Chapter 10
TEN
Shane
Brady stood in the doorway, looking between his father and me. I did a mental scan of myself, wondering if it looked like I had just been kissed. I probably didn’t but, with the way Brady narrowed his eyes, I couldn’t help but wonder.
“Everything okay?” Brady asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah, we were talking about this collaboration.” Rhett walked up to the door. “We’ll meet soon, Shane.” He left the room, sucking all the air out of my lungs.
Collaboration. Right. I almost scoffed at that. We hadn’t once worked on this little project. I wasn’t complaining because it meant I was able to get Rhett to myself but, if we were supposed to help each other, we clearly needed to stop procrastinating.
“What was that about?” Brady asked, coming into the staff room and heading to the fridge.
“Exactly what your dad said.” But of course, Brady knew me well enough to know that it wouldn’t make sense for his father and me to chat in this room.
“Shane.”
“What?” I stared at my best friend. A guy I had known for years. A guy I used to fuck. I suddenly regretted sleeping with him. Could Rhett and I ever move past that?
“Is something going on?”
I swallowed hard. “Your dad and I are working on this project. I also offered to help him with his finances so he doesn’t have to pay an accountant.” It was an easy explanation and one I hoped Brady would accept.
“Okay.” Brady stared at me a little longer than what I liked. It made me nervous. Almost like he could see all of my secrets and how I had been lusting over his father for years.
“Why?” I was a sucker for punishment clearly because I wanted him to ask.
I wanted him to ask if I was fucking his father.
Or better yet, if his father was fucking me.
As much as it would be fun to try and control Rhett, I preferred it if he did the controlling.
When he completely took over my pleasure and gave me everything I had ever wanted in a sexual experience, I couldn’t move away from that.
“Come on, Shane. You act like I haven’t known you for years.
If something’s going on between you and my dad…
” When his words trailed off, I realized then that maybe Brady wouldn’t be okay with it.
Couldn’t say I blamed him. It was like dating your best friend’s sister.
It wasn’t allowed. I should have gone to him first. I should have told him I was interested in his father and asked if he would be okay if I tried pursuing a relationship or something with him but now it was too late. I couldn’t go back to how things were.
“Nothing is going on.” I hated lying to him but the fact that whatever Rhett and I were doing was still so new, there was no point in telling Brady about it.
Especially if this thing was only going to happen once.
Sure, Rhett said that he wanted me again, but he could have just been talking out his ass and hadn’t actually meant those words.
“You sure? I’ve never seen you alone with my dad and–”
“Listen, Brady. Your dad and I are working together. That’s it.
” For now, anyway. “I have to get back to work. Can you ask your dad to meet me in my office please?” I headed to my office instead of waiting for Brady to respond.
I didn’t like this. Guilt weighed heavily on my shoulders over the fact that I had lied to my best friend a handful of times.
If Rhett and I were just fucking for the sake of fucking, then I would end this.
When I was seated behind my desk in the small room, I dropped my head in my hands. What the hell was I doing? There were millions of other men in this world. Why did I have to go after my best friend’s father?
“Brady said you wanted me to meet you in here.”
My back stiffened. I didn’t even hear Rhett come into the room. “What are we doing?” I asked, lifting my head and meeting the hard stare of the man who had invaded my thoughts for years.
“Nothing at the moment.” Rhett tilted his head. “Why?”
“Because Brady is asking questions. He asked if there was something going on between you and me and I got a feeling that he wouldn’t be happy if there was.”
“He’ll have to get over it now, won’t he?”
“He’s my best friend, Rhett. I can’t lose him if…I just…I can’t.”
Rhett came around the desk and knelt in front of me. That single action made my eyes widen.
“Trust me, Shane.” He grabbed my hands. “This will be the only time I get on my knees when we’re not fucking.”
I swallowed hard, nodding.
“I like you.” He brought my hands up to his mouth and kissed my knuckles. “I like the way you make me feel. Yes, there’s an age difference between us but not by much. Guess it helps that I had Brady so young. And his mom loves you.”
“Would she think it’s weird?” I forgot about Brady’s mom. Fucking hell. It wouldn’t just be Rhett and me affected by this.
“No, she wouldn’t. I remember talking to her a while ago about you and Brady and how neither of you were happy, but you were both too pigheaded to see it. And she agreed.”
“Okay.” I pulled my hands from his grip and sat back in the chair. “I just don’t want anyone knowing about this yet,” I confessed. There. That was it. That was the truth.
Something flashed in Rhett’s eyes, but it had been so damn quick, I thought maybe I had been seeing things.
I thought for a moment that maybe I had hurt him with my truth. It wasn’t intentional but this thing between us was new. I didn’t want to ruin it or have it ruin my friendship with his son.
“Do you miss him?” Rhett asked, sitting back on his ass and leaning against the door.
“I—” I sighed, staring at him. “Yes, I do,” I finally answered. “But it was different with him. I had an itch that needed scratching, and I thought I could use Brady to help that feeling go away but it only made it worse.” I paused. “I’ve always had a crush on you.”
“Seriously?” Rhett raised an eyebrow. “You’ve always had a crush on me and yet, you still fucked my son?” His words came out laced with contempt. The bite in his tone sent a wave of anxiety rushing through my stomach. Couldn’t say I blamed him.
“I’m sorry.” I dropped my hands on my lap, looking down at them. I suddenly felt so damn small and like I had been scolded for eating a cookie before supper.
No...this was worse. So much damn worse.
“I don’t believe you.”
My head snapped up. “Excuse me?”
“I believe that you’re sorry, but I don’t believe that you’re over my son.” Rhett stared at me waiting for a response, but what the hell could I say?
“Then help me get over him,” I insisted.
He chuckled, shaking his head. “Sorry, baby. It doesn’t work that way. We can fuck and fuck but if you still have feelings for my boy...” His jaw clenched. “I don’t know if I can continue this, knowing you still want Brady.”
“What?” I shot to my feet. “No. Please. We’ve only just started sleeping together. We—he’s with Cam anyway. I could never come between them. I wouldn’t do that.”
“We haven’t slept together, Shane.” Rhett rose to his full height. “We fucked.” He closed that space between us, the scent of his cologne sending a shiver down my spine. “We fucked hard. It was fucking delicious too.” He tilted his head. “But I can’t compete with him.”
“I don’t have feelings for him. Not like that.” I didn’t. Did I?
“It’s not me you have to convince.” Rhett cupped the back of my neck and placed a soft peck on my forehead. “You need to convince yourself. Until then, we can’t move forward.”
He released me and gave me a sad smile before leaving my office.
Once I was alone, I slumped down into my chair.
My throat burned, my eyes welling with tears at what he had said.
I never thought I would ever become this emotional over the guy but clearly, what he said had registered something inside of me.
What the hell was I going to do?