Chapter Fifteen
Justin stood in the break room with his arm around William’s waist while he listened to Maddox tell them all about the restaurant he and Emmanuel had gone to the night before.
“You guys should check it out. I really think you’ll like it.”
“I’m glad I found you boys together.” They all turned to see Isaac walking over to them. “I want you all to come for dinner tonight around seven, Emmanuel as well. I have some incredibly important news.”
“Sure,” Maddox said. “Em and I don’t have any plans for tonight.”
“Of course we’ll be there,” Justin answered for himself and William. But this really wasn’t what he wanted to be doing tonight. He had planned to order in and have a romantic picnic on the floor of William’s room. Then he’d progress things to bed. After he had him satisfied and relaxed, he would tell him that he loved him. He hoped like hell William felt the same way.
“Great,” Isaac said with a happy smile then heading in the direction of his office.
“I wonder what this big news is,” William mused.
“Whatever it is, he seems really happy about it,” Maddox put in.
***
“You both have an interesting look about you,” William said to his parents. “But I’m not quite sure how to describe it.”
“It’s excitement,” Emmanuel said.
“That’s precisely it.” Abigail nodded.
“And what are you guys excited about?” Justin asked.
Isaac looked at his wife with a smile then turned to his guests. “I’m retiring.”
There was a stunned silence at the table for a few minutes before Maddox spoke. “You’re doing what?”
“Retiring,” Isaac repeated. “Abby and I have decided that we’re tired of being jealous of your parents. We want to travel before we’re too old to enjoy it.”
“Wow.” William sounded completely shocked. “I had no idea you were planning something like this.”
“Sixty is too old to be working,” his mother said in answer.
“And now just felt like the right time,” Isaac added.
“I’m really happy for you guys,” Maddox told them. “But what about S&H?”
“I’ve given that a lot of thought, and I’m leaving my half of the company to Justin.”
“What?” Justin asked incredulously. There was no way he’d heard that right.
“Who better to run the company with Maddox?” Isaac asked.
“He’s right, Justin. You practically run it with us as it is.” Maddox was nodding and smiling.
“But—” Justin tried but was cut off.
“No buts,” Isaac told him firmly. “I’ve already had my lawyer start the paperwork. All that’s missing is your signature.”
“Have you figured out how much longer you’ll be working?” Maddox asked.
“Something like six months. It shouldn’t take long to get Justin up to speed on what I do. It’s not like he doesn’t know 90 percent of it anyway.” Isaac laughed, causing Maddox and Abigail to as well. “Then there’s the house, and RV, and the insurance, et cetera, et cetera.” He made a rolling motion with his hand.
“I can’t wait,” Abigail excitedly put in. “It’s going to be so much fun.”
“Where are you going first?”
“Have you picked out your RV yet?”
“Do you have a list of the places you want to go?”
“You should talk to my parents.”
Justin heard Maddox and Emmanuel talking to the Harper’s, but their voices were muffled, and he just wasn’t able to focus on them. His ears were ringing loudly, What the hell was happening? Isaac was giving him S&H. His mind was racing, and he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. He looked over at William. He hadn’t said a word since his father’s announcement. The look on his face was unreadable. Justin put his hand on William’s knee, but he moved it and stood.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’ve had a terrible headache all day, and the excitement only seems to have made it worse. I think I need to lay down for a while,” he said. Justin immediately stood as well. “You don’t need to come. Stay and enjoy dinner.”
“That’s not going to happen.” Justin highly doubted that William was sick. This was all about what his father had done. He took William’s hand and led him out to the pool house. Inside, he forced him to look at him. “Are you okay?”
William pulled away from him. “Did you know?” He sounded angry.
“No, of course not.”
William scoffed at his answer. “Is this why you hooked up with me? To get your hands on my father’s company?”
“So now we’re just a hookup to you?” Justin asked through clenched teeth.
“What else could we have been?”
Justin’s heart was breaking. He thought that they had something serious, that they were a real couple. Apparently, that hadn’t been the case for William. “Will—”
“I can’t even look at you.” William sounded disgusted.
“Why? Because I’m getting a company you didn’t give a shit about until you ruined your life?”
“Get out,” William sneered. The look William was giving him broke Justin’s heart. He’d never been looked at in such an astonishingly angry way. William looked like he hated him.
“Gladly.” Justin took one last look at William and shook his head. He should have known that he couldn’t trust him. He turned and walked out, slamming the door behind him. Tears stung the corners of his eyes as he quickly made his way out to his truck. He got behind the wheel and covered his face with his hands. What the hell had just happened? How did things go to shit so quickly? His mind raced as he replayed their entire relationship. He had no idea how long he sat there, only that he was startled by Maddox’s knock on his window.
“You okay, man?” Maddox asked when he rolled the window down.
“I think William and I just broke up.” Justin couldn’t help the slight tremble in his voice.
“Why don’t you come home with us?” Emmanuel suggested.
“I don’t know man, I just—”
“Talking will help,” Maddox cut him off. But all Justin wanted to do was be alone to cry. That, or go back in there and make William talk to him. Maddox took out his phone to send a text. A reply came back quickly. “Henry is on his way,” he said. “You can follow us.” Maddox took Emmanuel’s hand and they got into his Mustang.
Justin felt that he had no choice but to go with them. Henry was waiting in the parking lot of Maddox’s apartment building when they arrived. Maddox ushered them all inside then brought over a round of beers. For a while, they all sat there, his friends staring at him as he drained his first one. Magically, another appeared in his hand.
“Tell me everything,” Henry demanded.
“Isaac left the company to me instead of William, so he basically called me a gold-digging hookup.”
“Ouch.” Henry patted Justin’s shoulder. “I totally didn’t see this coming. You guys seemed solid.”
“I thought so too. But the way he looked at me tonight…fuck.” Justin covered his face and shook his head. How the hell could this be happening? He chugged most of his beer then took a heavy breath then continued. “It was like he couldn’t stand me, like I completely disgusted him. He’s never looked at me like that, not even during the worst moments of our relationship.” Maddox brought him another beer, and he took a long drink. “I guess I thought we were more than what we actually were.”
“I don’t know. I’ve watched you guys together. I don’t think what I saw could be faked,” Maddox interjected, sitting next to Emmauel and wrapping his arm around the man’s shoulders.
“I honestly thought he’d changed.” Henry sighed.
“I think that he has,” Emmanuel offered his opinion. “Of course, I don’t know the full story, but I’ve been able to piece together enough to figure out what happened. And I think that this is an extenuating circumstance. S&H is his father’s life’s work, and, as an only child, I’m sure he believed he would inherit it. Isaac giving it to you must have been a great blow to his ego and made him feel inferior. It was like his father saying that he’d never be good enough to take over. It could have also caused some feelings of parental rejection as well.”
“You think so?” Justin looked at him skeptically, and Emmanuel nodded.
“Yeah. While I couldn’t be happier with Isaac’s decision, I agree with Em,” Maddox told them. “I saw him. He looked completely floored then his face went blank.”
“I don’t even want the damn company,” Justin huffed.
“Yes, you do.” Henry shook his head. “You just don’t want to hurt him. You need to ask yourself a question, is he worth giving up this life-changing opportunity?”
“Of course he is,” Justin said immediately.
“Then you need to make sure he knows that,” Emmanuel told him.
“I know I handled the whole situation wrong. I wasn’t thinking straight. I have to go talk to him,” Justin decided, jumping up then sitting back down just as quickly when the world spun. “Fuck.” He was drunk. A quick glance at his friends told him they all were as well. How was he supposed to get to William?
Emmanuel picked up Justin’s cell phone from the coffee table, handing it to him. “Call him.”
William didn’t answer on the first attempt, or the second, or the third. “Please pick up, Will,” Justin begged when his voicemail clicked on for the fourth time. His hand tightened around his phone, and his eyes closed. Every unanswered ring made him sick to his stomach.
“Try texting,” Henry suggested.
Justin nodded, taking several deep breaths to compose himself while trying to figure out the right words. What could he say to William to make this right? Please talk to me, baby, he sent. We can work this out. He leaned his head back against the couch.
“Here, Justin.” Justin looked up to see Emmanuel offering him a cup of coffee. “Maybe this will help.”
“Thanks.” He took a few sips, all the while looking down at his phone, waiting for it to buzz. It never did. The silence in the room was deafening. He felt tears sting the corners of his eyes as the seconds ticked by. Please, baby, he tried again. Fuck. This was not the way today was supposed to end. He was supposed to be in William’s bed, with the man wrapped around him. William should be looking at him with soft satisfied eyes and a lazy smile. He should be telling William how much he loved him, and how there was no way he could ever live without him. “Why won’t he answer?” Even he could hear the pain in his voice.
“It’s going to be okay, Justin.” Maddox patted his shoulder. “He probably needs to cool down for a while. Why don’t you catch some shut-eye for a few hours, then you can go see him. You and Henry can crash on the couch.”
Justin shrugged then stood to move out of the way so Maddox could pull out the bed of the sofa sleeper. Emmanuel appeared with spare pillows and blankets. In a daze, he kicked out of his boots while watching Henry help Emmanuel make the bed. He took off his dress shirt, leaving him in pants and a tee.
“Sleep will help.” Maddox put his hand on Justin’s shoulder. Justin nodded.
“It’s all going to be okay,” Emmanuel told him.
“Thanks, guys.” What else could he say? They were probably right anyway. He and William needed some time to cool down. That didn’t mean he liked it though.
“Yell if you need anything. Good night, guys.” Maddox took Emmanuel’s hand, tugging him in the direction of their room.
“Good night,” Emmanuel echoed.
Justin sighed heavily before climbing into his side of the bed that Henry already occupied. He pinched his nose against the pressure of the intense migraine that he knew was on its way. “These were definitely not the sleeping arrangements I had in mind for tonight.”
“No, I imagine they weren’t.”
Justin glanced over at Henry, who was laying on his right side facing him. “I was going to tell him that I love him after dinner.” Justin shook his head. “I was going to do it last night, but it didn’t work out. What if I never get to tell him?” He felt like his chest was going to split open as he whispered the question.
“You can’t think like that.” Henry’s hand landed on his shoulder. “You can talk to him in the morning, and work everything out.”
“Damn, I hope so.” Justin swallowed over the lump in his throat. “I don’t think I can live without him.”
***
It was around three in the morning that Justin finally felt like he could function. He hadn’t slept, but he’d definitely sobered up. He looked over at Henry, who was sleeping peacefully at his side, and smiled. He really did have the best friends. Slowly he slid out of bed then pulled the cover up over Henry. After finding his boots, he sat down on a dining chair to put them on, doing his best to be as quiet as possible. He was out the door as soon as he was done, locking it behind him.
In his truck, Justin took off for his house. He’d lain awake for hours, trying to figure out how to make this right. He decided that he needed to talk to Isaac before he could talk to William. That meant, he had to wait. He wanted nothing more than to race over to the Harper’s, beat down William’s door, make him see that this was all a misunderstanding, then tell him that he was the greatest love of his life. Fuck. He didn’t want to wait. But it wasn’t like he could wake Isaac at this time. Could he? This was incredibly important after all. What was the worst that could happen if he showed up on their doorstep this early? Isaac might be a little grumpy, but he was sure he’d understand. This was way too important to wait any longer than it already had. Justin turned around, heading for William’s instead. He parked his truck in the driveway, looking up at the dark house. Pounding on the door was a horrible idea, so instead, he took out his phone.
“Is everything okay, Justin?” Isaac picked up on the second ring.
“I’m sorry to bother you so early, sir, but you and I need to talk.”
“Of course, son. When—”
“I’m at your front door,” Justin cut him off.
“I’ll be down in a minute.”
Justin got out of his truck then went up to the porch while taking several deep breaths and trying to organize his thoughts. It took only seconds for the door to open.
“Come in, my boy.” Isaac wore a dark-brown robe over white-and-blue-striped pajamas. His eyes were tired, yet his smile was warm and welcoming as always.
“I’m sorry to wake you, but this is important.” Justin stepped into the house, following Isaac over to the living room.
After flipping on a lamp, Isaac sat in the recliner closest to the fireplace. He motioned for Justin to sit on the couch. “So, what’s going on?”
“I want to let you know how much it means to me that you believe in me enough to want me to take over your life’s work. You have always been so generous to me and my family. But…” Justin shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. “This is one offer I can’t accept. I can’t take control of S&H.”
“What?” Isaac sounded incredibly shocked. “Why not?”
“I want you to give it to William,” Justin said instead of answering.
“But William doesn’t want it.” Isaac’s brow knitted. “He never has. I’ve known since he was a child.”
“Is everything okay, dear?” Abigail came into the living room, taking a seat on the arm of her husband’s chair.
“Justin doesn’t want S&H,” Isaac told his wife.
“What? Why?” She sounded as shocked as he had, and they both stared at him.
“Because I’m in love with your son, and I’d rather die than hurt him. We pretty much broke up after your announcement.” Justin had to pause to clear his throat before he could continue. “And in no way is that what I want. Nothing is more important to me than him. No promotion, no opportunity, no adventure is worth losing William.” He hated the tremble he heard in his voice. “He’s your son, it should be his anyway. Change whatever you have to because I’m not signing anything anyway. The only thing I need, or even want, is William by my side.” Of that he was completely certain.
“Of course we want William to take over, but we didn’t want to saddle him with something he would consider a burden,” Isaac explained. “If he really wants it, it’s his.”
“Did he really break up with you?” Abigail asked in concern.
“I’m not sure.” Justin sighed. “Some pretty harsh words were exchanged, and he threw me out. I have to go talk to him, straighten things out.”
“Go,” Isaac told him. “I want both of you to come back here once you fix things.”
Justin nodded before going out the back door to the pool house. He knocked loudly on the door. He didn’t really expect William to answer, so he tried the knob to find it open. “William,” he called as he walked inside. Something was off. “William,” he called again. There was no reply. On the counter, he spotted William’s phone and keys, so the man must be home. Maybe he was in the shower. As he passed the open closet, he froze. It was empty. “William,” he called frantically as he ripped open the door to the empty bathroom. “Oh fuck.” His heart felt like it dropped into his stomach. Tears filled his eyes when he found all the dresser drawers empty. “William,” he whispered, dropping to his knees. William was gone. And he had no idea where the man was or how to find him. Bile rose in his throat, and he had to race to the bathroom before he puked all over the carpet. His thoughts were racing and scattered as he purged the contents of his stomach. His world was spinning. This cannot be happening. The love of his life couldn’t just be gone.
Justin stood on wobbly legs. He only made it to the bedroom when they gave out as his heart broke in half. With trembling hands, he took out his phone. He could barely see to type through his heavily flowing tears. It was a group message to Maddox and Henry.
I need you. William is gone. Justin dropped his phone then crawled over to the bed to lay face down so that he could cry into a pillow that still smelled like the man he loved.