AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His hair looked like it had been raked through multiple times, he had a five o’clock shadow covering his jawline, and the skin around his eyes was swollen and pink. When he blinked and met Brian’s gaze, Brian could see that his actual eyes were bloodshot.
Brian’s mouth dropped open.
Holy shit.
“Kincaid and I just broke up. Can I stay here tonight?”
“Of course, man.” Brian didn’t hesitate. He opened his arms, and Zach stepped into them, bursting into noisy tears as Brian hugged him as tightly as he could.
26
Brian
Apparently, misery really did love company.
And Zach was good company. For starters, he was too wrapped up in his own shit to care about Brian and Rae hooking up. Secondly, since he had his own things he didn’t want to talk about, even if he had cared, he wouldn’t have brought it up.
He was also the perfect distraction.
With him moping around, vacillating wildly back and forth between pretending like everything was fine and that he was just visiting or slumping on the couch and staring into the middle distance, it wasn’t like Brian had too much time to think about Rae. Morgan was a champ. She immediately ceded her room to Zach for as long as he needed it, though he promised he wasn’t going to take too long. Just long enough to figure out what he was going to do next, he said.
Not that he seemed to be looking.
Which suited Brian just fine.
Having someone to take care of around the house soothed a lot of his agitation.
Something his therapist would have a field day with when he confessed it on his next visit, he was sure. He was self-aware enough to realize he was focusing on Zach because that meant he didn’t have to focus on himself, but he also wasn’t doing anything to change the situation. Helping his friends made him feel good.
Helping someone who was out of control to gain control made him feel fulfilled.
And yes, he understood that he was getting a sense of control by proxy, but hey… much easier than facing his own problems.
He also talked to Kincaid on the phone. Zach had been adamant that everyone stay friends. He didn’t want to make things worse, even though he wasn’t ready to see Kincaid yet. Kincaid had also assured Brian that he wanted everyone to remain friends… even though he wasn’t ready to see Zach again just yet. But he was relieved Zach had somewhere to stay.
From what it sounded like, Zach wasn’t ready to come out to his family, and Kincaid was tired of feeling like a secret that was never going to be revealed. They loved each other, that much was evident, but they hadn’t been able to find a compromise, and trying to plan for the upcoming holidays had blown everything out of the water.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come to Stronghold tonight?” Brian asked over dinner. They’d eaten together almost every night that week. “Kincaid won’t be there.”
“I know.” Zach stabbed at a piece of lettuce, not meeting Brian’s gaze. He wasn’t disheveled anymore, but he had kept the five o’clock shadow growing, and it was starting to turn into real facial hair. “It’s a work trip for that security firm he’s going to work for. But no, thanks. It’s not just him I want to avoid.”
“I get that.” Brian was still struggling with making himself go tonight. The gossip was probably going to be rife. But… if he didn’t show up, everyone would assume he was avoiding Rae. They’d draw all sorts of conclusions.
It was probably best to meet things head-on and get it over with, anyway. Like pulling off a band-aid. The longer he waited, the more speculation would run rampant and the worse it would be.
While he had the ready excuse of keeping Zach company, he really didn’t like the idea of anyone thinking he was avoiding the clubs because Rae might be there.
Okay. Not ‘anyone.’ Rae. He didn’t like the idea of her thinking he was avoiding the clubs because she might be there. He didn’t want her to know that she’d hurt him. Was it to spare her feelings or for his pride? He wasn’t sure, but the end result was the same.
He needed to go to one of the clubs. Since he didn’t have a reservation for Marquis, it had to be Stronghold.
Unless…
“Do you want me to hang out here with you? I don’t have to go.” If anyone asked, he could honestly say Zach had needed him.
“No, you can go.” Zach sighed.
Well, there went that small hope, but he knew it was better this way.
