Not good, Jasper.
Not good at all.
“No work today?”Finn asked, looking up from his breakfast as I strolled into the kitchen on Monday morning—wearing a T-shirt and pyjama bottoms this time. I’d learnt my lesson.
And so had he.
I slid onto a stool at the breakfast bar opposite him. “No, I work Tuesday to Friday.”
It was well past ten and Finn was still in his pyjamas as well. “What about you?”
He waved his spoon at the laptop sitting open next to him. “Working from home this morning. Got a meeting over in Swindon this afternoon.”
“What is it you do exactly?” Cole had never said, not that I’d probably asked him. But judging from Finn’s house, it paid well.
“I sell advertising space at golf clubs.” He pushed his empty bowl aside and rolled his eyes at my blank expression, because yeah, I was a little clueless. “Golf clubhouses have TVs in the reception and lounge areas. They show flyovers of the course, and local businesses can buy advertising at each hole. Better?”
“Yeah. Thanks.” Not something I thought would be a lucrative business, but what did I know? “Is that why you play?”
He laughed. “No. I play because I love it. Thought about turning pro for a while, but it wasn’t to be.”
“Bet it helps with your job, though, right?” I imagined people who owned golf clubs were a little stuck up. Playing the sport must help smooth the way.
“It certainly doesn’t hurt.” He met my gaze. “What about you?”
I blew out a breath. My job wasn’t a source of pride like his clearly was. I was pretty sure he had his own business, even though I hadn’t known what he did exactly. I wasn’t ashamed of what I did or anything. I just didn’t enjoy it. “I work at Amazon. You know the big warehouse they opened over at Avonmouth?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, for the time being, I’m working there.” I stretched and cracked my back. Standing on my feet for ten hours a day wasn’t doing it any favours.
“You don’t sound overly thrilled.”
It was my turn to laugh. “Well, it’s not my dream job, but it pays well, and to be honest, I’m just glad I’ve got one at the minute.”
“Fair enough.” He stood and took his bowl over to the sink. “I was thinking...”
I looked up at him, resting my elbows on the breakfast bar. “Hmm?”
“It’s December first tomorrow.” He crossed his arms and leant back against the worktop. “I thought I might go pick a Christmas tree at the weekend.”
My heart did another traitorous little flutter as I wondered where he was going with this. “Okaay.” I thought I saw a hint of colour on his cheeks.
“Fancy coming with me? Since you’ll be living here too, you might as well help me choose.”
I knew he was probably only doing this because of what happened with my mum and Clive, but he didn’t have to, and I was ridiculously touched by the gesture. So much so, I had to swallow past the lump in my throat before answering. “Yeah, that’d be great. Thanks.”
He nodded, the small smile tugging at his lips made me warm inside. Christ, I needed to get out of there before I made a fool of myself.
Get it together, Jasper. He’s just being nice.
He’s a nice bloke. It’s what they do.
“Right,” I said. “I’m going to nip in the shower. I’m meeting Cole for lunch.” Far more information than Finn probably wanted, but I tended to talk a lot when in a situation I wasn’t sure how to handle. And I was definitely in one now.
“See you later, then.” He pulled his laptop towards him and I took it as my cue to leave.
“So...”Cole spoke around the chip he’d just shoved in his mouth. “How’s it going living with my brother?”
