36. Business as Usual
Chapter thirty-six
Business as Usual
SILAS
Our phone call was terse. Noah was getting less and less concerned about covering up his feelings. Which was both good and bad for me.
“Let’s meet now. We can smoke and fuck,” he said, his cunning little undertone music to my ears.
“I can’t,” I hissed in frustration. It would be today that he’d call me, when I was held hostage by my obligations.
“Hmm? Why?”
“It’s Jace. He and I are securing a sale today from a big investor. It’s six figures and I can’t miss it.”
“What kind of sale?”
I hesitated.
“Stocks?” Noah asked playfully, and I smiled at the inside joke.
“No, Noah. Not stocks.”
“Well, will you have any…samples…leftover?”
Instantly, I clutched the phone tighter to my ear. Noah was way too smart for his own good sometimes. “You know I can’t do that.”
“Fuck’s sake, Silas, it was a joke. Don’t crease your tie.”
Something in me told me that it was not, in fact, a joke.
“You sure you can’t stop on your way? I can make it quick, I promise.” I could picture him licking his pretty lips from the other side.
“I wish I could.”
“Ah. Some other time then.” The disappointment in his voice was palpable.
“Hey,” I said. I was unable to stop myself.
“Yeah?”
“Don’t get me wrong, I’d much rather be with you.” This was the truth.
Noah exhaled audibly on the other end of the line.
“I get it, Silas. This is important to your uncle and your business, so you have to go. We were just going to fuck anyways. It can wait.”
His labeling didn’t sit well with me. His statement that we were “just going to fuck” bothered me, but I wasn’t sure why. I knew Noah well enough that when he was pissed, he would twist the knife a bit. He chose to vent his anger in deliberate, passive aggressive ways.
“You’re upset,” I added, wishing I could figure him out. Or at least figure out what I needed to do to rectify the situation.
“No, I’m not. I’ll talk to you later. If I have my phone, that is. Damian is threatening to cut it off.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Click.