Page 57 of Release

I didn’t have the energy for it. After I clocked in, George eyed me like I had grown a second head. “Don’t give yourself a heart attack, kid,” he said simply. He offered me a bottle of water from the cooler he had stashed under the counter. “I doubt your old man will fire you for being five minutes late.”

“I really don’t want to listen to him preach about punctuality today,” I panted. “My morning has been kind of screwed up, and that’s just one more thing to add to the long list of what could go wrong today.”

“I guess that leaves me to do the coffee run,” he hummed. “Or . . . ” He drummed his fingers on the counter. “You could do it. Because what’s in the pot now isn’t fit for consumption.”

I hadn’t spotted Kyle’s truck on my mad dash to the parts department, but there was a good chance that he was runninglate too. “Let me remember how to breathe properly, then I’ll get it,” I assured him, before I started guzzling water.

“All right,” George said with a nod. “I’ll let you man the phones today and anything easy that comes through. Got it?”

I snuck into the main lobby, earning looks from clients in the waiting room. As soon as a fresh pot of coffee started, though, no one looked suspicious. I had enough time to pee before Kyle caught me coming out of the bathroom.

“The fuck?” he demanded, and before I could even say a word, he hauled me into his office. “Did you bring him home to cause a problem, or are you just being an asshole?”

“He brought me home because I had to work today,” I answered, and I was bothered by just how much I was sweating. Why was I intimidated by him? “I had no idea you were there.” I struggled to think of an explanation that he would understand. “I spent my weekend elsewhere, and I wasn’t keeping track of Shay.”

Kyle relaxed visibly. He didn’t push me out of his office, he just went to his desk and flopped in the chair. It was clear he had rushed to get cleaned up to come to work. “I don’t have to worry about him coming up here to kick my ass, do I?”

“If he believed Shay, probably not?” I said wearily. “That’s what I hope,” I answered honestly. “Because what he’s assuming isn’t the best for me.”

Kyle eyed me. “What he’s assuming? You mean the truth?”

“The fact that Shay had a crush on you is also the truth,” I said, rubbing at the back of my neck. “Would you rather walk away knowing it was that? Or do you want to dwell on the fact that she flirted with you, fucked you, and tried to start a relationship with you because we wanted to screw you over royally?” I shook my head, trying to shake off the discomfort. “Both might be true, but the second one isn’t the case anymore. And it’s more likely thatit never was the case for Shay.” I shrugged at him. “But I can’t speak for her.”

His brows lowered, and he waved at me, “So you got what you wanted from all of this?” He ticked off each of the men I was with on his fingers. “Cam, Adam, Darius . . . Are there others?” He paused, holding up his hand. “I don’t want to know. I’m just gonna assume every friend I have ever had is officially an asshole.”

“They’re your friends, so it goes without saying,” I said offhandedly. “I can’t imagine willingly hanging out with you if I weren’t an asshole.”

“Well,” he released a breath, “that explains why you’re here.”

“Look at you, trying to be funny,” I huffed as I came to sit in the chair in front of his desk. “You’d probably have more friends if you actually had a sense of humor.”

“Shay thinks I’m hilarious,” he said dismissively. “As far as I’m concerned, that’s all that matters.”

“So you like her?” I asked, tilting my head. “This isn’t just an excuse to get back at me? Or to sneakily stick it back to Darius?” I blinked. “You’re more than just attracted to Shay.”

Kyle’s eyebrows went up. “How is this getting back at you?” It was almost like he wasn’t paying attention this morning. Like he hadn’t been aware of the fact that Shay had come clean to him.

“You get Shay good and involved with you, then you break her heart?” I suggested, like it was the most obvious thing. “I mean, there are worse things you could do, but I’m not gonna point them out to you.”

“That’s not in the plan,” he said, waving a hand. “Doing something dumb like getting her pregnant and running out on her is a cliché, stupid thing to do.” He gestured to himself. “If there’s one thing that would get Dad to sign all this shit over to you, that would be it.” He shrugged. “Shay’s funny. She’s beautiful.” He looked away and kept going. “In the beginning,she was attentive, telling me all the shit I wanted to hear. Sex was great. You get why I shoved you. I saw it all crashing and burning just as it got well.” He grimaced. “And that fucked it up for me.”

“You won’t do that to her,” I said. It wasn’t a question.

He shook his head. “There’s a difference between you and Shay. I can hate you and you realize it, then I don’t see you for months at a time. It’s like you don’t exist anymore.” He sighed. “Then you fucking show up and start working here after fucking all my friends. Just fucking disappear already.”

“I was trying to get Adam his job back,” I said as I got comfortable. “I told you that. I thought if I could get in good with Dad, it would be something I could go over your head with.” I shook my head. “He doesn’t want it back. He’s got a new job. It’s on to new things.”

“Then why are you still here?” he asked, tone even. “It can’t be because you’re just trying to make my life more miserable than you’ve already made it.”

“I was trying to dodge you when I got in here,” I pointed out. “The coffee sucks, so I remake it and smuggle some back to my boss.” I stood up and stretched. “I’m only working here now because I’ve got a lot on my plate to figure out. I’ve got to figure out how to balance it, and working nights isn’t gonna help with that.”

“And working here does what? You’re not making money. I see your sales. It’s week two of you working in parts. If you were anyone else, you’d get a talk from Dad as a warning before he ends up firing you,” he said irritably. “I give it to you, the coffee is decent, but that’s not enough of a reason to put up with you. I can just as easily stop by Starbucks on the way here.”

“It was easy, and I don’t have to worry too much about being inexperienced,” I said, not resisting the urge to be snotty. “Parts department was Dad’s idea. I’m just glad he didn’t put mein the car sales department because then my paychecks would seriously suck.” I sighed and eyed my brother. “But if it pisses you off that much, I’ll look for another job. That way I don’t have to see your face anymore.” I paused and wrinkled my nose. “Except when you’re at my apartment.”

“And when you visit Mom and Dad,” he countered.

“Are you telling me you don’t want me to do that either?”

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