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I didn’t plan on it, so I gave him a shrug.
“What are you meeting about? What can I help with? Anything. You name it.”
Was Travis going through the seven stages of getting caught? Were we on bargaining? I had no idea what came next. “I’m having this block declared a historic site, which means you can’t force the stores to make changes.”
He went paler—so that was possible—and worked his jaw up and down, a bit like a fish gasping in air. “They’re good plans, Brooke. I just want this block to look gorgeous.”
“This block is already amazing. How do you not see that? We’re not like other Main Streets with half the shops boarded up and the other half trying to pretend they’re modern. We sparkle and shine.”
Travis scoffed. “Great. I’ll have you write the marketing brochures.”
“And I need to go.”
“Wait. Please.” Sweet-Travis was back. “What if I promise you right now I’ll get the new requirements reversed. No changes.”
“I’m about to do that anyway, and honestly your word isn’t worth crap.”
“I won’t fight it. I’ll step aside right now, just don’t tell anyone what you saw.”
“Over a guy?” I didn’t believe that. Then again, I’d give up a lot for Adam and Deacon. I was an idiot for giving them up. Besides, I didn’t care that Travis wanted to screw men, I just cared that the one he picked was so young, and Travis was so fucking manipulative.
“If this gets out, my career…” Travis gave me a look that saiddon’t make me finish this thought.
“You’ll be screwed in a whole new way. I really need to keep going.”
“I’ll walk you in.” Travis fell into step beside me.
I couldn’t stop him from walking where he wanted to, and it felt wrong to manipulate this situation to my advantage, especially since I didn’t plan to tell anyone what I saw. But was there really any harm in letting Travis continue to believe everyone in the world was the same kind of asshole he was?
But was I really that much better than him? He was keeping his relationship quiet, and I was so scared of my relationships that I’d ended them before they got off the ground.
I was tired of making excuses about why I couldn’t be with Deacon and Adam. It was time for me to step up. To go after them, regardless of what the rest of the world thought about us.
THIRTY-ONE
ADAM
Deaconand I were discussing the pros and cons of closing the shop right after lunch, to spend the second half of Friday getting ready for the Official Basement Grand Opening, when Bryan walked into the shop.
“Shouldn’t you be in school?” I wasn’t up for keeping any more secrets from Brooke.
He didn’t look bothered by the question. “Nope. Fridays I get half a day for college courses in Salt Lake, but those were canceled. So I’m here for more work.”
“You can’t just set your own schedule,” Deacon said.
“I’m taking initiative. Besides, Paige is on a timer, even if she won’t admit it.”
Hard to argue with that.
Deacon grabbed his keys. “Right. We’re closing early, and Bryan can start bringing the rest of the clothing over to Aubrey’s.”
For the next couple of hours, we worked without much conversation beyond Deacon’s direction. The manual labor was exhausting, but it was a different kind of tiring than dealing with people who wanted everything for nothing, like we’d seen so many times this week.
Some days I didn’t know how Deacon put up with it, but he loved it, and I loved watching him do it.
I loved…
Yeah, I did.
