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nine
greyson
Present Day
I’ve never scowled thinking about a person so much in my life. Hold up. I make faces at Preston every day, but he brings that upon himself with his superior attitude. However, I love him and his pretentiousness.
But Kellen Payne? He’s a major pain in my ass.Scarlett stared at him like he hung the moonandthe stars.Unwillingly, I’ll admit he’s good-looking, but did she have to fall at his feet?Or agree to a date with him? My blood pressure spikes to dangerous levels as I think about him making her laugh, maybe even sneaking a kiss. God forbid he tries to touch her ass in front of me. I will break his manly hands in half.
Typing away at my computer, I press the keys a little too hard; the J popping off under my blunt fingertips. This is the part I hate most about my job. The sitting at my desk, answering emails, and phone calls, when all I want to do is go outside and sprint off the steam building between my ears.
If I could leave all the manager stuff to Preston, I would. He’s the champ at suits, schmoozing potential clients, and enjoying the climate-controlled offices. But, as it is, we have to share duties. SoS has expanded over the years, and I can’t run it all on my own. Not anymore.
I’m about to bang my head on my keyboard when my office door swings open.
“What’s going on with you?” Preston blurts out before sitting in one of my chairs, legs up on my coffee table crossed at the ankles.
“Hello to you too, dude. Nothing is going on with me except this office is an inferno. Is it hot in here to you?” I pull at my shirt collar, loosening it up.
“It’s a cool sixty-eight degrees in here.What’s really the matter with you? These past few days all you’ve done is snipe at everyone, including the poor intern who only asked where the copy room is. It’s obviously not ‘up his ass and around the corner’.” He arches a brow in my direction. “If he reports that back to his professor, it’s on you to take care of it, not me.” Sitting up, he crosses his arms instead of just his ankles. I know that whole look too well. He isn’t going to leave until I talk to him.
“Who knew it would be you babying the interns, P, but fine. Scar is going on a date.” My face flushes and I clutch the edge of the desk. I don’t talk to him about her. I’ve avoided it because he and I are no longer enemies and I’d rather not poke the slick-dressed bear. But maybe I can play it off as something else. Like I’m just looking out for her—which isn’t a lie—I’ll be protective over her until the day I’m six feet under.
Preston relaxes his body and regards me silently, his deep blue eyes a shade darker than mine.
“Why does that bother you? She’s allowed to date.”
“I know this.”
He rubs his finger back and forth across his lips. “And? She doesn’t need you to be her dad. She can handle it.”
I bite my inner cheek.“I know this too. It’s… I don’t trust the guy.”
“Who is he?”
“The contractor, Kellen.”
His eyebrows touch my ceiling. “Damn, that was fast. Didn’t you guys just meet him and the crew yesterday?”
“Yep.”
“Hmm.”
“Iknow.” I’m not sure how much I’m willing to share with him. Our bond has gotten stronger over the last few years and fucking it up by admitting my feelings for his ex-fiancée makes those rocks in my stomach tumble.
“When are you going to stop trying to hide your feelings for her from me?”
Choking on my saliva, I sit up straight in my chair, running my fingers through my hair as he stands and walks over to the window, still talking.
“Dad often told me to keep an eye out on you. Mom, too. It was as if he knew how much you’d need me.” He pauses, appearing lost in memories. “How much we’d need each other. I used to think the whole twin thing was bullshit. But those years I spent in New York while you were here I could feel the void.” He turns, and thumps his chest with his palm and I feel the ache of years lost. “I’d deny it, though, pretending as if I hadn’t just lost my third arm.” His head hangs to his chest, but he continues and I sit on the edge of my leather seat, clinging to every word he says.
“I regret how I handled it, how I walked out on the two of you—three of you, if I include Theo. I should’ve stayed, stuck it out and been there for you.”
I shake my head and open my mouth, but he holds up a hand. “If I had stayed, things may have been okay after a while, after I was done being pissed at you, but I may not have ever met Savy and may not have my kids. That’s something I can’t fathom.”
“As much as I wished you would’ve stayed, we both know it wouldn’t have worked out so well. We’re a pair of stubborn bastards.” I inject.
“Yeah, but I may have been able to stop you from drinking so much, maybe I could’ve prevented it all. I failed you, Greyson.”
