20. Conrad
CHAPTER TWENTY
Conrad
“Here you guys go,” our favorite barista, Emery, says, holding out coffees for Brooks and me to grab. “Hopefully this will help,” she adds, laughing.
I guess we look worse than I thought. I haven’t slept on the couches in the back room at the warehouse in a few years, since I got so mad at Brooks one night I couldn’t bear to be in the same house as him for a few hours.
Apparently, I’m too old for that now.
“My neck hurts,” Brooks groans, trying to give himself a massage as we move toward the door of Peak Brews.
“Let’s just hope it was worth it,” I grumble, taking a much-needed sip of my Americano.
“Oh, I think it was,” Brooks says. I turn to look at him, and he’s pointing at the glass door.
Through it, I can see Austin walking toward the coffee shop. A smile we only see when Evelyn is around is plastered on his face, but Evelyn is nowhere in sight.
He steps through the door, seeing us standing there. His smile falters. Shit.
He runs his hand down his face. “I thought I’d be able to get some coffee in me before I had to talk to you guys,” he grumbles. “Give me a minute.”
He moves to the counter, ordering what I’m assuming is a black coffee from Emery. Brooks and I find a table in the corner while he waits for his drink.
With it in hand, he makes his way toward us. He only gets one sip in before Brooks pounces.
“So?”
“So, what?” he grumbles with his usual grumpiness, but I can sense the air of calm around him this morning. It’s different.
“Austin, you’re killing me here,” my brother groans impatiently.
“I’ll try,” he says quietly.
“What do you mean?” I ask, trying not to let too much hope spark to life.
“I mean I’m willing to try… this.” His hand motions between the three of us. “And her.” His eyes soften when he mentions her.
“Are you sure?” I ask.
He nods. “Yeah, I’m sure. I can’t say I’m never going to get jealous or that I’m going to be good at this, but for her, I’ll do my best. I can’t lose her, and if this is what will make her happy…” He shrugs. “I don’t hate you guys, so that helps, too.” He smirks at us over the lid of his to-go cup.
Brooks leans over the table, smacking Austin’s back. He pulls him in for a hug over the side of the table. “Of course you don’t hate us.”
Austin rolls his eyes, leaning back in his seat.
“Just be honest with us and with her,” I say. He gives me a curt nod.
“Does she know?” Brooks asks.
Austin shakes his head. “No, last night we just focused on us. I figured we should all tell her that together.”
He’s already better at this whole sharing thing than he might think.
“My parents wanted to take Evelyn for a sleepover tonight, since they couldn’t see her yesterday. We could invite Hadley over for dinner,” Austin says, adjusting his ball cap.
Brooks’ eyes pop wide. “Shit. You know what I just realized? I’m the only one who hasn’t been with her yet.” He looks at Austin. “Wait, did you two fuck last night?”
Austin blinks at him a few times, then shrugs one shoulder. “I don’t know if I’d call it that, but yeah, we did.”
A cheesy smile takes over Brooks’ face, then it falls. “See? I was right. I’m the only one who doesn’t know what her pussy feels like squeezed around my cock.”
What the fuck? I wish I could buy him a filter or muzzle sometimes.
“Time to go,” Austin says, grabbing his coffee with one hand and Brooks’ arm with the other. He pulls him toward the door.
Brooks tries to say something else, but Austin glares at him until Brooks shuts up again.
Daddy Austin at his finest.
Brooks and Austin left the coffee shop together to arrange delivery for the custom piece that Austin picked up yesterday from the woodworking company a few towns over. I’m heading back to the warehouse to work on the next couple of contracts we have lined up.
I slow my truck, seeing a familiar SUV pulled over on the side of the road. Hadley’s standing on the edge of the dirt pull-off, looking out over the aspen trees covering the hillside. I pull in and park beside her.
She’s so lost in her thoughts that she doesn’t even realize I’m there until I wrap my arms around her waist and kiss her temple. She tenses for a beat before relaxing into me.
“Hey, Conrad.”
“How did you know it was me?”
“You smell like wood and fresh air.”
“Is that so?” I say, nuzzling into her neck.
“Mmhmm,” she hums, pulling the camera that’s in her hand up in front of her. She snaps a series of pictures with me wrapped around her.
I can only see the pictures for a moment on the small screen before she moves on to the next, but it doesn’t take long to realize how talented she is.
“Have you always liked photography?”
“Yeah. My mom got me my first camera when I was eight, I think.”
“And it makes you happy?”
Her head tilts to the side for a moment as she thinks about it. “It does.”
“Then you should keep doing it. I like seeing you happy.”
She spins in my hold until she’s looking up at me. We were going to text her to ask her to come over for dinner and maybe spend the night, but this seems better.
“Do you want to come over for dinner tonight? Evelyn is having a sleepover with her grandparents. She’s even taking Nova with her, so it’ll be just us. We’d all like to talk to you.”
Her eyes dart all over my face, trying to figure out what our decision is. That’s not going to work, sweetheart.
“Okay, I’ll be there,” she says.
“Six work for you?” I ask.
She nods. With a quick kiss to her lips, I step back. I have to, otherwise I’d keep kissing her for the rest of the day right here on the side of the road.
“See you tonight, sweetheart,” I tell her with a wink as I climb back into my truck and drive off.