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“These are fine,” I said, changing the subject by gesturing to the boots. “Although, I still don’t want to go snowboarding.”
Oliver crossed his arms and opened his mouth to say something before an employee came into the aisle.
“Dude, Ollie, you’ve got to see this new board we got in.”
“The split board?” He looked like a kid whose mom told him he could buy whatever he wanted from the toy store. “I’ll be right back,” he said to us before following the guy out of our aisle.
I took the opportunity to start removing the torture devices from my feet. “These are ridiculously uncomfortable. Why would anyone intentionally put themselves through this?”
“Can you just make a fucking effort?” Harrison snapped.
I jerked up to see him glaring at me. While we always sparred back in forth, the rage in his eyes was different this time. He seemed genuinely upset with me.
“With Oliver?” I asked, confused. “I am.”
“No, you aren’t,” he hissed.
“I’m here, aren’t I?” My voice shook as I tried to keep it at a normal volume.
“Barely. You came begrudgingly and with a bad attitude. You’re a dick.”
“Remind me again how this affects you?”
“Ollie is my best friend, and you’ve always treated him like shit. He would never stand up to you, so consider this me telling you how it is. He’s the best guy I know, and all he wants is to get to know his brother—something you’ve always denied him.”
My eyes narrowed at the accusation. “We’re different. Everything has always come easy to Oliver. He’s so agreeable and everyone loves him. Meanwhile, nobody wants to come within six feet of me. Do you know what it’s like having someone like that for a brother?”
“Do you know what it’s like having someone likeyoufor a brother?” Harrison ran his fingers through his hair. “No one wants to come within six feet of you because you’re cold, Nathan. You always have been. I know your parents put you both insome unhealthy competition growing up, but it’s time to let that go. Don’t scare off the one person who cares about you unconditionally.”
“Harrison, you got to see this,” Oliver whipped his head back into the aisle.
“Coming,” Harrison said. He left without looking at me.
I clenched and unclenched my fists, thinking about his words. He’d never spoken to me like that before. I hated how much his words rang true. Maybe it was time I stopped holding my brother at arm’s length. Oliver was the one person in my life that actually seemed to want me around—at least now that I had effectively driven off Charlie.
Squinting,I looked over another line of code. My eyesight would likely go early with all the hours I spent sitting a few inches away from a computer screen. I could only hope that they would have some sort of surgery to correct it by then.
We launched a test version of the newly integrated app to employees with the instructions to use it and look for any bugs. One notable one that came up involved two employees who matched in the simulator but didn’t show up in each other’s inboxes. The contractors couldn’t find the issue, and the error was holding up a few next steps.
If you wanted something done right, sometimes you had to do it yourself.
A knock on my doorframe jerked me from my trance.
“Hey, sorry to interrupt,” said Ben. “I know you’re working late on that error, but I have to head out early. Dinner with Sky. She’s got something she wants to talk about.”
“Nothing bad, I hope.”
He laughed and stepped into my office. “I hope not.” Moving around my desk, he eyed the lines of code. “Thank god, you’re the technical one. We’d be screwed if I had to look through that.”
“We always knew that’s not where your talents lie.”
Don’s voice boomed down the hallway as his footsteps approached. Without thinking, I slipped out of my chair and crouched behind my desk. Ben dropped to the floor too.
We both held our breath as he walked by.
“I can’t fucking stand that guy,” Ben whispered as Don lingered to the left of my office door.
“He’s unbearable,” I agreed.
