24. Corbin
CORBIN
“ C orbin! Corbin!” At first, I thought the voice was in my head. There was certainly plenty of pounding there. Maybe I was just interpreting it as words. I realized it was Lance when he started shaking me as well as yelling my name.
“What? Jesus, did you have to wake me like that?”
“Answer your fucking phone. It’s rung like five times.”
I glanced outside and saw how light it was.
My stomach, which already felt terrible, threatened to revolt as I realized Beau was supposed to pick me up for work.
It was way past seven when I was meant to show up, and even if I was ready now, it was still a twenty-minute drive from Lance’s place in the warehouse district.
Lance picked up my phone and looked at the screen. “It’s Beau.”
I took the phone from him, but by the time I tried to answer the call, Beau had given up on me.
I ran a hand through my hair as I stared at my phone. “Shit, what do I do? He was supposed to pick me up at Remy’s at seven.”
“Call him back and tell him you’re here and you overslept.”
“You don’t understand. He… He’ll think… I don’t know if I can.”
“Corbin, I know you’ve got to have a hell of a hangover, but you keep telling me you want to be treated like a real grown-up. That means you have to face shit when you mess up.”
“Or distract people with a monkey and make them like you anyway?”
Lance rolled his eyes. “You’re welcome to develop whatever methods work for you. Right now, you need to call your man back.”
“He’s not my man. He’s…”
“Corbin!”
Lance was right. Continuing to ignore Beau was not the way to show him I deserved as much respect as Lance and Remy. It sure as hell wasn’t the way to show him that I… that I wanted to be the kind of man he’d want to be with, like really be with, like…
What the hell was I doing fantasizing like this? I needed to call him. He’d tell me off, crush my romantic dreams, and then I could move on. Because thinking that was all going to work out for me… That was stupid.
Beau answered almost immediately. “Corbin. Where the fuck are you?”
“I’m at Lance’s house.”
Beau blew out a long breath. “I take it you’re safe and sound then.”
“You were worried about me?”
“After what happened yesterday? Fuck yes, I was. I showed up and your car was there, but you weren’t, and you weren’t at the shop either. What was I supposed to think?”
“I figured you’d think I’d fucked off somewhere.”
“At first, I thought you’d overslept, but when you didn’t answer the door or my calls, I started to worry.”
“I’m fine. Lance called after you left last night, and we went out. He brought me back to his place and put me to bed. He had no idea I was supposed to be there, and I…”
“You didn’t take the responsibility to make sure you woke up and got ready on time.”
Beau sounded so disappointed. Instead of it making me angry the way it had before, it hurt. I pressed my hand against my eyes. I wasn’t going to cry. I wanted to tell him I was confused and frustrated and mixed up, but I didn’t know how to say that. I didn’t want to talk about it in front of Lance.
“Did you break other rules?” he asked. My breath caught, and I was glad he could be proud of me for not touching myself at least.
“No. I did exactly what you asked.”
Lance was in the next room, but I was sure he was still listening. He liked to stick his nose in everything.
“So you just got drunk enough to pass out before you were too tempted to get yourself off?”
“That wasn’t… I mean, yeah, but Lance asked if I wanted to go out.”
“You could’ve had one drink, maybe two, and come home so you’d be rested and ready when I came to pick you up.”
“Have you been waiting for me to show up at the shop?”
“No, I’m at your house. I’m still sitting in front of your gate. Tell me where Lance lives, and I’ll come get you.”
I frowned as I looked down at my phone. “You didn’t start calling me until?—”
“I ran into some shit myself last night, and I was running late.” His confession made me smile. “Where does Lance live?”
“Hang on. Let me make sure it’s okay with him if I send you here. He’s a little jumpy when people just show up.”
“Hurry up.” Beau’s voice was firm, but he didn’t sound angry.
He must approve of me checking with Lance.
It was the right thing to do, the mature thing to respect my brother’s privacy, to not think everything was about me.
It was just that for so long, it kind of had been.
I was tired of that. I was ready to really grow up and do things for myself instead of letting others do them for me.
Maybe that would be enough to show my brothers I’d changed.
“Hey, Lance?” When he immediately stepped back into the room, I knew I’d been right. “You were listening to everything, weren’t you?”
“That’s my job. I’m our eyes and ears. You know that.”
I didn’t bother to argue. “Beau wants to pick me up here. Is that okay?
Lance grinned. “I was going to offer to take you to work, but I like the idea of Beau coming here where I can interrogate him.”
“No. You can’t talk to him.”
“I need to see how he’s treating my baby brother.”
“No, please. I’ll just go out as soon as I see his car.”
Lance took the phone from me. I tried to grab it back, but Tony scolded me and swatted at my hand. “This is Lance. You can pick him up here.” He gave Beau his Julia Street address, then said, “Come to the door. We need to talk.”
“I don’t want any trouble,” I heard Beau say. “Corbin’s paying off a debt by working at the shop.”
“Be that as it may, I’d like to check on how that’s going.”
“Fine. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
Lance ended the call without giving me another chance to talk.
“This is what I mean when I say you and Remy treat me like a kid. I’m not some precious little virgin whose virtue you need to protect.”
“You’re my little brother, and I want to keep you safe.”
“You take me out to clubs and let me wander off with randos. Since when do you need to?—”
“This is different. Pop and Remington may not be ready to put you in charge of missions, but I’m confident you can hold your own against some rando from a club.
I’m not worried about who you hook up with, but this is more than that.
I don’t want you to get your heart broken.
Also, I want to scrutinize Beau’s loyalty a bit more.
Remington trusts him, and that means a lot, but you never know what secrets are going to come out. ”
“Leave him alone, Lance. I don’t need you checking into him. I don’t need you doing any of this. I had a problem. I found a way to solve it.”
“You’re working at the shop to solve the problem. That has nothing to do with the rest of it.”
“It’s my fucking business.”
“If Remington comes home and finds out I let you get yourself into trouble?—”
“You don’t let me do anything. I can get myself into trouble just fine.” I realized what I said and blew out a harsh breath. “You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I do, and that’s why I look out for you.”
How the hell was I ever going to change if they wouldn’t let me?
There was a knock at the door a few moments later. I tried to beat Lance there, but I didn’t manage it.
He answered the door with Tony on his shoulder, and before either of us could say anything, Tony started chattering away and holding out his hand as if he expected Beau to give him a treat. At least Beau had met the monkey, so he wasn’t as shocked as most people were to be greeted by Tony.
“Sorry, little guy. I don’t have anything for you.”
“Let’s talk out here for a moment,” Lance said. No way in hell was Lance going outside without me. I grabbed the door, struggling to wrench it from his hand.
“I’ll talk with you,” Beau said, “but anything you have to say, you can say it in front of Corbin. I know you may not like that he’s with me, but he’s an adult, and he can make his own choices.”
I gaped at Beau. Had he really said that? After I’d fucked up this morning, he was defending me?
Lance grinned. “Nice to hear you noticed. Come on in.”
Now I was staring open-mouthed at both of them. “What the fuck? Lance, you just said?—”
He grinned. “Revving you up is so fun.”
“Ain’t that the truth.” Beau fist-bumped him.
“Oh, hell no. The two of you are not going to gang up on me.”
“I do draw the line at incest,” Lance said. Beau made a strangled noise, and Lance just laughed. “Corbin gets chatty after several drinks.”
Beau turned to me. “You told him?”
I shook my head. “No. I just said that we… that I…”
“He needs someone like you who doesn’t give a damn who he is and doesn’t pamper him.”
I glared at Lance. “Wait. Last night, you said?—”
“Last night, I didn’t know if he respected you or if he was just looking for an easy way to solidify his relationship with our family.”
“What’s between me and Corbin has nothing to do with your family. It’s just about us.”
“And it’s none of your business, Lancelot.
I don’t need you interfering.” As thrilled as I was that Beau had stood up for me, I was nervous as fuck about leaving with him.
He was keeping his cool, but I knew he wasn’t happy I’d let things slip to Lance.
I hadn’t meant to, but I was feeling so mixed up, and Lance was easier to talk to than Remy.
I used to go to my mom with all my problems, but this… no way.
“I’m over an hour late for work, so any further discussion needs to happen later. You coming, Corbin?”
Damn, assertive Beau was so fucking sexy. “Yes. I’m… Yes.”
As I headed through the door, I turned and glared at Lance. “Not a word to anyone.” By anyone I really meant Mom, Pop, and Remington.
Lance mimed locking his lips and throwing away the key. Tony stared toward where Lance had gestured, trying to determine if Lance had thrown something for him.
“You better get him something,” I said. “He’s a terror when he thinks he’s been denied a treat.”