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Scott regarded him as he entered, but then got back to work. “This shouldn’t take more than a minute. I’m co-partner to this account so I know it pretty well.”
“Co-partner?”
“Yeah. Used to cover some of Max’s shifts”
“Not anymore?”
“Nope. Not anymore.”
Rapid clicks of Scott’s fingertips resounded from the keyboard. Soon, though, those click-clicks decelerated to slow taps. As if Scott had shifted into search mode, not having found what he was looking for where he’d expected to.
“Hmm…”
Click… Click… Click…
His expression turned perplexed. His eyes scanned the screen. “Um…” He scratched his cheek and finally looked up. “It’s not in here. I’ve searched every single doc in his account.”
Sean’s brows furrowed. “Well, then where in the fuck could it be?” His heart sped up. “I can’t come back here again.”
Scott exhaled and shook his head. “It’s not anywhere, Sean.” He held Sean’s gaze. His voice turned soft. “He never made one for you, bud. He never started a tab. He hasn’t been charging you… for anything.”
Which spoke fucking volumes.
A lump welled in Sean’s throat.
“Maybe you should call him.”
“No.” Sean looked down, his lips pursing miserably. “I can’t talk to him. Can’t hear his voice. But even if I could, I’ve only got his emergency number… And since it’s not a fucking emergency, he won’t answer it.”
“Emergency number?” Scott sounded straight-up baffled again.
“Yeah,” Sean muttered. “The one for his clients.”
“Sean. Max doesn’t have a separate business line.”
Sean looked back up. “Yeah, he does. Maybe he just never told you about it.”
Scott crossed his arms. “Gimme the digits.”
Sean rattled them off.
Scott smirked and shook his head again. “That’s his personal cell.”
“But…” Sean stared at him. “He said—”
“He was lying.”
“But why?”
Scott shrugged. “Because he wanted a direct line to you, but didn’t want to admit it? He sure as shit doesn’t give that number to anyone else.”
That lump in Sean’s throat swelled fatter. Oh, God. He couldn’t hear any more of this. It was steadily fucking killing him. Fresh pain speared his chest. He needed to leave.
“I… I gotta go,” he rasped. “Thanks for the help.”
Scott frowned and stood up. “I didn’t really help much.”
“You tried. It’s cool,” Sean murmured. “I’ll see you around.”
But right as he turned on his heel to go, the front door down the hall opened and shut. Sean froze. Max was home. Scott cursed under his breath. A heartbeat later, Max stopped outside of the room. Holding a cardboard box, his emeralds locked on Sean, then sharply cut straight over to Scott.
“Why is he here?” he muttered, clearly referring to Sean. “And why are you both in my studio?”
“He wanted to settle his tab. I was trying to help him out.”
Max paled. Glanced back at Sean.
Sean wanted to look away but couldn’t.
“But I couldn’t find it, so I told him to call you and figure it out. Thing is, he only has your emergency number, which curiously, is the same as your private.”
Max stiffened and clenched his jaw. Shot his gaze back to Scott.
Scott shrugged nonchalantly. “I know, right? Weird.”
Sean’s pulse raced. Fuck. He wasn’t prepared to see Max yet. Hence the whole reason he came while Max was at work. But now that Max was standing there in the same fucking space? After all the things Sean had just discovered in the last hour? Heart pounding fiercely, his brain churned anew, readying for one final fucking showdown. Why the fuck not? He was already there. There, without a damn thing to lose.
As if sensing the shift, Scott moved out from behind Max’s desk. “I think I’ll just… leave you two alone.”
Sean expected Max to glare Scott down as he left, but instead, he turned his tense eyes back to Sean.
Sean shifted his weight, fidgeting under Max’s stare. “I didn’t expect you to be here.”
Max nodded a little. “I left early.”
“Oh.”
Awkward crickets.
“Thank you,” Max finally murmured.
Sean frowned. “For what?”
“The ad you put together… in the paper… for the show.”
Sean’s heart squeezed painfully. He nodded. “You’re welcome. I wish I could’ve made it, but... well, yeah.”
More crickets. More heartache.
Max sighed. “About the tab…”
“You mean, the lack thereof?”
“Yeah,” he muttered. “That.”
Sean waited for him to continue.
Max shrugged a little. “In the beginning, I just, I dunno, kept putting it off… And then later… It didn’t feel right anymore.”
Sean nodded. He didn’t need Max to spell out the obvious. They both already knew why it didn’t feel right. “And your number? Why the hell would you lie about that?”
Max frowned and looked away.
Guess he wasn’t planning on answering.
Sean crossed his arms. “I went to your website earlier.”
“And?” Max finally made his way into the room.
“And I saw the amendment you made to your services.”
Max tensed, then quickly veiled the shit out of his expression. “So? I change things from time to time. Big deal.”
“The big deal, Max, is that you stopped offering sex. An announcement date-marked the same week you took me on.”
