Page 16 of Built to Last

“No. Marco isn’t my type. He’s too much like Diccon, and that would just be weird.”

Sam’s eyebrows went up in surprise. “Huh. I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right.” He paused, then asked, “Who is it, then? Because I’ve known you long enough to know when you’re caught up on someone.”

“I’m not caught up on anyone,” I insisted. It didn’t help anything at all that I heated like a log on a fire as I said that.

Sam really did know me too well. “It’s not Chase,” he said, in full Sherlock Holmes mode, “because you know better than to date an employee, unlike me.”

I snorted a laugh, because he was right. But Sam and Brian had been dancing around each other for years before getting together, and they were perfect for each other, despite the fact that Brian worked for us.

“Is it someone on your baseball team?” Sam asked on. “Although I thought you said they were all straight.”

“Don’t try to figure it out, it’s not funny,” I said, staring flatly at him.

“Oh, so there is someone.” Sam sat up straighter.

“I didn’t say that.”

“But you told me not to figure it out, so that means there’s something to figure out.”

“You’re such a shithead,” I humphed, crossing my arms and glancing at the side wall without really seeing anything on it.

“I’m your big brother, and I—” He gasped, then blurted out, “No!”

“Exactly. No,” I said, flushing even hotter, because Sam had the look in his eyes that said he had my number. “It’s not….” He went on, frowning, then eyeing me like his morning sudoku. “No, it’s not Kyle Jameson, is it?”

Damn him and his big brother perceptiveness.

“Why on earth would you guess someone like that?” I demanded, trying to sound fierce. The deep, hot blush painting my face and neck probably made me sound more defensive than irritated.

“Wow.” Sam leaned back in his chair. “That explains everything, though. You two have been at each other’s throats since construction started, but I can see what that is now. The energy has always been off. If it was just hate, just anger over the new shop, you would have been cold and gruff and called the local chamber of commerce to complain or something. But no. That kind of hate is ‘we have a past’ hate.”

“We do not have a—” I gave up before I could finish the lie and sighed, rubbing a hand over my face.

“I know you two are in the same baseball league,” Sam said. “I ran into Frank Crenshaw the other day, and he said your team and Kyle’s team are facing off in the league championships on Saturday. Is this all just an extension of baseball competition?”

I stared flatly at my brother for a long, uncomfortable few seconds. He might have thought I was mad at him for calling me out, but really, I was debating how much to tell him.

I gave up with another sigh and sank deeper into my chair. Sam was one of the people I loved most in the world. Our family didn’t hide things from each other, especially since we were business partners. And it could be argued that this affected business. There was nothing else to do but spill the coffee beans.

“Kyle and I hooked up in college,” I ground out, frustrated with myself for feeling sheepish admitting that.

Sam’s eyebrows shot up, and he sat straight so fast it looked like someone had stuck a firecracker up his butt. “Wait, Kyle Jameson is gay?”

“Yep,” I said, writhing in my chair and fighting off guilt over outing him to Sam. “But he’s not out,” I rushed to add, holding up a hand, “so you can’t say a word to anyone.”

“I won’t,” Sam promised immediately. He was serious. We’d both gone through the whole angst of pre-coming out and knew how vital it is that every queer person made the decision to live authentically on their own timeline.

“He wasn’t out in college either,” I went on. “Everyone thought we were just friends. And we were, at first.”

“He wasn’t using you to, you know, experiment and find himself, was he?” Sam asked, full of concern.

“If he was, I was doing the same,” I said. “It was college.”

Sam nodded.

“The thing was,” I continued, “I figured things out pretty quickly and easily. It helped that you’d already come out and that Mom and Dad were so accepting.”

“We won the parent lottery,” Sam said with a fond smile.