It had to.
***
“All right, are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”
Scott lifted his gaze from the document in front of him and looked at Will blankly. “I don’t know what you mean. I’m fine.”
Will crossed his arms over his chest and gave him a flat look. “I’m talking about the fact that you’ve turned into a workaholic. And the fact that you’ve been in New York for ages instead of going back to Europe.”
“I can do most of the work remotely,” Scott said, returning his gaze to the document. The numbers blurred in front of him, but he fixed his gaze on them stubbornly.
“Your buddies have been textingmeasking if there was something going on. You stopped going out.”
Scott shrugged. “Didn’t feel like it.”
Will heaved a sigh. “Scott.”
“I said I’m fine!” Scott snapped.
His uncharacteristic outburst left the room ringing with silence.
“It’s about Cameron Richter, isn’t it?” Will said after a moment, his voice careful.
Scott struggled to keep his expression blank. The mere mention of Cam’s name made his insides ache, like someone had prodded curiously at an ugly, jagged wound in his chest. “No,” he said curtly.
“You stopped going to the races.”
“Don’t you have your own life instead of stalking mine?” Scott snapped again.
Will’s eyebrows drew together. “I’m just worried for you. Someone has to be.”
Scott’s throat grew uncomfortably tight. “Thanks for the concern, but I’m really fine,” he said hoarsely. “Yes, I haven’t been going out much lately, but it’s not like you’re any better.”
Will’s expression turned pinched. “You’re not me. You’re not introverted. You actually love going out and being around people.”
Did he? These days, even the thought of going out with his friends and putting on the sociable Scott Palmer mask exhausted him. Which was why he’d been declining every invitation to thisparty or that party. Maybe he was finally getting too old for that shit.
“I’ve been busy,” Scott said curtly.
“I know,” Will said. “Your dad has been over the moon that you’re taking your responsibilities this seriously.”
Scott snorted. “Glad I’m finally doing something to please him.”
“Scotty.”
Scott flinched. “Don’t call me that. I hate nicknames.”
“Since when?”
“Since now.”
Silence fell, strained and full of uncomfortable questions Scott had no desire to answer.
“Did you two break up?”
Scott’s stomach turned to lead. He stared at the document in front of him without really seeing it.
“If you mean Cam, we were never together,” he said flatly. “He’s straight. He was just fooling around out of boredom and convenience. So was I. We were never anything.”
