She looked like she wanted to cry again. I might have been getting dumped good and proper, but it gave me a small win knowing she wasn’t totally unaffected by this situation.
She looked at me with sad eyes and I knew it was final this time. There was no more cat and mouse... no more Quinn and Colt.
She glanced back up at my building once more before rushing to her car and driving away.
10. Quinn
I sniffed and tried to wipe the tears from my face. “I just feel so cruel, El. But I can’t help it. I see you and Lawson, and I want...” I hiccupped a sob. “I want a love like yours. He just wasn’t the one, I never wanted to hurt him, but he just wasn’t the one.” I hung my head and let the tears fall, letting the guilt pour out of my body.
I’d driven straight over to see Ellerslie as soon as I left Colt’s place. West had taken one look at me and shoved me into El’s office, declaring that he’d hold all calls until I came back out.
He’s such a gem.
El pulled another bunch of tissues out and stuck them in my hand.
“Jesus, Quinn.”
I looked up at her, my eyes still full of tears.
“You’ve used the whole box.” She shook it upside down dramatically.
I burst out laughing and she joined me.
She slid in next to me and wrapped me in her arms. “You’re just going to have to try and let it go, babe.”
I nodded.
“He’s going to be fine, Q. You know he’s going to be fine.”
“I know,” I mumbled.
He would be fine. I knew he wasn’t as in love with me as he thought he was. I truly believed what I’d told him about finding the right person for him one day – I wanted that for him.
“You’re worried about how he’ll handle it when you start dating Harrison... am I right?”
“If,” I interjected. “If I date Harrison.”
She rolled her eyes at me as though I was being stupid.
“I might hate him, El. He could be a total pompous prick.”
“It’d totally be easier if you thought that. Then you could go find another one whose brother you hadn’t already shagged,” she joked.
“One thousand time easier,” I agreed. Her kidding was making me feel better already.
“And he’s Reeve’s best friend, so that could be awkward too.”
“What? Why?”
“If you broke up.” She shook her head as though I was dumb for not getting it. “You’re like a sister to Reeve, and he and Harrison are pretty close,” she explained.
I tried not to groan. Ellerslie didn’t know – we’d agreed it was a necessary secret to keep from her, but Reeve and I had hooked up once. It was years ago, on a family trip I joined them on. El had gone to bed early since she wasn’t feeling well, and Reeve and I had stayed up drinking. Long story short, we both drank way too much, and one thing began leading to another.
Thankfully we’d come to our senses and put a stop to it before it went over the line of no return. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Reeve, he was a great guy. Attractive, caring, funny...any girl would be more than lucky to score a guy like him, but he was never more than a good friend to me. Sleeping together would have just mucked that up.
“You’re right.” I nodded. “If this was a pros and cons list, the cons would be streaking ahead.”
“But then there’s the fact that he’s gorgeous, smart and successful, and underneath all his bravado he seems like a really sweet guy.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “You know him.” I pointed a finger at her accusingly.
“I met him,” she confessed. “Just once – when I went into the office to visit Reeve.”
I couldn’t believe it. I had been dying to find out what he was like and all this time I had the key to the information right in front of me.
“I’m going to pretend that you haven’t been withholding vitally important information from me and jump right to the part where you tell me exactly what he’s like.”
“You’re crazy. I met him once.” She shrugged. “And vital information...” she scoffed. “Stop being such a drama queen.”
I scowled and waited for her to spill.
“Okay, okay,” she resigned. “So, I was walking down the hallway with Reeve...”
I resisted the urge to pull out a pen and paper and write it down word for word.
***
After my talk with El, I headed to my office to get some much-needed work done. My work rate had been shocking these past couple of weeks; my head just wasn’t in the game.
I thanked God every day for my assistant Macie. I was yet to find a task that was too challenging for her.
I gave her a wave and a smile as I passed her on the phone at her desk.
I relaxed a bit as I entered my office. It was nice in here. I’d decorated it how I wanted it, large prints on the walls and a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf in the corner. I had a couch, my desk, a couple of armchairs and a small table in the middle. It was simple, but effective.
The view was the real winner. El and I had snagged the best views in the place.
I was staring out the window, totally lost in thought when a voice came from behind me.
“Alright, who is he?”
I spun around.
Dammit.
I wasn’t expecting Lawson.
“He who?” I asked, feigning confusion.
“Save it, Q.” He chuckled.
“There’s no guy,” I insisted.
“Just tell me so I can deal with him.”
“He doesn’t need dealing with,” I replied too quickly.
My brother’s sly grin let me know I’d lost this round.
Shit.
“So there is a guy,” he replied smugly.
“Get out.” I pointed to the door.
“Tell me his name and I’ll get out.”
“Macieeeee!” I hollered out the doorway, jumping to my feet.
She appeared in front of me, a smile playing on her lips. “What can I do for you?”
I rubbed my temples. “Get him out of my office please.”
Macie looked Lawson up and down. “Ah... I’m not sure that’s going to be possible.”
Lawson plopped his ass down on my couch. “That’s all for now thanks, Macie.”
“Don’t dismiss my assistant,” I cried.
I was getting desperate, this was not a conversation I was ready to have with my brother, but it appeared that I didn’t have a choice in the matter.
Macie retreated from the room. “So... I’ll just leave you to it,” she replied, clearly amused by my current predicament.
“Traitor,” I hissed at her as she backed out and shut the door behind her.
Lawson and I stared at each other. Both of us hoping the other would give up.
“I take it Colt got the flick,” he stated.
He won’t leave until I talk...
I breathed in deeply and sat back down in defeat.
“Can we not do this right now?” I pleaded.
He didn’t even answer me. The smug bastard just sat there, knowing he could out wait me any day of the week.
“Ugh fine. Can we just cut the act though? I’m sure your wife already told you everything.”
“Believe it or not, we’ve got much more exciting things to do with our spare time than talk about you.” He winked at me.
Always with the over sharing.
“Gah.” I shook my head. “Yes. I ended things with Colt.”
“For real this time?”
“For real,” I confirmed.
“Long overdue,” he stated. “And then what’s happened?”
The stare off began again.
I looked at him.
He looked at me.
I waited.
He waited.
“God you’re infuriating,” I hissed when I couldn’t take it any longer. “And I met someone else. That’s it. End of story. Nothing more to tell.”
; He watched my outburst with amusement. “Who is it, Q?”
“No one,” I muttered.
He regarded me curiously. “No one... like his best friend or something?”
I groaned.
He barked out a laugh. “No shit? His best friend?”
I lay my head down on the desk and admitted total defeat. “His brother,” I murmured into the files.
Nothing.
Complete and total silence.
I sat up and looked at him.
He was holding it together – but barely, he was a mere stone’s throw away from erupting into laughter.
“Go ahead.” I waved a hand at him.
He lost it.
“His brother?” He choked out.
I picked up a book and threw it across the room at him. “It’s not fucking funny, Lawson! What the hell am I gonna do?”
He caught it effortlessly in one hand and it just pushed my buttons even further.
I picked up a second book and hurled that at him too.
He was nearly doubled over laughing, his suit getting all creased and wrinkled.
Lawson Pierce. Not a care in the world.
“Lawson!”
“Sorry!” He was still holding his side.
I got up from my desk and sat down next to him, punching him in the leg as I went.
“You are not helping the situation.”
He wiped the tears from his eyes and finally calmed down.
“Sorry, Q.”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Really,” he insisted.
“You get that giant grin off your mug and I just might believe you.”
His smile widened. “No can do.”
I groaned.
“You have to admit, it’s pretty funny.”
“Not when it’s happening to me it’s fucking not!”
“Okay, okay. Hit me with the story.”
I groaned in frustration. “The story doesn’t matter... I just don’t know what the hell I should do now.”
“The brother...”
“Harrison,” I prompted.
“Does Harrison know you’re interested?”
“No. I don’t know. Probably. I couldn’t really stop looking.”
Lawson leaned back and threw one of his huge arms over the back of the couch.
“So, when you’re staring at him, what’s he doing?”
“Looking,” I amended. “I’m not a stalker.”
Lies.
He waved his hand at me dismissively.
I thought about it. “He’s looking at me too.”
“Okay.” He nodded. “Good... he’s interested.”
“Is that your professional take on the situation?” I quipped. “It doesn’t even matter... I can’t get in between two brothers like that.” I shook my head quickly.
“You want my honest opinion?”
I nodded.
“I’ve never seen you like this, so I know for a fact that you aren’t just going to be able to forget about whatever’s happening here. I’d be willing to bet you’re already in deeper than you told yourself you’d get.”
I closed my eyes momentarily and nodded again.
He was one hundred percent right. I can’t stay away.
“I think you need to give it some time, Q. Colt is going to be hurt, his brother is going to need to figure out what all this means, and you need to decide if he’s really that important to you.”
He squeezed my knee. “If it’s real, it’ll still be there in a couple of weeks.”
“When did you get so sensible?”
He rose to his feet and looked back down at me with a grin. “When I married your best friend.”
11. Harrison
“What happened?”
I limped back to the couch as soon as she drove off. She’d seen me standing in the window, I was sure of it.
“You saw,” he grumbled.
Shit.
“Yeah,” I admitted sheepishly. “It’s over then?”
I thought I was doing a pretty good job of sounding sympathetic, but the daggers he shot me made me think otherwise.
If looks could kill.
“I’m gonna go lay down,” I pointed towards the hallway before dragging my broken ass up off the couch.
“Good idea.”
I hobbled to the doorway. My ribs were killing me now – I shouldn’t have been so nosey.
I looked back at him and the poor bugger looked miserable. “Hey, Colt?”
He looked over to me.
“Thanks, man, for everything. I really appreciate you looking out for me.”
He smiled slightly and nodded in response.
I might have thought he was a little shit a lot of the time, and I might have really wanted to go after the girl he was pining after, but more than all of that, he was my brother and I never wanted to see him hurt.
I briefly considered searching Google for ‘how to date the girl who broke your brother’s heart’ but decided against it.
Quinn was out of reach, at least for right now, while I was living here, that was for sure.
Two more weeks.
***
My phone rang, and I groaned. I knew who it was without even looking at it.
I’d spoken to both of my parents, my brother Mitch and a few of my mates... there was only one person left.
Reeve.
Reeve was the best guy I’d met, honest to God, the best man I’d ever come across. He’d do anything for you and he’d do it with a smile. I was more than privileged to not only call him a friend, but a business partner too.
I knew he was worried about me. He knew something wasn’t right, but I was giving him nothing to go on. I couldn’t tell him. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to; it was the fact that he’d be put in a shitty position if I ever got caught. This way was better. At least he was an innocent party in it all.
I snatched the phone up off the bed.
“Hey, man.”
“Took your time waking up, Harry,” he said by way of hello.
“Yeah, I bet you’ve got a shitload of work waiting for me,” I replied, trying to change the direction of the conversation.
“Who gives a shit about that?” he stated. “What the hell is going on?”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
“Shit luck, right?” I acknowledged. “But don’t worry, I’m good, just need some time to heal up.”
The line went silent and my gut filled with dread.
“What the hell is going on?” he repeated.
“It’s nothing. Just wrong place, wrong time.”
“That’s what you said a few months back when you fractured your hand. Or six months back when you dislocated your shoulder. Or every month in between when you had bruises and busted lips.”
Shit.
“This shit has been going on for months, a year even. You’re not stupid enough to think I wouldn’t notice.”
“I told you about the boxing,” I lied through my teeth.
“Yeah, and I call bullshit on that too. I’ve seen you in the ring. You’re fast... precise. Your technique is flawless. There’s no way you got beat up like that inside the ring.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, man,” I replied, exhausted by my own lies.
“The fucken truth would be great,” he snapped back.
“Just know that I’m fine, and I’m telling you what I can.”
He went quiet for a moment.
“Fine. Look, whatever you want, Harrison. I just want you to know that I’m here. I worry about you and what’s going to happen to you next. It was bad enough when you were getting all those punks locked up who kept conveniently punching you, but this... I don’t know what the hell this is.”
His concern was what got me. That, and the fact that he knew a lot more about what I’d been up to then he’d ever let on.
“I appreciate that,” I choked out.
“Yeah, well I mean it. Get better and get back here,
alright?”
I nodded to myself. “Will do. Later, Reeve.”
“Catch ya.”
I dropped my phone and groaned.
I hoped like hell this shit wasn’t gonna cause me to lose him as a friend.
12. Quinn
Reeve looked up from his desk in surprise. “Quinn?”
I watched his features change as realization dawned.
“Ah crap,” he stated guiltily.
He forgot.
“No way, Rush, you promised me lunch a week ago,” I whined.
He dropped his pen on the desk. “I know. I’m so sorry, I’ve double booked.”
I groaned. I’d been dying to catch up with Reeve, I wanted to ask him about Harrison and how he’d been doing these past two weeks.
“C’mon... please, Reeve, we can eat in here?” I begged, desperate to get whatever I could from him.
“I’ve got a meeting in ten minutes,” he said apologetically. “The sooner Harrison gets back here, the sooner I can get my life back to normal.”
My pulse quickened at the mention of his name. “How’s he doing?” I tried to sound laid back about asking, even though I was busting my ass to get information about him.
“Not bad,” he replied as he picked up his pen and scrawled his signature on the bottom of a page. “Hopefully he’ll be back in a week or so.”
I nodded, but I needed more details. “Is he still staying at Colt’s?”
He opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the shrill ring of his cell phone. He grimaced and held one finger up at me.
He glanced at the screen and grinned.
“Well, speak of the devil,” he joked.
Harrison?
I focused intently on the phone in his hand; this was the closest I’d been to him in weeks.
He listened for a moment and paled.
“Triple booked,” he muttered as he glanced up at me.
I shrugged. I didn’t know what he was talking about.
“Fuck, man, I’m so sorry, I’ve got a meeting... I completely forgot,” he rambled.
“I’ve gotta get out of here,” I heard Harrison’s muffled voice through the phone.
“I’ll get you later, I swear, shit is just so hectic here with you gone. I forgot about lunch with Quinn too so don’t take it personally.”
Reeve listened and glanced curiously up at me again.
Love like Yours Series Box Set: Books 1 - 4 Page 50