasped around Riley’s left one. “I know I’ve said it a hundred times, but I’m grateful for the last few days. For everything. It means a lot to me that you were there.”
Riley managed to smile at that. If Brent was happier than he had been, flying twice in the space of three days was worth it.
“Always,” Riley echoed. There was no point in dwelling on what he was losing. Better to be proud of what he’d accomplished.
As hard as that seemed right now, when he’d had a tiny taste of everything he wanted.
“So what’s the plan when we get back? What do you need?”
Brent sighed. “I’m not sure. I guess… I don’t think I can work with Tom anymore and I don’t think he’ll want to work with me, either. So I guess I need to figure out how we’re gonna dissolve the business.”
“You have to know how to do that,” Riley said. “It’s kind of your thing.”
“Yeah, I do.” Brent took one hand away from Riley’s, but held on with the other one. “But it means I have to cooperate with Tom.”
“I’m available for negotiations,” Riley said. “If you don’t wanna deal with him.”
“Thanks, but I think this is something I have to do alone. Besides, I gotta worry about getting Emily to college first. That’s the most important thing.”
“Well, I wanna stick around for that. My little girl, all grown up.”
Brent chuckled at that. “She loves you, you know.”
