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Eli begins to nod, but before he can assent, Connor yanks his hand away. “Whoa, what?”
I glance at him, confused by his reaction. “What, what?”
“You’re still going?” Connor demands hotly, rising from the floor.
I can’t help but check him out in his nakedness, his manliness overwhelming, even in his mounting anger. It’s vaguely distracting.
“Of course I am, Connor. Didn’t we already say that we need to do whatever we can to take on MVP?”
Connor’s scowl deepens, and he angrily scans the ground for his lost clothing.
“Connor—” I try to say reasonably, but he holds up a hand.
“You’re free to do whatever you want,” he growls, storming from the living room to leave me alone with Eli and Hudson. I stand to go after him, but Eli shakes his head as Hudson pulls me back gently.
“You can’t talk to him when he’s like this,” Eli explains as I look on helplessly. “He needs to cool off.”
“Why is he so convinced that I won’t come back?” I ask, throwing my hands up. “I’m taking your truck for a few days. Does he think I’m going to steal it?”
Eli and Hudson exchange a quick look, but they don’t need to say anything. I already know what this is about. Connor has let me into his world, and now he’s afraid I’m running off just like his mother did.
I will just have to prove him wrong by coming back. But I have to go to Seattle and speak to my contacts. And the sooner I do that, the faster we can deal with the stress of MVP and move on with our lives. Hopefully, we will move on from this together.
CHAPTER21
Hudson
Something is amiss as I wander onto the Winterbourne property this morning. It’s not just that Connor is sullenly working by himself in a corner, hammering with far too much effort, as if to make as much noise as humanly possible with the tool.
I stop to speak with him for a moment, hoping that he may have calmed down since the previous evening, but even as I approach, I see that I’m naïve in my aspirations.
“Morning,” I offer. He grunts in response, barely looking up. “Sleep well?”
He glowers at me through his peripheral vision, and I swallow a sigh. I’m no good at this small talk stuff.
“Connor, she’s going for a few days. Simmer down, man.”
My words aggravate him more, and he tosses the hammer aside. “Don’t you think it’s a little suspect that she up and goes as soon as she gets this call from her ex?”
I balk at the suggestion. “What are you saying?”
Connor rolls his dark eyes heavenward and snatches the hammer back off the ground. “If I have to spell it out for you…”
“It sounds like you don’t trust Rose,” I tell him bluntly, and he pales.
“It’s not Rose I don’t trust. I don’t trustthatfucker, Tony.”
In the past, I would’ve walked away and left him to handle his feelings of abandonment alone. I have my shit to deal with. But I make an effort to be supportive now, even though it doesn’t come naturally to me. “She’s coming back, Con.”
A scowl appears on his face. “I guess we’ll see, won’t we?”
“She’s not your mother, Connor.”
He whips his head to glare furiously at me. “You think I don’t know that?”
Fuck. I should’ve just walked away. Even when trying, my words ring hollow. “I don’t know. Do you?”
I don’t give him a chance to respond before ambling toward the porch where Eli sits finishing a cup of coffee. His face appears drawn as I approach, his truck still parked in the front, indicating that Rose hasn’t left for Seattle yet. I’m relieved that I haven’t missed the opportunity to say goodbye to her, but I can’t shake the sense that there’s tension in the air.
