AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I didn’t really see it as a punishment.
From Dad’s expression, he didn’t believe us. He stepped out of the doorway. “If this is the way you are going to act, these are the consequences. Consider it a warning. If this happens again, I will start docking pay.”
“Sorry,” I said without hesitation. I looked at Kyle. “I’ll see what I can do. But I don’t make any promises.” I moved to step out of his office, leaving him with Dad. “But you need to think about what I was saying and understand it.” I took a moment and decided, since I was already in trouble, I might as well earn it. “Plus, if you fuck it up this time, I’m gonna put you in a ditch.”
“Grace!” Apparently threatening bodily harm to my brother was too much.
Chapter 24
Adam
“How was it?” Cam asked as I came in the door. I had a case of beer under my arm, and I was ready to celebrate my first day. He was on the sofa, and he had takeout set out on the coffee table. “Are you still employed or are you back at square one?”
“Just the first day, man,” I huffed out as I took my haul to the kitchen. “Takes me longer than a day to fuck things up.” I put the beer in the fridge and pulled one out for me and Cam. I came to join him on the couch, offering him a bottle before I picked at his meal. “Is there a plan to get Grace today?”
“She’s still working at the bar,” he said as he popped open the bottle I handed him. “I think Saturday is the last day.” He picked up an egg roll, biting into it. He chewed as he considered the television. “Though as soon as I figure out her schedule at the dealership, I want to solidify what we have going on.”
I nodded. “You mean between you and her? Or all of us?” I found a spare pair of chopsticks and a carton of fried rice.
“I don’t have a problem sharing,” Cam admitted, chewing. “But if shit doesn’t work out to include you and Darius, I’m finewith it being just the two of us.” He met my gaze. “I’m not gonna let you ruin things for me.”
“What makes you think I’d ruin it?” I asked, trying not to get irritated with him.
“Do you want to check out your past relationships?”
“What about yours?”
Cameron paused, looking as if he was actually reflecting. “I can see how I got myself into this shit. And how I fell hard so fast.”
“You fell?” I echoed, not hiding my contempt.
He raised an eyebrow. “I don’t need to elaborate.”
“Oh, but I think you do.”
“Fuck off,” he said, digging into the paper bag on the coffee table. He produced another egg roll and held it close. “I’m not sharing this shit with you if you’re gonna be an asshole to me.”
“I don’t need an egg roll,” I lied. I kept eating the fried rice. “I just want to know why you fell. And to clarify, you’re talking about the L word here?” I couldn’t hide the disgusted noise that I made. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
“I don’t think I need to clarify,” Cam said easily. “I’m pretty positive it’s obvious with all of that.” He gestured to me with the egg roll he held hostage. “I haven’t said anything to her about it and I don’t intend to. This is some shit that I intend to keep to myself unless it’s absolutely necessary to share with her.”
“It’s because the sex is good, isn’t it?” I asked. “Because I can understand that.” I kept eating, pausing only to take a sip of my beer. “Doing things you haven’t done before is a great way to catch feels.”
“Is that why you picked Grace over Kyle?” he asked, deadpan.
“Fuck Kyle,” I snorted, wishing I hadn’t brought this conversation up. “There wasn’t a contest. He deserves every bit of grief all of this brought him.”
“What about the grief it brought us?” he prodded. “That first night I had with her, I thought I was having a panic attack. I didn’t sleep. I thought at any point Kyle would bust into the apartment to beat my ass.” He shook his head, dropping the wrapped egg roll onto the coffee table. “Then she brought me home after I got too drunk and,” he paused, shrugging, “between it being just me and her, and her coming over for more than just sex, I guess I felt something.”
I hummed in agreement. There was something to her emotionally depending on us that definitely got me invested. The fact that she had been so ready to forgive me after my fuckup in all of this, blaming her for everything, just added to it. “We’re in fucking trouble,” I said after a beat. “She has got us by the balls.”
“She’s not been taking advantage of it. She hasn’t been hitting you up for money, has she?”
I shook my head, putting the carton of fried rice on the coffee table. “The only money I have in this is the first date and the food I bought when we were all together,” I admitted. “Condoms too, maybe?” I shrugged, digging into the bag to see what else he had ordered. “All together can’t be over two hundred bucks.”
He nodded, looking away as he seemed to consider the same. “Not more than I would’ve spent on any other one-night stand.”
“The smart thing would’ve been to cut our losses,” I said as I pulled out another carton, opening it to find a tangle of noodles and vegetables. I didn’t hesitate to dig into it with my chopsticks. “Can’t expect anything good to really come from it.”
