Chapter 25
twenty-five
. . .
Hugh
Lila was having dinner with her dad tonight, as he’d just gotten home from rehab, and she wanted to spend some time with him and get him settled. I’d given them their space after riding out to Havenwood with her and dropping them both at her car, and she drove them to his house.
My brother, Cage, was coming to Reynolds’ to meet me for a quick bite in thirty minutes, as Gracie was hanging out with my parents tonight.
So, I was down in my office, finishing up the schedule for next week.
My phone buzzed, and I looked down to see a message from Brinkley in the sibling group text.
Brinkley
Kaeran and I broke up. I thought you’d all be thrilled to hear that.
Finn
Do we need to have Hugh kick his ass, or did you dump him?
Brinkley
No dumping. He wanted to take the next step, and I wasn’t feeling it. The wedding was an eye opener. We spent the whole weekend together, and I was just…
Bored out of your mind?
Cage
Exhausted from having to hold the conversation?
Finn
Desperate to get away?
Georgia
Ready for a change?
Brinkley
Stooop. He’s a great guy. We just didn’t have much in common.
Cage
Because he’s a major snooze fest. You’d have more in common with a rock than that dude. Good riddance, KAREN!
Brinkley
Not nice. Can we go back to focusing our attention on Georgie’s boyfriend, who didn’t attend the wedding?
Oh, you mean, Mr. It’s Not About Me, so I’ve suddenly got a migraine, Diktok?
Finn
Or, Mr. He Should Be Extinct, Dikosaurus?
Cage
How about, See You Later, Dikonater?
Brinkley
You Dik not go there, did you?
Georgia
You are all complete dickheads. Not dik-heads. Real dickheads. He gets migraines because his IQ is abnormally high, and he can’t turn his brain off.
Wait. Did Dr. Dik diagnose himself?
Cage
I’m going to need to see something in writing. Who possibly diagnosed him with too high an IQ? The dude has a limited vocabulary and can barely form a complete sentence.
Finn
Maybe we should get him a dik-tionary to help him out.
Georgia
I get it. He’s not your favorite. Subject change, please.
Brinkley
What else is going on?
Georgia
Hughey, when does Lila leave? Are you sad?
Finn
I think our Hughey is going to be a bit down in the dumps. I know this because he’s never around to hang out. Didn’t invite me on the boat last night when he took his “roommate” out for a ride.
I didn’t know you were in town. I thought you were in the city.
I did know he was in town, but I wasn’t going to admit that I purposely didn’t invite him, and I was fucking happy about it because Lila had rocked my world when she’d climbed onto my lap. When we were together, nothing else mattered.
Cage
I call bullshit.
Brinkley
I’m kind of on their side on this one, Hughey. Seems a little suspicious.
Georgia
I get it. I love her, too.
No one loves anyone. Take it down a notch, assholes.
Finn
Ohhh… we hit a nerve. There’s definitely something going on.
Cage
I’ll get it out of him. I’m here. Sitting at a table alone in your restaurant, looking like a sad sack of shit, and Mrs. Runither is making crazy eyes at me. Get your ass up here.
Coming now.
Finn
That’s what she said!
I barked out a laugh and slipped my phone into my back pocket, making my way upstairs and finding my brother quickly. Unfortunately, the old horndog, Mrs. Runither, hurried over to intercept me before I made it there.
“Hello, Hugh. This place is packed, as usual.”
“Yep.” I shoved my hands into my pockets because I was irritated that I had to stand here and talk to her. I glanced over to see Cage watching me with a hand over his mouth, trying not to laugh.
“Have you found yourself a lady yet? A big, strapping man like you shouldn’t be alone,” she purred, making every attempt to be sexy, but appearing desperate. And considering her age, it was awkward as fuck when she grabbed my hand and studied the size of it.
I leaned in close to whisper in her ear. “I’ve taken a vow of celibacy, you know, since the Irritable Bowel Syndrome started. There’s nothing quite like getting the shits in the throes of passion.”
Her eyes doubled in size, and she pulled her hand away.
That oughta do it.
She waved at me before hurrying back to her table.
“What the hell did you say to her?” Cage asked when I sat in the seat across from him as he took a sip of his beer.
“It’s amazing how quickly someone will run when you tell them that you’ve got a bad case of the shits.” I laughed.
Danielle came to our table and took our order before we were alone again. The restaurant was going off, and it still caught me by surprise sometimes as a little part of me was waiting for the other shoe to drop, and it just never had.
“Only you would have to come up with ways to get women to back off.” He smirked.
“Please. You’ve got plenty of women after you,” I said. “You need to get out more, brother.”
Danielle set my beer down, and I thanked her before taking a long pull.
“I do fine. I’ve got Gracie, and the office is busier than all fuck lately because everyone and their mother has some sort of odd animal these days that needs special care.”
I chuckled. “More Botox for their four-legged friends?”
He glanced around and leaned forward. “Get this. Mrs. Lapper came in with a chick. A fucking chick, dude. And she’s asking about veneers because she thinks the other chicks have better teeth. I feel like I’m being punk’d half the time, and then I realize they’re just completely insane.”
I tried to control my laughter when Danielle set our plates down, and Cage and I both dove into our rack of ribs.
“I guess your job is as interesting as mine. You should hear the bullshit excuses that I get when employees can’t come to work.
Brandy, the hostess, called in yesterday and said she needed a me-day.
What the fuck is a me-day? She said her anxiety was high because she’d gotten a haircut and didn’t recognize herself. ”
Cage glanced up front, where Brandy stood behind the hostess stand. “Isn’t that her?”
“Yes. She has recovered after taking the me-day yesterday.”
“Her hair is long. What did it look like before?”
“Exactly the same. She informed me that taking off a half an inch of hair that has belonged to her for a long time is an emotional experience.” I dropped the bone onto my plate and sucked the sauce off my thumb.
Now my brother was laughing, and I loved to see it. Cage had a ton of responsibility, and he didn’t relax all that often.
“Fucking people, man. I don’t get most of them.”
He wasn’t kidding. Most people annoyed my brother, including his siblings half the time.
“It’s fine. Lila picked up the slack, of course. She moved people around, and we didn’t even notice Brandy’s absence.”
He stared at me for a long moment while he chewed before reaching for his napkin and wiping his mouth. “She’s been a big help to you. How do you feel about her leaving?”
“She has been. But I knew this day was coming. There’s no surprise there.”
“How about the way you feel about her? Has that surprised you?” he asked.
I could play it off with most people, but never with Cage. The dude could tell when you were bullshitting him without even trying. He’d just always been good at reading people.
“Sure. I wasn’t expecting it.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“Nothing. She’s leaving. She’s got a great job to go back to. Plus, who the fuck knows where it would even go? I’m not a relationship guy. You know that. And Travis would lose his shit.” I shook my head and reached for my beer.
“I call bullshit.”
“Shocker,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“First off, everyone sees it, dude. The only reason Travis hasn’t called you out on it is because he’s too fucking preoccupied with his own shit.”
“Everyone sees what?” I ran a hand down the back of my neck.
“The way you look at her. The way she looks at you. You aren’t fooling anyone if that’s the goal.
And Travis wouldn’t give a fuck if it was the real deal.
You’re his best fucking friend. And it kills me to say this to you because I know that you’ve already got the whole long-hair, Grecian-god look going for yourself, and your ego does not need stroking—but you’re the best fucking guy I know.
Don’t tell Finn. I’ve given him the same pep talk, so I’d prefer you don’t compare notes. ”
I barked out a laugh. “Was that an actual compliment?”
“Don’t deflect. What’s your fucking story? Why are you using Travis as an excuse? What’s holding you back?”
I leaned back in my chair. I was still trying to figure out shit myself, and I didn’t come here for a therapy session. But Cage was a straight shooter, and I trusted him with my life.
“Lila is—she’s amazing. She’s gorgeous and smart and kind. She’s driven and determined and loyal. I mean, what the fuck isn’t there to love about her?”
His eyebrows rose at my words. “You’re in love with her.”
It wasn’t a question; it was a statement. I dropped the rib back onto my plate and wiped my hands.
“I don’t know what it is. But it’s something.”
“You know what it is. Since when are you a coward?” I’d been called a coward twice in my life—both times in the last few months.
“I’m not a coward. I’m a realist. I know who I am.
Come on, Cage. When was my last relationship?
Why do you think Travis would lose his shit?
Because he knows I will most likely fuck it up.
And it’s not even an option. She’s leaving in two weeks.
They built a whole fucking program for her to run.
I live here, with three restaurants to run.
There are a million reasons why it can’t work. ”
He nodded, his arms folded over his chest like the broody bastard he was. “You only need one reason for it to work.”