Page 26 of A Matter of Fact

Beckett’s breathing stuttered, and he looked up into Rhys’s dilated and dark eyes. “Let’s start with a hundred bucks, alright?”

CHAPTERNINE

RHYS GOES FOR A WALK

Rhys rolled onto his stomach and buried his face in the pillow. He was tired, but he was horny. He’d been horny, almost unimaginably so, since he kissed Beckett five days before. It was very out of character for him, and he wasn’t sure he liked it.

Rhys preferred to think of himself as a no-nonsense person. Sure, this oftentimes meant people felt him to be aloof or pushy. There’d been one argument right after he graduated college when Sebastian had called him a soulless sociopath. It was far from the truth, but not far from the deliberate way Rhys had chosen to portray himself. He’d learned early on from his father that showing emotion was showing weakness.

And Rhys was not weak.

He could count on one hand, hell, one finger, the number of times in his adult life he’d cried.

He was not weak.

In fact, he made the decisions that no one else wanted to make. Took the action that no one else ever would. Rhys saw the big picture. He understood expectation and life and what his place in all of that was. At least, he thought he had. Until he met Beckett.

What had he expected, going back to La Creperie last weekend with his fingers crossed that the man would be there? That Rhys could get seated in his section? It was pure luck that Beckett had been there. Even luckier that he wasn’t working. The luckiest that he’d agreed to lunch. And in his gut, Rhys knew it had all been luck and he hated that. The chance of it all meant the situation was out of his control. Rhys hated things he couldn’t control and for the past week, he felt like he couldn’t even control himself, but self-loathing was not a new thing for him.

So he’d spent the week agonizing over everything.

Over his attraction. His interest. Over how to take someone on a proper date, let alone how to take someone on a date for under a hundred dollars.

For his entire life, Rhys had lived extravagantly. It was how he was raised; it was what he expected. It was all he knew. Beckett was out of his comfort zone on multiple levels, and the no money date was just an added level of complexity. But if nothing else, Rhys was a problem solver. He was resourceful. He would figure it out.

There was also a lingering question that haunted the back of his mind.

Why?

Why put so much time and energy into something that wouldn’t go anywhere? His father’s rules hadn’t changed. The standard of the St. George name and estate still existed. He was still the first-born son, the heir…the one with the burdens. And being in Myers Bluff was his form of late-stage rebellion, but how far was he really willing to go? How many times could he poke his father before getting his hand bit off?

He didn’t want to think about any of that.

He wanted to think about how to plan a hundred dollar date, and he had less than twenty-four hours to do it.

Rhys rolled onto his back and reached for the nightstand to unplug his phone. He tapped the microphone assistant icon and closed his eyes.

“Call Sebastian.”

The phone started to ring, and his brother answered, “Is everything okay?”

“Yes. Why?” Rhys sighed. “Kind of.”

“I almost liked it better when I never heard from you.”

The truth hurt, but it was deserved. “I can let you go, Sebastian. It wasn’t important.”

“No. That was unfair. What do you need?”

“On second thought, I would rather not. It’s embarrassing to ask.” He scrubbed a hand down his face. What had he thought would happen? He would call his younger brother and ask him how to date? There was no way the words would leave his mouth.

“Do you need a couple drinks to loosen the tongue?” Sebastian asked.

“It’s early.”

“Remington is working and Fridays are my free day.”

“What does that mean?” he asked.