Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Fletch
I float on a raft in my parents’ indoor pool. It’s been twenty-four hours since I dropped off Cam. I miss her. I miss her sassiness, her stubbornness, and her sexiness.
“You trying to drown yourself in here?” Spencer’s voice rings out from the far side of the pool.
I look over and see he’s about to dive in and I close my eyes. While we were all on the swim team as kids, none of us ever dive properly into the pool. It’s always a cannonball.
A splash covers me in water droplets.
“Asshole,” I mutter.
“What’s crawled up your ass?” he asks as he swims over to me and treads water.
“Just thinking,” I confess as I use my hands to push me farther from him.
“Don’t think too hard, Fletchy,” Spencer teases, using my childhood nickname.
“Don’t be such a prick, Pencer,” I tease back, using the nickname that came from him not being able to pronounce his own name.
He flicks me off and starts swimming laps. I have no idea how to tell him and Dalton that I slept with Cam. I don’t even know what I’m doing. Do I continue opening the store? Do I sabotage it so I don’t kill her dream? I’m so fucking confused.
“Seriously, what is eating at you?” Spencer says after finishing a few laps.
I sigh and sit up. It’s time to rip off this bandage. I can’t lie to my brothers. They’ll know.
“I slept with Camryn Tanner,” I admit.
He freezes, his face contorting in confusion. “Like, to get more intel?”
I shake my head. “She’s not like how I thought she would be. She’s…smart and savvy, and I like her, Spence,” I confess.
“Shit, bro. That is bad news. She’s going to hate you when we put her out of business,” Spencer says.
“I’m done trying. I’m just going to give it my all with our store, and if it fails, then it fails,” I say.
“No way. You can’t fail. Dad will have a shit fit. What the fuck, Fletcher? You know we need this store to succeed,” he says and I can see him starting to get angry, which Spencer doesn’t do often, but when he does, it’s epic.
I put my hands up trying to placate him. “Listen, I have some ideas. I think we can both be successful. We can…complement each other,” I offer. Do I have ideas? Sort of. Will they be successful? Maybe.
But I’m not letting Spencer be the reason things don’t work out between Cam and me. I really do want to give this a proper try.
“Good luck introducing your new flavor of the month to Dad,” he says and pauses. “You know what, never mind, make sure I’m there and have popcorn.”
He swims to the edge and pulls himself up. “I can’t believe you’d let your dick get in the way of our company. That’s low even for you, Fletch.”
He shakes his head and walks away before I can argue with him. I splash the water angrily and get out. I hate that my entire family holds my misspent youth over my head. I’m not that boy anymore. It’s been well over six years since I acted anything but a gentleman from a well-respected family.
And I would certainly not sleep with someone just to spy on them. What the hell is Spencer even going on about?
I need to talk to someone who doesn’t view me like my family. I just don’t know who…or do I? I decide to text a friend online and seek some advice. Too bad I can’t just ask my own fucking family members.
One hundred dollars says Spencer has already called Dalton.
As if on cue, my phone rings and I see Dalton’s name flash across the screen. Great.
“Yeah.” I pick up as I dry myself with a towel.
“You fucking slept with her!” Dalton yells.
“Calm down before you give yourself a coronary,” I insist with a roll of my eyes.
“You cannot be fucking serious?” he screams. Great. Pissed-off Dalton is a million times worse than angry Spencer. Spencer will calm down by tomorrow but Dalton will hold a grudge for the next ten years.
“I like her,” I seethe through gritted teeth.
“You like her? You like her! Well, great, let’s just all sing kumbaya and call it a night,” he says, his voice laced with sarcasm.
I run a hand through my wet hair. “You don’t understand. I was wrong about her. She’s not who I thought she was. You’d like her if you gave her a chance,” I try to explain.
“You think I go hanging out with everyone who runs competing businesses? No. Because I don’t want them to know our company’s secrets. How will you even be able to trust her?” Dalton asks.
He raises a good question. Shit. I wish we had had more time to figure things out before people knew we were together or whatever the hell we are.
“I got to go,” I say.
“We’ll talk about this later,” Dalton assures me and I groan as I disconnect. Right now, I need to calm down and the only thing that will relax me is seeing a certain spunky redhead.
* * *
I watch her close up her café and I smile as she dances around with a mop. I’m sitting on a bench that looks recently placed outside the bookstore. I’m so intrigued by the beautiful woman across the street that I don’t notice Al.
“Am I interrupting you?” Al asks.
I jump a little. “Shit, you scared me,” I say as I try to calm my racing heart. I know my cheeks must be pink from being caught ogling his neighbor. Thankfully, it’s dark out.
“Sorry about that. Just going for my nightly stroll,” he says as he sits down next to me.
“Hey, Al. Hi, Fletcher,” Hutch calls out from the entrance to the park at the end of the block.
“Hi,” I say, confused why he’s dressed in camo and walking around the city at night.
“Anything?” Al asks.
Hutch shakes his head. “Nope. Just Troy going for an evening walk. Oh, and Joe. I’m shocked he took the night off from the tavern. And Bray went for a run before work.”
“Well, best you get inside. Looks like we might get some snow tonight,” Al says to him.
Hutch looks up at the sky. Clouds are starting to roll in, blocking the moonlight.
“Good. Snow will mean tracks and that means more clues,” Hutch says with a grin as he walks inside.
“He’s obsessed with those flowers, huh?” I ask, remembering the first day I met Hutch.
“Something like that,” Al agrees.
We’re quiet for a few minutes as we both watch Cam. She’s shaking her ass now while wiping down counters. Adriana comes into view and the two of them duet to whatever song they are listening to.
“Cam’s captured your heart, huh?” Al finally says, breaking the silence with words I’m not ready to hear.
“I’m sorry, what?” I ask, feigning ignorance.
He uses a cane to point to Cam. “That one is special. I’ve seen her grow into a strong woman. She needs an equally strong man. Are you up for that challenge?” he asks.
I fight a smirk. Fucking Al O’Brien. The man is a classic romantic. I remember seeing him with his late wife, and even as a kid I knew that they were how love should be.
“She’s different than I thought she’d be,” I admit.
“Well, she’s guarded. She doesn’t show her true colors to just anyone. You must have gained her trust somehow,” he explains.
“How can it even work though? I feel like we’re Romeo and Juliet. We’re destined for disaster,” I confess because I need to talk to someone and Al seems like Switzerland compared to my brothers.
He smiles. “Love has a sneaky way of working out, if you just try. You’ll figure it out.
I have faith in you. Maybe your business needs a little tweak.
You’re a smart man, Fletcher McDowell. I see a lot of your grandfather in you.
Don’t listen to those troublemaker brothers of yours.
Follow your heart and you’ll always win.
” He pauses and stands up. “Well, off to stretch the old legs. You have a good night.”
He tips his hat and walks toward the lit path in the park. I want to tell him to be careful but I have a feeling Al does this every night. Hell, he probably knows every inch of this neighborhood better than anyone.
Adriana leaves and Cam turns the lights off before locking the front door. She falters slightly as she turns to cross the street and sees me sitting on the bench.
“Hey,” she says softly as she approaches me.
“Busy?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “Why?”
I shrug. “Just thought I’d see if you wanted to hang out. Maybe watch a movie,” I suggest.
“Oh, well, Drew is watching a reality show,” she says, motioning to her apartment above us.
“We can go to my place. I have a movie room,” I offer.
She smirks. “Shocking,” she says in a mocking tone and I laugh.
“I know, right,” I tease.
“Fine. Just let me grab some things and change,” she says as she lets me into the building. “What should we watch?”
“Arachnophobia?” I state.
She punches my arm and I smirk. Yeah, coming here was the right thing to do. Screw my brothers, Al is right. Cam is worth fighting for.