Chapter 31 #3
She signs and pulls out a paper from the corner of her desk.
She holds it up to me, so I take it carefully from her slender hands.
“You have so many sick and vacation days. It would be a shame to waste them. Why don’t you take a few days off, and we can finish this termination paperwork when you return? ”
It’s worded like a question, but she is giving me instructions. In the past, I’d be terrified of what my father would do to me if he found out I was taking vacation days. Now, though? Now, I laugh as I read through the form. “There’s no return date.”
She shrugs. “Once shit hits the fan, will anyone really notice?”
Asher would have a conniption. “You’re not even supposed to know about that.” I mock-frown at her, and she cackles.
“If you think for one second I’m not aware of everything that happens in these walls, you’d be mistaken.
I, for one, am also considering retirement.
” She taps her desk, then grasps my hand.
“I am going to wait around and make sure whoever is coming next isn’t also a waste to the trees around them.
” She reads my confusion and cackles again.
“Trees give us oxygen. Your father needs to apologize to any he comes into contact with. Bobby … Well, he’s not much better.
He’s brought up his connection to your family through your sister enough to make me spitting mad. ”
Can’t listen to that prick without decking him again. “Yeah, I think I’ll go to my new job for a bit, then come back for the finale.”
She reaches into her drawer and pulls out a chocolate bar. “You give this to your adorable, pregnant wife and tell her I said hello.” I accept the chocolate bar, but she grabs my hand again before I pull away.
“Take care of yourself, too, Trevor. Not just everyone around you.” She releases me and sits gingerly back into her seat. “Now, get out of here. I’ll take care of the paperwork.”
“Thank you—”
She waves her hand. “Don’t thank me. Just get out of here before your father or your father 2.0 realizes you’re not in their clutches.”
I nod at one of the most consistent allies in my life and leave. All of the stress of being in that building slides off the second I’m in the fresh, cool air of the fall morning.
“Billy? Carter?” The garage is oddly quiet, and nobody answers me. “Patrick? Darren? High school student helping?” I don’t remember his name. I duck under a couple of cars and then eye the office. Well, I can always get ahead on Carter’s list.
Carter asked us to help him cold-call some of Becky’s previous students’ families to help bring some support and attention to the money she raises every year. It’s a solid idea, and I am happy to help.
I fling open the door to find the room occupied. “So this is where—what the fuck are you two doing in here?”
The light is off, but the monitor is on.
Both men blink at me from their compromising positions.
First, Billy is in the office chair, hands resting on his thighs.
Carter, on the other hand, is on the ground, on his knees between Billy’s thighs.
His hands are resting on Billy’s knees. Carter smiles at my entrance, but I watch, practically bursting, while he catalogs what I just saw from my perspective.
He struggles up to his feet, but rather than looking embarrassed or caught, he looks exhausted. “I feel like I’ve been saying this too much lately, but it’s really not what it looks like.”
Billy snorts in response, and I lose it. These fuckers.
I gather myself enough to ask, a now standing Carter, about our phone calls.
He gestures to the desk where there’s only one chair.
“Where’s my fucking chair?” It takes a second to find it in the main area of the garage.
I grip the backrest, roll it back into the office, and settle in for more phone calls.
When both men keep looking at me, I can’t help but bark at them. “What the fuck are you looking at? I’m not joining in on your fun and games, boys.”
“You couldn’t handle my games, boy.” Billy crosses his arms and looks to Carter. I follow his lead and watch my easygoing friend release a long breath. His shoulders sag when he gestures to the screen.
“We found out some information about Taylor.” Aw, the source of his drama. The woman he cheated with.
After they fill me in on the dirty details, I send Paige a text to go check on her friend.
Trevor
Hey, you may want to find Becky. Something big went down with her and that Taylor woman.
Paige
What? What happened?
Trevor
Carter has told me some of it, but it’s a lot. Taylor is coming for her job by any means necessary.
Paige
That fucking bitch.
“Damn, baby.” I suck in a breath through my teeth at her response. She’s going to go Momma Bear on this Taylor woman.
The rest of the day, I work with the guys and eventually Paige, Becky, and a couple of their friends to come up with a game plan.
Later, I introduce Becky to Joseph and walk her through making a police report. She’s a tough woman, but she seems lost. Carter can’t stop staring at her, and I don’t miss how she keeps darting her eyes in his direction. Something definitely happened over the weekend between them.
I’ll have to call Paige.