Chapter 7
seven
Killian
“So, it’s pretty bad, huh?” Everett asks as we’re walking to the field for our Ultimate Frisbee practice.
I pull my bag up on my shoulder. “It will be if we don’t find Travis. Another boarding client left. It’s as though they know something and no one will tell me.”
He clasps his hand around the back of my neck. “It’ll work out. I know you and how you feel about the ranch—the truth will come out.”
I sure hope so.
“I’m going to hire a company to do some digging.”
“Oh?”
“I mean, I’m going to have to. Or I’ll lose everything.”
Tessa has someone doing it, but Miles mentioned his brother-in-law to be and they are one of the best in the country. They don’t just dig, they unearth the truth.
“What are you two bitches talking about?” Miles, one of the other Frisbee team members, calls out, running up behind us.
“Your mom,” Everett tosses back.
“Really? That would be hard since she died when I was four days old.”
I wince. “Low blow, Ev.”
He shakes his head, not phased. “I take it back. We were talking about your woman.”
Now he’s done it.
Miles may be the nicest guy out of all of us, but there is nothing he loves more in this world than Penelope and her son Kai.
I nudge Everett. “Maybe go back to insulting his mother.”
He laughs. “Relax, we’re just kidding.”
I raise one hand. “I didn’t say anything.”
“You live another day,” Miles tells me.
I’m not quite sure if that’s a good thing since each day just shows me another layer of hell I’m being buried under.
I toss my bag down and the three of us start to get our cleats on and stretch. Lachlan comes up behind us, the last member of our team. “I swear, you fucks are always late.”
We look at each other. “Umm,” I say first. “You’re behind us.”
He lifts his foot, showing his cleats are on. “I’ve already done two laps. We were supposed to start at noon.”
“Well, some of us have real jobs,” Miles says. “You know, with students and teachers and a schedule.”
Lachlan rolls his eyes. “Yeah, being the fire chief is a fucking dance. I mean, my free time is just abundant.”
I raise one brow. “Do you have office hours?”
“Says the one who doesn’t have an office in this state,” Lachlan tosses back.
Miles steps forward. “Don’t be mean to the old guy. He’s preparing for retired life.”
These assholes really need some new material. “For fuck’s sake, I’m only ten years older than you. It’s not that much.”
Everett jumps in. Of course he does, the sarcastic asshole can’t resist. “Isn’t it though? I mean, you’re what? Forty-two?”
He knows exactly how old I am. They love to remind me.
“He’s forty-three,” Miles says.
Lachlan is the next one. “No, no, he’s forty-four.”
I grin. “And yet, I don’t look it. Unlike you assholes.”
“Those gray hairs say otherwise, brother.” Everett snorts and claps me on the back. “They’re saying, ‘look at me, I’m old as fuck.’”
I flip him off and start to stretch my legs.
Yes, I’m forty-four, but no one ever thinks that. Most of the time, they think I'm in my mid-thirties and my body is that of a twenty-year-old, so I don’t give a shit what my birth certificate says.
“Hey, guys,” Miles says as he pushes his arms out, like he’s going to hold the other guys back. “It’s not nice to be mean to our elders. Especially since he could be our dad.”
This again.
“I always forget about his daughter.” Lachlan grins. “She’s our age, huh?”
“No, she’s younger than you assholes, so unless I had you at like thirteen, no, I could not be your father. And God help me if I had you jackasses in my family tree. I’d be cutting off those limbs,” I say, pushing up off the grass, thinking that might end this.
I should’ve known better.
“I mean, that still makes her closer to our age than…yours.”
“Shut up.”
Miles chuckles. “All right, all right, let’s lay off Killian—he’s going through enough.”
Damn right I am.
He continues, “Although, I heard, he brought a girl home and…she hasn’t been back to the room she rented. Did you kidnap her?”
I used to feel bad for these three. When they were each trying to find the people they love, the rest of us picked on them.
Now, I don’t regret any of it.
They deserved it and worse.
“Sometimes, I really hate Ember Falls,” I say and run out onto the field to warm up.
I start my jog, thinking about Tessa. Her smile, the way we fit together as though we were made for one another.
I remember the way she looked at me in the bar, how my desire for her was like a living thing.
How her heart-shaped lips were swollen after my kiss and those blue eyes became soft when I entered her.
Hopefully no one pieces together that she’s the girl from the bar.
Max would know, but one of the things Max prides himself on is that a bartender is equivalent to a therapist in some cases, and he would never share his patient’s information. It’s a stretch, but he’s discreet.
It’s the rest of the town that is relentless with their gossip.
A few seconds later, all three of my friends are running with me. “Don’t be mad, Pops,” Lachlan says.
“I swear, I could kill you.”
“Yeah, but you won’t. We are the four best friends that anyone could have,” he quotes the line from our favorite movie we’ve seen one too many times.
I scoff. “When did you become my best friends?”
“When you decided to join our team,” Miles explains. “It’s an implied best friendship.”
“Like fight club,” Everett tacks on.
“Only we disc it to them,” Lachlan supplies this time.
Everett laughs. “Dude, that was terrible.”
“Seriously,” I say, speeding up, hoping to lose these fools.
It doesn’t work, they keep pace.
“Listen, we just want to know about the girl you brought home. I’ve never heard about you hooking up with anyone.” Everett appears beside me, irritating me once again.
I roll my eyes. “Because I don’t kiss and tell.”
Also, because I don’t usually do it. Tessa was an anomaly.
A woman who I just couldn’t look away from.
Now, I have to physically force myself to do exactly that.
Not that I succeeded last night. No, I went out there and spent time with her when I should’ve been in my room, pretending she wasn’t staying only a few rooms away.
Right now, the last damn thing I need is a story saying I’m sleeping with her. I’m sure the town gossips, also known as the Disc Jocks, would find a way to spin it into something ridiculous like I’m in love with her and we’re having a baby.
“What’s her name?” Lachlan asks.
My God. “Are you all so bored you have nothing else to do than worry about but me?”
“Someone needs to.”
The last thing I want is this damn conversation. I stop running, turning to face the three idiots. “Her name was none-of-your-business. It was one night. Thank-you all for the concern but it’s not needed. If you want to help, please find out why the hell I’m losing sales on the ranch.”
Miles’s eyes narrow. “I’m sorry. Wait, it’s true? You really did bring a girl home from the bar?”
Lachlan laughs. “Well, I didn’t see that coming.”
Ironically, it’s Everett who puts a stop to it. “Let’s leave him be. He’s got a lot of shit going on and we can always make fun of Lachlan—it’s easier.”
“Seriously, he’s stupid,” Miles agrees.
“Fuck right off, assholes.”
I snort. “Go get the disc. I have an hour before I need to pick the pieces of my life back up.”
Then we play Ultimate Frisbee and I forget for just a bit about all my troubles.
After an hour of running myself ragged, I’m back at my car and Miles calls my name.
Great, this again.
I really don’t want to have another round from earlier. I’m physically exhausted and just want to enjoy the feeling for a minute.
“Killian, wait.”
I stop walking, releasing a heavy breath, and wait. “What’s up?” I ask, a little too tersely.
They don’t know that their teasing about my age brought up another layer of self-loathing I’ve been struggling with. I don’t know how old Tessa is, but it’s clear she’s not in her forties.
She’s at least twelve years younger, but if I were guessing, it’s more than that. She’s just starting out in her life and here I am, fucking things up for her. I really need to keep away from her and my mind off anything more than a professional relationship.
Miles chuckles. “I promise, I’m not going to give you shit.”
That’s a relief. “I appreciate that.”
“I just want to know if you’re all right. I know all the shit with the ranch is weighing you down, but…it seems like there’s more.”
I lean against the quarter panel of my car and shrug. “I’m fine.”
I’m not. I’m worried about everything and nothing feels as though it’s going right.
The ranch is going to fall apart, and I can’t find a way to stop it. Not to mention, I don’t even know what the hell is going on. I can’t fix something if I don’t know how it’s broken.
Miles raises one brow. “You aren’t fine, dude. I wouldn’t be if I were you.”
“I guess I’m not, but I need to face all of my mistakes.”
Lord knows I’ve made a few and one of them happened two nights ago.
So much for not thinking about Tessa.
“We all do at some point, but it’s also why friendships are important. All of us will do everything we can, even if you just need to vent,” Miles assures me. “I won’t judge.”
I huff a laugh. “I think people always judge.”
He shrugs. “Maybe, but I’ll at least pretend I’m not.”
We both laugh. “How kind of you.”
“Hey, I’m just a nice guy. So, seriously, I’m worried. I’ve known you for years and I’ve never heard a damn rumor about you, but now the whole town is talking about you and some young girl leaving the bar.”
Of course that one word is now the only thing I can hear. “Young, huh?”
“Is she not?”
“I appreciate the concern, Miles, I really do—”
“But you don’t want to talk about it,” Miles finishes for me. “And I get that. However, I don’t see how hooking up with someone can be bad. Is she underage?”
I jerk back. “What?”
“I’m just asking. Otherwise, what could have you so tight-lipped?”
I really don’t want to explain this, but at the same time, I don’t know who the fuck to talk to.
Nathaniel will lose his shit since we also employ Anchor Light, and I don’t want Tessa to lose her job.
I’m not talking to my daughter about it, and I’m not even sure that any of this even is a damn thing.
“She is my publicist.”
His eyes widen. “The one at my house right now?”
I nod. “The same one.”
“Did you know she was when you slept with her?”
“No!” I say with a huff. “I didn’t know her damn name. We met at the bar, flirted, and…we spent the night together. Then, in the morning, I found out who she was.”
“Okay, so what’s the issue?”
“She works for me. I don’t sleep with employees,” I explain.
“Yes, but she’s not your employee. She’s a contractor who works for you.”
I roll my eyes. “Semantics.”
“They matter,” Miles says with a shrug. “I’m just saying. You didn’t know who she was when you slept with her. She’s a grown woman and you had consensual sex. I don’t think you need to be so worried about it.”
“She’s also staying at the ranch in my damn house.”
He barks out a laugh. “I’m starting to think you’re just trying to make your life harder. Penelope said Tessa was staying at Mrs. Thornberry’s, which is almost as bad as the Brickman shit shack.”
I nod. “No shit. So, I told her to stay with me.”
“Again, you’re not doing anything wrong. Ease up, Killian. You’ve got enough real issues going on in your life, don’t make this into one.” He clasps my shoulder. “You’re both adults and it’s not like she’s staying in Ember Falls forever. So, get through this week and it’ll all be behind you.”
He’s right.
Tessa isn’t staying in Ember Falls and we’re not going to make the same mistake again.
Unfortunately.
“Thanks, Miles.” I approach the subject I wanted to talk with him about earlier, but didn’t want to say it in front of the other guys. “Penelope’s brother, he works in top secret security, right?”
“Clearly it’s not all that the top secret, but I know people. Why?”
When his fiancée was in trouble, he went to Virginia Beach to find her brother and then, though I don’t know how, they were able to locate her. He made a few mentions when we’ve hung out about her brother being a SEAL and doing security for an elite company. That’s who I want working for me.
“I might need his help. Will you do me a solid and reach out to him?”
Miles nods. “Yeah, no problem. Is it Travis?”
“Yes, we need to find him.”
“I’ll call today and let you know what he says,” he promises.
“I appreciate it.”
“Of course, and I should warn you, Penelope was asking Ainsley and Violet over when Tessa was there. So, I would prepare for a lot of questions from her.”
Great.