27. Gus
27
GUS
Sob Story.
It’s always been my favorite. And at a time like this, I understand why.
“That isn’t the answer, you know,” Milo comments, giving me a wary look.
“Sure it is. Having a beer got me into this mess…” I don’t know quite how to finish that, so I don’t. Because it’s not going to get me out.
But, it’s got a shot at making me feel better. Temporarily.
Pour Decisions is thankfully relatively quiet for a Friday night, giving me that chance to indulge my own self-pity without an audience. Or at least too much of one. Willa and all her friends are down at their usual spot at the far end of the bar. Anton, his best friend, Cary, and Cary’s fiancée, Tizzy, is between me and them. Hux and Dolly are to my right, no doubt waiting for the rest of their group to arrive. But other than them, there’s only two or three other groups settled in the taproom.
I’ll take it.
Taking another long sip, I try to focus on the taste of the beer. Anything to take my mind off this mess. And that’s exactly what this is.
A great big fucking mess.
“Want to talk about it?” Milo asks, leaning against the bar, his arms spread wide, a towel thrown over his shoulder.
“No.” Why the fuck would he think I wanted to talk about this?
Truth be told, I don’t even know which it he means. The fact that my career might be over and that I’ve potentially put a stain on the company our family has spent generations building, or that for the first time in my life I told a woman I love her and it was met with “you’ll have my formal resignation on Monday.”
Both hurt. The second way more than the first. Something that if I’m honest with myself, surprises me more than anything. Six months ago, nothing mattered to me more than Hayes Industries and everything I wanted to accomplish with it. Now, I’m half a step away from not being able to care less.
The only thing I want is to find a way to make it so Margeaux knows that I meant what I said. She is all that matters.
“What do you think of this one?” Dolly asks. “There isn’t much of a porch though.”
“A porch is an easy add, Doll,” Hux mutters.
I laugh to myself, wondering how many times I’ve heard this conversation. A hundred, I’d bet. Hell, at this point, I’d paint ours white and give it to them if it made Hux realize what the rest of us already know. So that come next spring he’s not sitting right where I am now. Heartbroken and alone.
“Explain something to me,” Anton says, spinning on his bar stool to face me.
Not now, Anton …
I lift a single eyebrow at brother number three, already skeptical of whatever he’s going to ask. Hux might be the kid smack-dab in the middle of the seven of us, but Anton is the one with the feral middle-child energy. And he knows how to use it.
“How’d this bitch even know?”
Good fucking question…
I shrug. “No idea. Luck, I think.” I’ve never seen her at a town event before, not that she’s been on my radar, but my current working theory is that she showed up to the Nativity lighting because Percy specifically mentioned seeing everyone there that morning, and she wanted to make sure she was seen to be in his good graces. “But the fact that she snapped a photo of us sneaking behind the church doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for debate.”
“Something still isn’t sitting right about this,” he says.
No shit. Thanks for that, Anton. A whole hell of a lot still isn’t sitting right with this one. Then again, I’m armpit deep in it. Still, the math isn’t mathing here. There’s too much going on, and I can’t figure out how all the pieces fit.
Heartache doesn’t exactly make for a clear head either.
“Not that you asked me,” Hux starts.
“You’re right, I didn’t,” I snark, throwing a look his way.
I didn’t ask any of them anything. Willa was the one who sent out the alert via the sibling group text—how she knew is anyone’s guess—leading everyone but Jace and Ewan to jump in. I’m sure when the two of them get back from their hunting trip and check their messages, they’ll weigh in as well.
He seems unperturbed, that nonconformist, I-couldn’t-give-a-shit attitude proudly on display. “But that bitch is hiding something. Why else choose that moment to say something?”
It might not have been an opinion I asked for, but it is one that I agree with and something I’ve been thinking about on and off all day. If Teresa snapped that picture Monday night, what made her wait until that moment to out us? Especially if she’d really felt like I’d been treating people unfairly.
Her dislike of Margeaux was deeper than that. No, I don’t believe outing us was ever her intent. It was all about having something on Margeaux and using it as a threat.
But then something changed. I wish I understood what.
“So, whatcha gonna do on your vacation?” Anton pokes.
And there’s the instigator. Fucker…
“I’m not on vacation,” I snap.
“It’s kinda like a vacation.”
Milo scrunches his face, shaking his head no. See, he gets it. Administrative leave is not a vacation. It’s like death row. Just sit and wait while they decide your fate.
Now you have to make a choice. One that defines the rest of your life.
Auggie’s words ring out in my brain, echoing off each angle, settling in my heart. The truth is weighing on me more now than it did earlier. Because now I know the answer.
Margeaux is my choice.
I look up at Milo, studying him. He stares back, curiosity in his eyes, our silent conversation not going very far.
Love makes a man do funny things. Conceptually I’ve always known this. I’ve heard my parents’ story. I witnessed Nash make a fool of himself for my sister. I held Milo back as he and Brandt almost beat the shit out of each other when Brandt found out about his best friend and sister. But understanding never really took root.
Until now.
“California’s not so bad, right?” I ask, knowing there is no way he’ll follow my thought process.
“So I hear. Never been.”
I nod, pushing up from my stool. I’d stop to explain, but I’m not sure that my thoughts even fully make sense to myself right now, much less if I tried to articulate them. All I know is that I need to get out of here. I need to get back to the one person who can make sense of all of this.
Details can be figured out later. Right now, the only important thing is getting my girl back. There’s little I can do on a professional level right now. But this…this I can control. Sort of.
Teresa only wins if we lose our jobs and we break up. She won’t get both.
I need to get back to Hayes House. Need to show Margeaux that I’m here for her. Show her that I’m not giving up on us.
Turning to go, I stop dead.
My heart skips a beat, sending my pulse stuttering through me, all my thoughts jumbling like bumper cars, trying to straighten themselves out. Standing before me is the last person I expected to see in Pour Decisions tonight.
Margeaux.
“This seat taken?” she asks, casually gesturing to the open spot between Anton and me.
“Depends,” I choke out.
I’m seeing things. I have to be. I want to reach out and grab hold of her, but I stop myself, afraid that she’s a figment of my imagination. Or that she’s not here for the reason I want her to be.
“Totally fair.” Taking a step closer to me, she smiles, her green eyes glassy with emotion. “Let me assure you, I have absolutely nothing to sell, and even if I did, I’m a horrible saleswoman. I have no questions regarding your relationship with the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But I am damn good at woman-splaining things. Like, damn good .”
I choke out a laugh, loving her answer. It’s so perfectly her .
“And hitting on me?”
“In the spirit of full disclosure, yes, that is part of my plan.”
That’s all it takes. Any composure I thought I could keep is gone, the need to hold her in my arms and tell her how much I love her taking over.
I reach out, grabbing ahold of her, pulling her into me completely. I engulf her into me, inhaling her sweet scent as she leans in, sinking into me even more.
All is right with the world. We’re exactly where we belong.
I hold her like this for a long moment, losing track of time and space, letting it all fade away. Nothing else matters. She’s back in my arms again.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper into her hair.
“What?” She pulls back and looks up at me, her eyes still glassy, but this time full of the same love I’m feeling. “You don’t owe me an apology. You’re not the one who went into full-on Miss Independent mode, pushing away the man she loves, thinking she was protecting us both. But I wasn’t. I was taking the easy way out.”
“Maybe the easy way is the best way,” I tell her, gently swiping at a tear as it slips down her cheek. “If you want to take Dexter up on his offer, we can.”
“We…” she whispers.
“We,” I repeat, tightening my grip on her. “We’re a team, you and me. Although, I might be a risky proposition right now. Could be unemployed here soon.”
Margeaux giggles, a light shining through her teary eyes. “If ever there was a man who is worth the risk, it’s you, Gus. Personally, professionally, all of it. I love you.”
Fireworks burst around us, those three little words casting a magic spell.
Unable to hold myself back, I yank her into me, lifting her into the air, finding her lips. Her kiss is soft, strong, and so full of everything I need that I immediately give in, losing myself in it. As her arms wind around my neck, I flex my hands against her ass, holding on tighter as her legs wrap around me, caught in a give-and-take that consumes both of us. One that backs up those three little words we gave to each other. One that says everything our words can’t. One that bonds our hearts together.
Wiggling in my arms, she grinds her core against me, and I groan. Then I remember where we are.
“Careful there, pretty girl, we’re in public,” I playfully scold.
“Just making up for all those times I haven’t been able to kiss you since I moved here.”
“Pretty sure that’s my line.”
I deepen the kiss, holding nothing back, then I pull back, lightly holding on to her bottom lip with my teeth for a long second, before finally letting go. Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, I smile, watching as her cheeks pinken. That smile is all the love and comfort I need.
I am hers. She is mine. The rest of the world be damned.
“You two done making out in my bar?” Milo hollers, cutting through the moment.
Including my brother. Right now, he can be damned the most.
“Welcome to the Hayes family, pretty girl.”