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“Yeah,” Aiden agreed. “It’s like she’s letting go a little bit.”
In Silas’s estimation, Tess didn’t seem thrilled about letting go of Jace. She’d seemed sad. But he didn’t want to talk about Tess anymore. He couldn’t risk Aiden and Thatch seeing through him. “So have we heard back on any of the bids we put out last week?”
“Not yet.” Thatch had resumed his dart throwing, clearly not concerned about work at all.
“Well, why aren’t you staying on top of them?” he demanded, looking back and forth between his friends. “Check in, see if we’re getting the job. We can’t just hang out playing darts all the time.”
“I’ve checked in.” Aiden looked up from cleaning out his desk drawer. “You know how our business works. Sometimes there’re a ton of jobs and sometimes we’re waiting on jobs. That’s how it’s always been. What’s your problem anyway?”
“Nothing.” Nothing they could help him with. He needed work to keep him busy, that was all. To keep his mind off Tess.
“You’ve been an ass for weeks now.” Aiden pointed at him. “Come to think of it, you’ve been an ass ever since my engagement party.”
“What’re you talking about? No, I haven’t.” He looked to Thatch for backup, but their friend nodded along.
“Yeah. You have seemed a little distracted,” Thatch said. “What happened that night? I know you hooked up with someone. What’s the problem? Now she won’t call you back or something?”
“No!” He shot to his feet. “Why would you think I’d hook up with someone?” How the hell did these two know?
“For one thing, you disappeared and no one saw you until noon the next day.”
Yeah, Silas hadn’t felt like going back to the party after Tess had left his room.
Aiden’s eyes narrowed. “And for another… because you’reyouand you hook up with women all the time.”
Right. But this time had been different. This time the woman had been Tess.
“Also, I heard you talking to someone in your hotel room after I got back to mine.” Thatch shot him a triumphant grin. “So you can’t deny it.”
Silas shook his head and opened up his email before they could continue their interrogation. Aiden and Thatch knew him better than anyone else. Sometimes even better than himself.
“If it’s not a woman, what the hell is wrong with you?” Aiden got out of his chair and stood directly in front of Silas’s desk. “And don’t bother saying ‘nothing’ again. You can’t lie to us.”
“You could try but we’d know,” Thatch added.
They’d never leave him alone unless he gave them something. So he went with the decoy. “I guess I’ve been thinking a lot, that’s all.”
“Thinking.” Thatch sent another dart flying, this time hitting the bull’s-eye.
“Yeah.” Silas came around and sat on the edge of his desk next to Aiden. He’d have to tread lightly here. He knew Aiden and Thatch as well as they knew him. They weren’t going to like him going on a mission like this without them. “Don’t you guys miss having a higher purpose? I mean, we hardly have anything to do around the ranch anymore and our construction business is in kind of a lull at the moment.”
“You mean do I miss dodging bullets in deserts?” Aiden gave a disgusted shake of his head. “No. Actually, I’m pretty grateful to be here in one piece.” His weighted tone reminded Silas that not all of them had come back.
As if he could ever forget they’d had to leave Jace behind.
“Is this about money?” Thatch sent another dart flying at the board, but this one missed the mark and put another hole in the drywall. “Because we can do some advertising to bring in more business. I have contacts in Jackson…”
“It’s not about money.” Silas paced to the putting green and ripped a putter out of the stand. They all got plenty in retirement and hardly spent anything living around here. His investments would be enough to keep him comfortable for the long term. “I’m talking about having a focus.” A focus he hadn’t seemed to get back since that night with Tess. He’d been restless, torn, guilt-ridden, but that hadn’t stopped him from thinking about her… fromwantingher.
“You want a focus?” Aiden walked back to his desk and sat in the chair. “Maybe you should try sticking with the same woman longer than one night. Trust me. Your whole perspective changes when you make a commitment.”
Silas shared a look with Thatch. With his newfound happiness, Aiden had recently become a regular relationship guru.
“I’m serious, you two.” He went on wisely. “Sharing your life with someone does give you a higher purpose.”
“This from the man who once snuck out a woman’s window while she was getting ice cream from the freezer.” Silas couldn’t resist. He was happy for Aiden and Kyra, but one successful relationship didn’t mean the man suddenly knew everything.
“Hey, I’m the first one to admit I wasn’t always into commitment. But everything changes when you meet the right person.”
