Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
IRIS
“I am so glad you made it home for a game. Not that I don’t love Liv and Chloe, but you and I seem to have a little bit more in common,” Adrianna tells me as she slides into the seat next to me.
We are sitting up high in the owner’s box, watching the game with the windows open. From up here, you can see everything. I love it. I never thought I would be here, but meeting Max changed my life in more ways than one.
“Agreed. They have known each other a long time too, so that adds to their closeness. Still, you understand the stress of managing a whole company like I do,” I tell her.
“Sure do. I don’t know why, but now that I am CEO in title, I feel like the job has become more stressful even though I am doing the same things,” she tells me.
“Right? Same as me being the CFO. I think it’s because we are in the spotlight now. Before, I could hide behind Max, but now all eyes are on me.”
She laughs. “As if all eyes aren’t always on you. Girl, you have amazing fashion sense, and you are gorgeous. Dangerous combination.”
My cheeks heat at her words. I don’t get a chance to respond, though, because Chloe and Liv come to sit with us.
“What are we talking about?” Chloe asks, taking a swig from her beer.
“How gorgeous Iris is. You went on a date last night, right?” Adrianna asks.
I sigh. “I did, but it was a dud. I didn’t expect much, though. I haven’t been on a date in like ten years. Still, it was awkward.”
“Tell me about it,” Chloe says. “Dating in our thirties is like picking a fish out of a murky puddle. Nothing you get is as shiny as it was when you were in your twenties.”
“You are engaged to Brantley. Are you calling him a murky fish?” Liv asks her.
“He was a bit murky when I first grabbed him, but look at him now?” We all turn to look at the guys laughing by the bar. “He shines up pretty nice.”
We all chuckle, but my eyes linger on Max. He’s not a murky fish. He still shines as bright as the day I met him.
“If you stare any harder, he will catch fire,” Liv murmurs.
I tear my gaze away to see three knowing stares at me.
“So Max crashed your date. That’s what Ari said,” Liv teases.
“Where is the little rascal anyway?” I ask, trying to change the subject.
“Brantley had one of his employees take her down to watch warm-ups so we could have some adult time. She will be up here shortly. She had a lot of questions about your new boyfriend, so stop trying to change the subject. What really happened? I know Ari was exaggerating when she said Max wanted to fight the guy.”
I glance back over at Max and see him looking my way. He winks at me before focusing his attention back on his friends.
“Of course not,” I tell her, looking back to her.
“Ari saw me and came running over. She asked if I was joining them for dinner, but I told her I was out with a friend. Max introduced himself, then excused them to their own table. Max didn’t even care.
He asked me how the date was this morning and everything. ”
“I’m surprised he wasn’t more upset. I always thought he had a thing for you,” Adrianna muses.
“We are just friends. Always have been. There might have been a slight attraction when we met, but then he hired me, and those are lines you don’t cross.” I look back to the ice, hating how I want to cry right now.
“Uh, those lines do get crossed. Each one of us has crossed them,” Chloe snorts.
“Okay, but Liv, you had a baby with the dude before you worked with him. Doesn’t count.
Chloe, you were living with the guy and feeding him your special cucumbers and shit before he offered you a job.
Doesn’t count. Adrianna…okay you count, but it’s different.
There is more on the line than my job. Max is my best friend.
I can’t imagine my life without him,” I admit.
“Do you really think you will find a guy who is going to accept how close you and Max are?” Liv asks.
“They will be able to see what we see. What is holding you back?” Chloe adds.
“I went to him and told him I want a family. That I can’t wait any longer. I gave him a chance to speak up, and I thought he was going to, but then he said he supports me dating and will be here for me. I can’t make him love me.” I can hear the exasperation in my voice.
“Maybe he was scared…” Liv starts, but I cut her off.
“No. Don’t make excuses for him. I do that enough myself in my head.
I can make all the excuses in the world so that I can believe he loves me, but at the end of the day, he doesn’t love me the way I love him.
It hurts, but it’s the truth. I need to move on, and I need you to support me with that,” I tell them.
“We will. We do. What about Bethanie? Have you talked to her about it?” Adrianna asks me.
I forgot how much of a keen observer she is. I have only mentioned Bethanie a few times over the years, but she remembers. She is a truly great friend.
“I haven’t. She has so much going on now with her twins going into high school. I love her, and she will always be my friend, but we have drifted apart. Maybe that’s another reason I feel this need to catch up.”
It’s true. Bethanie and I grew up together.
She was my best friend all through school.
She got knocked up by her high school sweetheart at eighteen and had a shotgun wedding.
I have loved seeing all the updates and talking to her here and there, but those calls come less and less.
Now that I am contemplating my life, I wonder if I am the reason for that.
I never had any updates to give her on my life that weren’t centered around work, while she always talked about her family.
We lived in different worlds.
“Don’t push yourself too hard. It will happen when it’s meant to happen. In the meantime, we are here for all the horrid date stories,” Chloe says, reaching out to grab my hand.
The others do the same.
I might not have Bethanie as close as we once were, but I have these ladies, and for that I am blessed.
“Thank you.”
“Shit, is that Ari on the Zamboni?” I hear Brantley mutter.
We all look down at the ice. Sure enough, Ari is on the Zamboni waving as they clear the ice before warm-ups.
I smile warmly as I look back at Max. His eyes are on me.
I wonder if he can see the wanting in mine?
MAX
I thought tonight would be like any other night, but it’s not.
Ever since Iris told me that she wants a family, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. I am worried about what this means for us.
Not many know about all the social anxiety I live with in my life. Even Mason thinks I have gotten better over the years, but the truth is, it is all Iris. When she is with me, it is like she anchors me. She gives me something to cling to when I feel like it is becoming too much.
“What is wrong with you tonight?” Brantley asks, nudging my side.
“Nothing. Tired. Traveling is getting to be a bit much,” I lie.
Mason frowns. “You never wanted that job. Do I need to take it back?”
I shake my head. “You have a family now. I don’t. It makes more sense for me to go jet-setting around the world. Honestly, if being tired is my biggest complaint, then you need to smack me for being tone-deaf. I know I am lucky to get to travel the way I do.”
“That’s not it,” Eli tells the group. “It’s Iris, isn’t it?”
“Oh yeah. Ari mentioned she was on a date. When I asked Liv about it afterward, she said she thought Ari was exaggerating. Something about you wanting to punch the guy?” Mason adds.
I groan, wishing my adorable niece didn’t have such great ears.
“I mumbled under my breath that I could punch the guy in the face for the way he was looking at her. I didn’t like it. I didn’t know Ari caught it,” I admit.
The guys all burst out laughing.
“You’ve got it bad, my friend. The question is, why are you letting her date other people? It is obvious it should be you,” Brantley says, slapping my shoulder.
“It’s not that easy,” I grumble.
“Sure it is. You have already wasted ten years, bro. Are you going to let some other guy run away with her?” Mason asks.
Truth is, I think I am. Mason would never get it. He has always had it easy. Speaking to people never bothered him. He never had to talk to girls because they would come to him.
That is, until he met Olivia. She gives him a run for his money now, but even then, life seems to have settled quite well for him.
Me? I am crippled by these mental obstacles that I know are all made up by my own mind. He would never understand how hard it is to live life when you feel like your own brain is battling against you most days.
Sure, I make it look easy dealing with this shit, but it’s not.
The thought of losing Iris in any way petrifies me. Even making a move makes my heart feel like it is lodged in my throat.
I feel like I am stuck. I can’t move. There is no way out for me.
I take a swig of my beer before I answer him. “I want her to be happy. If that is with someone else, then I will stand next to her as her man of honor or whatever and watch the lucky bastard get to marry her.”
They all shake their heads, but it’s Eli that speaks up. “You can’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”
“We are at a hockey game. Not baseball,” I tease him, trying to get the attention off of me.
It doesn’t work. It never does with these guys. They are as bad as the girls gossiping over near the window.
“Max…” Mason starts.
I shake my head. “I don’t want to talk about it. I know you guys are trying to help, but not everything works out the way it should. Can we leave it at that?”
Mason nods. “Yeah. We can. When you are ready to talk, though, we are one number away. I don’t want you using The Williamson Group as an excuse either. We can make changes and find a way.”
“Actually, I was thinking about that. What do you think about seeing if maybe we can move our home base close to, well, home,” I tell him.
He thinks it over. “What would we do with the employees? We can’t move bases and leave most of them without jobs.”
I shake my head. “We still keep our offices there.”
My heart is racing in my chest. This is my brother, but still, the idea of having to speak up is starting to weigh on me. I glance over at Iris and find her looking back at me. A little of the pressure eases as I wink at her before giving the guys my attention once more.
“It could work,” Eli says. “Most of the reports and such are monthly. They could email them in for review, and then one of us could fly out once a month to meet in person. Those who are willing to relocate could come, but those who want to stay, could. Hell, even some of the jobs that don’t need to be done in person could become remote. ”
“Wait, what do you mean, ‘one of us’?” I ask, frowning.
“Brother, we are a team. It means you don’t always have to do the flying. We could pitch in. Well, me and Eli. Brantley here would fuck everything up,” Mason jokes.
“Fuck you. Sorry I’m not some corporate snob like you.”
I snort. “You run a hockey team as the owner. You are as corporate as we are, buddy. Hate to break it to you.”
“Fuck you too, man.” He shakes his head.
“Let’s talk about it more next week. Start putting feelers out. I can start looking for an office building here, but if you want to be here more, you know you and Iris have the offices at the hotel,” Mason tells me.
“I know. It was just a thought. We don’t need to rush into it.”
He smiles at me. “It would be good to have you home, brother. Ari needs her Uncle Max. You are her favorite this week.”
“What the fuck, man? How?” Eli grumbles.
“Not for long.” I laugh as I hear Brantley mutter, “Is that Ari on the Zamboni?”
Of course it is.
Points to Uncle Brantley. It means I have to step up my game.
As I look out the open window to see Ari, my eyes catch on Iris’s. She has such a look of wanting in her eyes.
I want to give her everything she deserves, but I don’t know how.