Page 2 of Brighter Together

“An important one.”

He raises an eyebrow.

Fine. A man trying to sell me a linen contract probably doesn’t qualify as an emergency.

I pull on my trainers and start tying the laces.

Alex doesn’t move.

“What?” I ask.

“I’ve drawn the short straw.”

“For what?”

“Finding out why you’ve been such a miserable sod all morning,” he says.

“I haven’t,” I snap.

He laughs.

Behind him, Nick suddenly becomes very interested in sorting carabiners.

Alex sits beside me on the edge of the boot. “Mate, you’ve sworn at Chris for breathing, Phil for laughing and Nick because he didn’t bring more energy bars.”

“I have to get back to the hotel.”

“That doesn’t make it better.”

“It does to me.”

I rub both hands over my face.

I’m tired. That’s all.

Or at least that would be a perfectly acceptable explanation if I hadn’t spent the last few months becoming progressively more irritable every time a certain woman walked into my office.

“Work’s getting on top of me,” I admit.

“And FMR?”

“Sometimes.”

That part is true.

“How many hours did you work yesterday?” Alex asks.

“I don’t know.”

“Tommy.”

“Fourteen?” I say.

His eyebrows rise.

“Maybe fifteen.” I admit.

“Mate—“