And it pisses me off even more because I went to him, opened the door, and held out my hand. He didn’t take it, but he listened, and he didn’t walk away. So I thought maybe we had achance. But it looks like he’s just slamming the door in my face instead.
Scott steps forward and claps a hand on my shoulder with a smile. “Thanks for leading this, Levi. I’m looking forward to seeing it in action.”
I nod and return the smile. And I can’t help but wonder if Silas has said anything to him. Scott has always been careful not to speak for Silas, and I’ve always appreciated that. But right now, I have to bite back the urge to ask why it seems like he’s ok with his son being so fucking stubborn about this.
And at that thought, an immediate wave of guilt rolls over me.
Fuck.
“Alright,” Scott’s eyes flick to the large clock on the garage wall that shows it’s just past 7:00 PM. “Everyone get out of here.”
“Aye-aye,” Keith says, throwing him a quick salute before heading towards the door.
Everyone says their good nights as they head out, and I turn back to my laptop on the workbench.
“Don’t stay too late,” Scott calls as he heads towards the door, and I chuckle as I throw him a wave.
“I won’t,” I say.
He gives me a look that says he doesn’t believe that before he disappears into the yard, and I drop onto the stool.
My gaze doesn’t move from the open bay door as I sit quietly in the now-empty garage, and I trace the long shadows cast across the gravel with my eyes. The daylight is slowly slipping away… but it’s not gone yet.
With a heavy sigh, I turn back to the workbench and pull my laptop closer.
The keys click softly as I continue to work on one of the prescription files, refining the zone parameters for thesouthwest block, and just getting lost in my work for a bit before I head home.
But boots on concrete behind me make me pause, and I look over my shoulder.
Silas stands just inside the garage doors, his gaze travelling over the tractor and down to my laptop.
My jaw tics when his eyes reach me, and I turn back to the screen.
“You missed it,” I say, typing in the updated transition smoothing values.
“I know.”
I don’t say anything as I keep typing, but I only last a second before I turn to face him with a frustrated sigh. “You hate me. I get it. Fine. But this is something you need to?—”
“I didn’t want to learn with everyone else.”
I pause, staring back at him as he drops his eyes, and he bites the inside of his cheek. His fingers pick his thumb at his side, and he shifts his weight before he takes a careful step towards me. When his gaze lifts again, I release a breath. Even though he’s trying to hide it, I can see the flicker of fear in his eyes.
His hoodie and jeans are dirty from seed cutting all day, and annoyance bubbles that he chose that instead of coming here.
But the annoyance doesn’t last long. Because while I know it was avoidance, I also know that his being here now is pretty fucking big.
And I know him well enough to understand that burying himself in something familiar is easier than learning something new.
“Want to learn now?” I ask.
His eyes flick towards the tractor, then back to the laptop, and he gives me a small, tight nod.
My heart thumps as I nod back at him, and I swallow hard as my eyes fall down him again.
His sleeves are pushed up to his elbows, revealing his muscular forearms and his hands covered in dirt and grease. My focus lingers on them longer than it should, and my stomach flips as his fingers fidget and his muscles flex.
I quickly pull my gaze away, hoping he didn’t see me staring at his fuckingforearms. What the fuck?
