Chapter 26
MATTHEW
Jett was out front of the restaurant, his arms folded over his chest, his back straight as a pin. He towered over me, as he towered over a lot of people, but I’d never once been intimidated by him before, and I wasn’t about to start today.
“Would you mind telling me what the actual fuck that was about?” I stopped a few feet from Jett to keep myself from choking the life out of him.
“Everyone knows our business. I don’t like it.”
“Everyone does not know our business. Troye knows because he fucking thought of it, and Charlie knows because best friends tell each other shit. Which is why I’m starting to think that maybe you’re not my best friend because you sure as hell won’t tell me what the fuck is your goddamned problem.”
For a second, he looked like I’d slapped him, but the expression quickly hardened.
“I’ll tell you what my problem is.” Jett unwound his arms from his chest and took a step toward me. Other men might have backed up, but not me. Jett was all bark, no bite.
“There you are.”
We both stopped and looked at Charlie walking out of the restaurant. Because they’d been sitting down when Jett and I walked in, I hadn’t noticed the height difference between Jett and Charlie. Not until he marched up to him and stuck his finger in his face, wagging it like an angry parent.
“You have a lot of fucking nerve, you know that? And I’ll tell you why.”
Jett tried to speak but Charlie cut him off.
“No, you had your say and, frankly, no one cares what you have to say right now. Certainly not me, but you’re going to listen.
Now, I know you want to protect your company and shit, but Troye’s idea isn’t exactly revolutionary.
We all know it’s a cute idea, and it will sell well, but it’s not going to reform the landscape of video games or anything.
You’re not solving world hunger with it or bringing about world peace.
And I don’t know who the fuck hurt you, but I do know that it wasn’t me, and it wasn’t Matthew, and it sure as fuck wasn’t Troye. ”
Charlie took a breath, and I thought he was done, but it turned out he was just getting started.
He parked his hands on his hips. “Troye is the nicest person you’ll ever meet, and you’d be so lucky to have him date your best friend.
Do you know why? Because he’s loyal as fuck.
He’s kind. He gives a shit about people, even when they don’t give a shit about him back.
And right now he’s in there probably thinking the worst.”
“And what would that be?”
“For Troye, it’s coming between the two of you. For me, the worst-case scenario is you not pulling your head out of your ass.”
I coughed to try and cover my laugh. The more Charlie talked, the more sheepish Jett looked.
“Look, Charlie…”
“My friends call me Charlie. You can call me Charles.” Charlie looked over his shoulder and met my gaze.
“You should head inside and comfort Troye before he dissolves. We’ll be in shortly.
Right, Jett?” Charlie looked back at Jett.
There was still some anger in his expression, but no more than the usual amount he carried with him on a daily basis.
“I’ll see you inside, Jett. But if you can’t come back and be nice and apologize for being a fucking bastard, maybe you shouldn’t come back in at all.
” I didn’t wait to see the look on his face.
I know that the last thing Troye would want was to come between Jett and me, but the way I saw it, Jett was the one being a difficult prick.
If anyone was coming between us, it was him.
I’d always known Jett could be a pain in the ass. He meant well, but sometimes his lizard brain took over thinking for his rational, reasonable brain. Honestly, the man probably needed therapy. Or a good ass kicking from Charlie.
I found Troye inside, picking at a plate of pie and ice cream. His shoulders were curled inward, and he’d slumped down in his seat, trying to take up as little space as possible. Not caring about what people thought, I moved my chair right next to his and sat down.
“You have a wonderful friend,” I told him, dropping a kiss on his cheek. I put my arm around him and anchored him to my side. “I’m sorry about Jett. If I’d have known he was going to be in grade-A prick mode, I’d have left him at home.”
“I’m sorry I messed things up.” Troye was no longer eating now, just pushing a bite of pie around some rapidly melting ice cream.
“You did nothing wrong. Jett is… well, he’s my best friend, but he’s been on a tear recently.
He had no right to go off on you and your friend like that.
I’m the one who needs to apologize to you and Charlie.
” I found myself smiling at the memory of Charlie storming out there and sticking his finger in Jett’s face. “You should’ve seen him go after Jett.”
“Oh, I can imagine. Charlie is pretty fearless.” Troye glanced up at me and tried to smile, but it was easy to see his heart wasn’t in it.
“I’m sorry about dinner.”
“If it’s not my fault, it’s not your fault either.” Troye leaned against me, letting me take more of his weight. Reaching for the fork, I took it from him and scooped up a bite of pie.
As I lifted the fork, he sucked in a breath.
“Is this okay?” I asked before continuing. It wasn’t too late to take the bite myself, but whenever I was around Troye, I had this urge to take care of him. To dote on him and make him happy. His sorrow was like a song being played in the wrong key.
“Yeah,” he whispered. Under the table, he put a hand on my leg and squeezed, like he needed to borrow strength from me.
It was one of those slow-motion moments when everything was perfect.
Troye was snuggled close to me, the weight of his hand was grounding on my thigh.
His lips parted at the same moment that his eyes closed, lashes fluttering against his cheeks.
The fork entered his mouth, and I watched the way his lips caressed the fork as it slid back out.
I swear I could hear nothing but the blood rushing through my body, determined to pool between my legs.
“Good boy,” I murmured. Resisting the urge to pull him into my lap took monumental strength. If I didn’t think that it would humiliate Troye or get us kicked out of the restaurant, or both, I’d probably have given in and done it.
It was a good thing Charlie and Jett returned just then. Charlie plopped down in his chair and eyed the dessert that Troye had been picking at.
“I like the way you think, Troye.” Charlie flagged down a server and asked for three more desserts. The server left, looking relieved that the drama at the table seemed to be over. When he was gone, Charlie swung his gaze over to Jett. “Well?”
Jett took a deep breath, expanding his shoulders, inflating his chest, and then he let it all rush out of him.
I wasn’t sure what had gone on after I left, but whatever it was, Jett looked…
softer somehow. I was used to seeing him with a hint of anger or a baseline of irritation.
He was all business, all serious, all the time.
But now that had been stripped away, and I saw my friend for what he was underneath all of those masks.
Exhausted. The bags under his eyes had bags, and there was a look in his eyes that was the closest thing to defeat I’d ever seen.
“Troye, I owe you an apology,” Jett paused and glanced at Charlie, who made no motion, no outward signal at all, but I had the feeling the two of them were communicating.
Jett turned back to Troye, and it was his turn to curl in on himself.
“Look, I know today was important to you, and I know I fucked it up. I won’t pretend that I had a good excuse or that I was justified in the way I went off like that. But?—”
“Brrt.” Charlie made a buzzer noise and Jett winced.
“I had no reason to behave the way I did, and I hope you can forgive me.”
Under the table, Troye squeezed my leg, just once, reminding himself that he had my support, that I was there for him to lean on. No matter what.
“Well, if you survived Charlie and were allowed to return to the table, you must be actually sorry. So, yes, I forgive you.”
Jett’s face went through a catalogue of shades of pink. “Charles had a few choice words for me. I believe he probably wanted to toss in a few more motherfuckers, but he showed great restraint.”
Charlie merely smiled. “All in a day’s work.”
The pie arrived, much to the relief of everyone at the table. Charlie led the conversation to safer topics. Mostly, he kept his attention on Jett.
“Do you know what you need?” he asked, a forkful of pie hovering in the air. “You need a dog.”
“I don’t have time for a dog.” Jett was unusually aggressive with his next bite of pie. It was a wonder that the china didn’t snap in half with the amount of force he used to cut a chunk off his slice.
“Which is exactly why you need one.” Charlie eyed Jett like he was a puzzle he was determined to solve. I could tell that it made Jett uncomfortable, but I chalked it up to him being embarrassed about acting like an asshole. “You need to make time for something that isn’t your company.”
“I make time for plenty of things.”
“Torturing your best friend by acting like an idiot at dinner doesn’t count.”
Jett scowled but stayed silent.
“Eat your pie,” Charlie said with a smile, but underneath it, the hard edge he had with Jett was easy to see.
Whenever his gaze settled on Jett, his face was stern. Eyes like iron pinned Jett in place like a butterfly stuck to a spreading board.
But when Charlie looked at Troye, he was all sunshine and rainbows.
Puppies and kittens didn’t hold a candle to his smile.
I counted myself lucky that the two of them had never hit it off in a romantic way, because I was sure if they had, I’d never have stood a chance.
I got the feeling, however, that Charlie liked more of a challenge.
When it was time to go, I paid the bill, leaving a generous tip for the server who’d taken care of Troye. We trickled out of the restaurant and onto the sidewalk. I kept Troye tucked against my side.
“Look, Troye,” Jett started. He glanced at Charlie with the kind of wariness you saw in dogs who’d been kicked one too many times and found it hard to trust. “I really am sorry about earlier.”
“Jett, if anyone understands getting wound up about stuff and not being able to unwind in a normal, rational way, it’s the guy who flopped down on a stranger’s lap on a crowded airplane with full intentions of spending the whole flight there.
” Troye slipped his arm around my waist. “But sometimes things work out in spite of ourselves. Remember that.”
Charlie reached over and ruffled Troye’s hair. “I’ll see you around, buddy.” Then he flicked his gaze to me. “Take good care of him.”
It was more than a parting phrase; it was approval. It was Charlie’s way of letting his best friend know that he approved of me.
“I plan to,” I answered. There wasn’t a single thing in the world that I wouldn’t do for Troye.
Meeting him had been the best thing to ever happen to me.
Like Jett, I’d been wrapped up in my work.
In running a company and helping with the project to improve the lives of foster kids.
Kids like Jett who’d been saved by the system and all the kids who hadn’t been.
But I’d lost sight of life. I buried myself in work and kept chasing lofty goals.
Always grinding. Never stopping. And then Troye came along and threw himself into my path.
His presence in my life was a reminder that I needed to make room for a life in my schedule.
That I needed to play as much as I needed to work. He grounded me so I could soar.
“Let’s go home.” I didn’t have to qualify that I meant my home, which felt increasingly empty when he wasn’t in it. I’d never minded living alone before, but now my house was like a tomb when Troye wasn’t there.
Maybe, if I was lucky, I could convince him to stay.