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Cameron shook his head. “You’re moving faster than I thought. Which shocked the hell out of me because I thought you’d live in your delusions forever.”
I took a step closer, lowering my voice so the whole damn crew couldn’t hear me. “She needed a place to stay, and I have the space, that’s all.”
“Okay.”
My jaw clenched tight. “Do you ever think about the fact that maybe you’re the reason I don’t ever talk about her? It was never like that with us. And you can’t fucking drop it.”
With Cameron studying my face far too deeply for comfort, his best friend Jax approached from behind. He paused briefly, studying the body language between us, then rolled his eyes.
“He can never drop something when he thinks he’s right,” Jax said. “It’s annoying.”
I held my hands out like, I rest my case.
Jax continued. “Except in this case, he is right, and you’re a moron.”
Turning slowly, I pinned Jax with a glare. “When did you form opinions on this?”
He returned my glare steadily. “I have opinions on everything. I just don’t usually find it worth voicing them.”
Jax was, in the most basic terms, a recluse. He’d worked for Cameron for as long as I could remember because he loved the freedom to disappear for a couple of weeks, leave his already secluded cabin, and seclude himself further by … I wasn’t even sure where he went. A tent on the side of a mountain or something.
In fact, Jax was the only person I knew who was even less friendly and more distrusting of new people than me. Being around him made me look like fucking sunshine.
He said what was on his mind, even if his daily word count was about fifty percent less than the average male. And apparently, on this particular day, the first full day that Harlow and Sage were under my roof, he was going to aim those words at me.
Oh joy.
The conversation in the big room ebbed, no longer flowing, and a few of the newer guys pretended they weren’t listening. Cameron, the dick, swiped a hand over his face to hide his smile.
“You asked your hot childhood best friend to move in with you five minutes after you see her again?”
Defensive words prickled at the tip of my tongue, but I kept them leashed. “It was more than five minutes, and I definitely don’t need to explain myself to you.” I arched an eyebrow. “And how do you know she’s hot?”
At my slightly growly tone, Cameron gave his friend a look. “See, I told you. He does the thing whenever you bring her up.”
Jax nodded, humming in agreement.
While I glared at them, I mentally calculated how much money I had in savings if I quit the family business and never worked with them again.
He crossed his arms. “You’re right. You don’t have to explain yourself to anyone. But when it all blows up in your face, don’t say no one warned you.”
“You picking a fight, Jax?” I asked casually. Instead of meeting his gaze, I pulled the measuring tape out and marked my next cut with the pencil wedged behind my ear.
“No. Neither is your brother. But you’re nuts if you think this won’t wreck your friendship with her.”
That had my head lifting slowly. If I could see my own face, I was quite sure my eyes were also a little bit hot now. “And when did I ask your opinion of my friendship with Harlow?”
“You don’t ask anyone’s opinion on anything,” Cameron pointed out.
Helpful.
With a level glare aimed in his direction, I let him know exactly how helpful I found it.
“If you had,” my brother continued, “maybe we would’ve told you to think this out a little bit more. Why not offer her the guesthouse on Mom’s property?”
“You mean the house Erik and Lydia have been staying in whenever they come back? I swear, they’ve been here three times since Dad died.” The measuring tape clicked shut with a press of my hand on the side, and the noise echoed in the room. That’s how quiet it was now. “Or where Greer and Beckett and Olive stayed last week when they were here?”
Cameron conceded that with a grimace.
