As I watch him pick up his drink and take a sip, I feel the weight of all the months I let my emotions and guilt keep me away from this person I adore.From now on, I’m gonna be fully present and just enjoy the friendship we’ve always had.I really can be an idiot sometimes.
“So… back to you hating work,” Leo says, wiping his lips.“If you ever feel like throwing in the towel, I actually came up with an idea not long ago.”
“Yeah?What idea?”I reach for my water bottle.
“If you’re sick of busting your ass to line someone else’s pockets and want to be your own top dog, I was thinking…” He clears his throat.“We could start our own business.”
My brows shoot up.“What?”
“It’s just an idea,” Leo adds quickly.“But we could set something up that focuses on private renovations.Houses, bathrooms, kitchens, even shop remodels.Obviously, I couldn’t do much of the hands-on stuff, but you could take charge of that, and I could handle operations: bookings, timelines, materials, logistics.I could recruit the subcontractors, deal with the clients—basically, all the shit you hate.”
He grins, and my lips pull up.
I feel thrown for a loop, but the wheels in my head are already turning.Leo certainly has the industry knowledge and contacts to run something like this.And the sorts of jobs he’s imagining are ones I could do on my own, or with one or two apprentices.
A surge of excitement rolls through me.I fucking loved being my own boss when I fixed up Mom and Dad’s place.Sure, it was hard work, but it was probably the best mental break I could have given myself.
A business of my own in Philly sounds amazing, especially with Leo as my partner.But it also sounds permanent.
An unsettled feeling takes hold of my stomach, and Leo’s eyes rake over my stiffening posture.
“Hey, man, don’t feel like you gotta do anything to help me,” he begins, and I cut him off.
“It’s not that.I love the idea.But…” I suck in a deep breath.Saying this aloud will admit the truth not only to my best friend, but to myself as well.“There’s a woman,” I say slowly.
His whole face lights up with a delighted-as-fuck smile.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I say, throwing up a hand.“The woman is in North Carolina.”
“Ahhh.”He nods, piecing it together.“You went to fix up a house… and fixed something else up along the way.”
I give his arm a light shove with my elbow.
“You fell in love,” Leo guesses, smiling.
“No.”I chuckle nervously, heat flooding my cheeks.
Love.
Is that what this is?This gnawing, aching, heavy feeling in my gut that’s been there since the second I told Chloe I was leaving?
“Whatever it was,” Leo says, giving me a knowing look, “if it’s something you shouldn’t be running away from, it’s gonna catch up with you sooner or later.”
I just stare back at him, the nervous flutter in my stomach growing.
He leans forward.“Also, my friend, I’m just saying—the beauty of me being able to work remotely for a renovation biz is that you can be anywhere while I take care of all the background stuff.You could build a house on fucking Mars, and I’d still get you what you need.”
A warm smile pulls at my mouth.“I know you would.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FOUR
ETHAN
Dust coatsthe back of my throat, and the clamoring of a jackhammer reverberates through my skull.Across the skeleton of the future high-rise, my crew members shout over the grind of machinery, the cubs checking their watches every two minutes for a break.It’s hot and humid, but the sky’s a glaring sheet of gray and we’ve got to get this concrete pour finished before the storm hits.
Sweat drips into my eyes, and I wipe it away with my forearm, tasting dirt.
Where the hell is the plastic sheeting I asked for?If the rain comes down before the concrete sets, we’re screwed.We’re supposed to have stuff like that ready to go, but Michael would rather beef up his annual bonus than take care of us.
