Chapter 7 #2
Now that he reflected on it, she’d been quieter, more subdued this week, sneaking her phone out to text when she thought he wasn’t looking.
Rafe had been curious to know if JT had called, but he hadn’t felt like it was his place to pry.
No. That wasn’t the truth.
He hadn’t thought he needed to ask. He assumed if the guy had called, Keeley would have told him. For God’s sake, she’d been telling him everything since the day she started working for him.
Every dating horror story.
Minute-by-minute recounts of her clubbing adventures with her girlfriends.
Even a way-too-detailed synopsis of the latest season of Big Brother.
Keeley had been an open book about every aspect of her life ever since accepting the job, the two of them sitting together for hours, going through box after box after box, while he listened to her stories.
So the fact she’d been silent about JT bothered him.
There was something about the guy he didn’t trust, but he was hard-pressed to figure out what exactly it was. The man seemed nice enough, but…
He tried to brush it off as concern for Keeley—after all, the guy had hurt her—and not jealousy.
He sighed heavily.
Yeah, right.
Lately, Rafe had been getting damn good at avoiding conversations he should be having.
Like asking Keeley point-blank about her intentions regarding JT.
Like talking to Gio about where he saw this thing with Keeley going.
Though that discussion was going to be hard. There was no question he and his friend both wanted her, and sharing wouldn’t be an issue because they’d done that before.
But what happened if Keeley wanted more from them?
Rafe didn’t do commitment. So what happened if he walked away, and Gio stayed…for good?
Wait. If he walked away?
Shouldn’t it be when he walked away?
Suddenly, his palms were sweating, his chest was tight, his heart was racing.
What the fuck?
He was actually on the verge of a goddamn panic attack. Over a relationship? He took several deep breaths. If he needed more proof that he wasn’t cut out for commitment, this reaction solidified it for him.
He looked at Kayden, fighting hard to calm down, to harden his resolve.
“How are the plans for your trip coming along?” Rafe asked, desperately seeking a distraction. For him and for Kayden. Because he wasn’t about to let his friend see him freaking out.
The diversion helped, as he was able to control his breathing again after a few minutes.
Rafe listened with half an ear as Kayden detailed the upcoming hike he and Aldo were doing on the Appalachian Trail.
The two men planned to hike the Long Trail portion of the AT in Vermont.
And while he really was interested in his friend’s trip, his thoughts—and gaze—kept returning to where Keeley had disappeared with Liza, wishing he could hear what they were talking about.
“So all in all,” Kayden said, wrapping up, “we’ll be gone three weeks. Leaving at the ass-crack of dawn tomorrow morning. Longest vacation I’ve ever taken in my life, and I’ve been living for it. Aldo and I have become experts on dehydrating shit. The other night we dehydrated hot sauce.”
Rafe rolled his eyes. Kayden put Cholula on everything.
And Rafe did mean everything, including pancakes, ice cream, and broccoli.
“I’d like to say it sounds like a great time, but the only way I’d willingly trek through the woods for weeks on end was if I heard the banjo music growing louder in the distance. ”
They both laughed.
The rest of the guys who’d been helping with the move walked in.
“That’s the last of it,” Liza’s brother, Elio, said.
Rafe had been surprised when Elio showed up early this morning, ready to help them lug boxes.
Elio’s visits to Philly were few and far between when hockey season was in full swing.
A forward on Baltimore’s team, Elio spent months on the road.
However, his team was playing the Flyers tomorrow at home, and good friend that he was, he’d agreed to help with the move, claiming if it was the only way he could get some quality time with his buddies, he’d take it.
“I didn’t realize I’d acquired so much crap over the years,” Gio confessed.
“You’ve always been a packrat,” his twin reminded him. “I told you it’s easier to throw stuff away before the move.”
“I thought I’d put a pretty good dent in it, but in the end, I ran out of time. We’ve been busting our asses all week to finish the Zinczenko project,” Gio grumbled.
“Damn, I’m glad that job is done,” Luca agreed.
“Tell me about it,” Tony said, adding another box to the stack he and Kayden had just created in the foyer. “For the longest time, I couldn’t decide if Mrs. Zinczenko was an exacting taskmaster or just fucking crazy. In the end, I didn’t give a shit. Just wanted the project to be over.”
“Anybody notice the way Rhys always gets out of helping us move?” Luca pointed out.
Tony grinned. “He always says the same thing. When people stop getting sick on the weekend, he’ll be here.”
Tony’s roommate and partner, Rhys, was a general practitioner. A compassionate doctor, he was devoted to his patients, so he worked most weekends and took lots of late-night calls.
“He gets a bye,” Rafe said. “Just means more beer and pizza for the rest of us.”
Keeley and Liza walked out to join them, Cricket dancing around their feet. From the sound of dishes clattering in the kitchen, it appeared Gianna—God bless her—was still unpacking boxes and combining Gio’s plates and utensils with Grandpa Albert’s.
The kitchen, in direct opposition to the rest of the house, held very little.
A simple man who entertained infrequently, Grandpa hadn’t had more than four place settings, and very few appliances, apart from the standard stove, fridge, and microwave.
He didn’t even have a dishwasher, which was rocketing very close to the top of the renovations list. Rafe hated washing dishes by hand.
With the addition of Gio’s dishes, Rafe was looking forward to the larger stock because, while it would mean a bigger stack of dirties in the sink, it also meant more time between washing.
Unless he could foist that chore off on Gio, a previously unconsidered perk to having a roommate.
“I ordered the pizza twenty minutes ago,” Keeley said. “So it should be here soon.”
“Yes! Pizza. Manna from the Gods,” Elio said, wrapping his large arm around Liza’s shoulders and ruffling her hair playfully. She tried to shake him off, bitching the entire time, but Elio was strong and obviously didn’t get enough time to terrorize his younger sister.
“Asshole,” Liza said, finally pushing him away. Her grin proved her complaints weren’t serious. “Go back out on the road.”
“I’m afraid I’m not staying for pizza,” Keeley said. “Got an appointment to get a manicure.”
“A manicure?” Liza asked, drawing out her tone in a do-tell way.
Keeley’s nonchalant, too-casual attitude sounded alarm bells in Rafe’s mind. “Yeah. My nails look like shit. I called the place I like this morning, they had an opening, so I took it.”
Liza narrowed her eyes in response but didn’t question Keeley further.
“Then I need to head home. I have a mountain of laundry that refuses to do itself for some reason.”
Rafe didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize Liza wasn’t buying Keeley’s story—and that Rafe wasn’t the only person Keeley had stopped sharing her life details with.
“Wanna go out for margaritas later?” Liza asked.
Keeley shook her head. “No. I’ve been going out too much lately. Really just need a night at home to relax. Rain check?”
“Okay. Sure.” Liza looked as lost as he felt. Keeley wasn’t one to ever turn down an opportunity to go out.
Kayden groaned. “Seriously, Kee? You’re leaving? This is our last day together before I take off for the trail tomorrow.”
Keeley kissed her brother’s cheek. “So we’ll say goodbye to each other now instead of two hours from now. Give me a hug.”
Kayden wrapped her up in his embrace, squeezing her so tightly, she said, “I can’t breathe!” The grin on her face said she didn’t have a problem with that.
“I’m going to miss you, kiddo,” he said, releasing her.
She patted her brother’s chest, pure mischief on her face. “I’d like to say the same, but three weeks without you stalking me on Find My Friends…texting me all hours to ask me where I am and who I’m with…sorry, bro, but freedom is going to taste very sweet.”
“You know there’s Wi-Fi on the trail,” he said. “I checked.”
Aldo laughed, then got a dig in on his hiking partner. “Don’t worry, Keeley. It’s sporadic as fuck.”
Kayden gave his best friend an exasperated look. “Why would you tell her that?”
“It’s like you don’t know me at all, man.” Aldo and Kayden shared the same close friendship Rafe and Gio did, though Aldo was hell when it came to practical jokes and teasing. Rafe wasn’t sure how Kayden, the eternal straight guy, put up with it as well as he did.
“Thanks for the info,” Keeley said, digging the knife in deeper as she stepped over to Aldo, hugging him as well. “You take care of Kayden for me. Chase away all the bears and snakes and bugs. He’s delicate.”
Kayden muttered a few choice words as the rest of them laughed.
Aldo gave her a quick kiss on the top of the head. “You got it, Kiwi. I’m on the job. Nothing will hurt him while I’m around.”
“You two realize I’m a grown-ass man, right?” Kayden muttered.
Keeley tapped her brother’s cheek playfully. “And now you know how I feel. Have fun. Don’t wipe your ass with poison ivy.” She gave him one more big hug.
“Rafe, I’ll see you and Gio on Monday.” Keeley offered him a hug as well. He kept it short since her brother was watching.
She turned, and was nearly to Gio, when she suddenly stumbled forward. Gio was quick to catch her.
“Goddammit, Albert! Stop pushing me,” Keeley said, laughing.
Gio gripped her upper arms, steadying her. “One of these days you’re going to have to stop blaming Rafe’s grandpa for your two left feet.”