Brantley’s eyes narrowed on him, slid down to his boots then back to his face. “Goin’ somewhere?”
Reese cut a quick glance at the truck. “I … uh …” He met Brantley’s gaze. “Yeah, goin’ out for a bit. Need to clear my head.”
“Want me to go with you?”
Reese turned away, unable to look at him when he lied. “Nah. I need some time to think.”
The lack of response told him more than he cared to know. When Brantley Walker didn’t have a comeback, didn’t engage in an argument, it meant he was retreating.
What sucked was that Reese was making him, and he was too confused at the moment to care.
“Later,” Reese muttered as he strolled over to Brantley’s truck.
Without looking back, Reese climbed in, shoved the key in the ignition, and turned the engine over. He was backing out when he looked up again, saw Brantley still staring after him. If he hadn’t known better, he would’ve sworn that was pain etched on Brantley’s face.
Too late now. He was committed.
*
Brantley absolutely detested the tightness he feltin his chest as he watched Reese drive away in his truck. He could’ve been a dick about it, demanded the guy take an Uber, but he hadn’t. He couldn’t.
What hurt the most was the fact he’d given Reese an opportunity to come clean, and he’d lied to his face. Needed to clear his head? Not likely. Certainly not while he was on a date with Madison Adorite.
Even thinking her name had shards of pain lancing his heart, which only pissed Brantley off. He rubbed at his temples, feeling the first warning signs of an oncoming headache.
When his truck disappeared around the corner, Brantley marched into the hotel, through the lobby, up the stairs. By the time he reached the room, he was seething. Still, he managed to slide his key card into the slot, unlocked the door. He pulled out his phone as he headed for the closet.
The first thing he did was pull up his Uber app to get a car to the airport. Once that was set up, he placed a call to JJ, popping the pain medicine for his headache and downing it without water.
“Hey, boss man,” she greeted with a smile in her voice.
“Hey. Can you keep an eye on Tesha tonight?” he asked, not quite sure why he was so concerned with Reese’s dog’s well-being.
“Of course. Everything cool?”
“Yeah,” he lied. “Reese went out to take care of a couple of things. You can touch base with him in the mornin’.”
“Brantley, what’s wrong?”
He should’ve known JJ would hear the anger and frustration in his underlying tone.
“Nothin’. Just a headache, but I’m good. Check with Reese in the mornin’, would ya?”
“Why him? Why not you?” she countered.
“Just do it, would ya?” he snapped.
“Of course,” JJ said slowly. “Sure.”
He didn’t bother with more pleasantries, disconnecting the call and shoving his phone in his pocket.
It pained him that he was keeping things from JJ. Being that they’d been friends since childhood, he knew she would’ve been there for him, allowed him to bounce his frustrations off her. Unfortunately, he wasn’t even sure what to say the problem was, so he didn’t see the point in bothering her with it.
Dragging his duffel from the closet floor, Brantley proceeded to shove all his shit inside. If he left anything behind, he figured Reese would grab it for him.
Maybe.
Then again, it was possible Reese was off to rekindle a romance with his long-lost love and he wasn’t going to give Brantley a second thought.
