Page 15 of As the Years Pass

“Also, I wanted to let you know that I have to call Adam.”

“What for?” I ask.

“Selling my house.”

“Why the hell would you do that?”

“It’s a long story, but I need to get out of here.”

“Oh, so you get to keep secrets but I can’t?”

He chuckles. “You have plenty of secrets, asshole.”

“How’s Mom?” he asks, and it sends a pang right to my heart.

“She’s… as good as can be, I guess.”

He’s privy to what’s really going on.

“Call me if you need anything, Emmet. I’m fucking serious.”

“Yeah, yeah. Bye.”

I end the call before he can give me more shit. I do love him, but he is annoying. He knows way too much about me, and it’s difficult to hide from him. I don’t like that. He is proudly and loudly himself, working as a gay dominant cam boy and doesn’t care who knows it. He makes a shit ton of money doing it, and maybe if I were more of an extrovert, I’d give it a try. Though, that isn’t the only thing holding me back, if I’m being honest. It feels too much like cheating, even if Adam and I aren’t together. It’s a weird thing that I’ve been plagued with for years, something I don’t know how to get past. So I stopped trying.

I plug my phone into the charger since I forgot to last night and I’m at 16%. Then I get out of my seat and stretch, my back cracking in too many places.

The new furniture for the office came, and it sucks. The chair is too stiff and I had to put in an order for one of those back cushions. Though, maybe my problem is that I'm here, sitting in it too much.

Now that I’m off the phone and not worried about dodging Dominic’s questions, I think more on what he said about having to talk to Adam. Dominic hasn’t been living in his house long. He started dating someone a few months ago, some guy named Mikah that I met at the bar. He seems nice enough, but I can’t imagine them moving in together already, though I guess they could be. I can’t think of any other reason he’d want to sell his house, and of course, he won’t tell me a damn thing.

Has to know everyone’s secrets but keeps all of his own.Jerk.

A knock on the door has me looking up. Pete is there, though there isn’t anyone else I’d expect. He’s the only one who works here, and apparently, he likes it that way. I think at some point I’ll have to hire at least one more person, but for now, things are running smoothly. And maybe I won’t have to hire anyone at all. Maybe I’ll just do what I did at the last bar and work it myself.Nothing wrong with that. It keeps me involved in the day-to-day, and it keeps me busy.

“There’s someone here to see you.”

“See me?” I say, frowning.

He smirks and nods.

I can’t imagine who would be here to see me, unless it’s just the guys being the guys. They’re a silly bunch who have been coming here for years and I wouldn’t put it past one of them to have bought me a present or done something weird. They already made me a T-shirt that says “Bar Daddy” on it, and they cracked up when I came into work wearing it todayandthreatened to make more so I would have one every day of the week.

I didn’t hate the idea, and considered turning it into our thing, but then I thought of Pete wearing one and laughed at the face he’d give me if I told him he had to. So, for now, I guess it’s just a me thing.

I prefer to hide in the shadows and do what needs to be done, but if bringing a little attention to myself with a T-shirt is what I need to do to get settled into this place, I’ll do it. The regulars here are harmless and have been helpful. I prepare to see something ridiculous when I walk out of the back room, like a naked painting of me or dick balloons. But it isn’t the guys waiting for me. It’s Adam.

My heart does a flip, and I can’t help but smile.

He came here for me.

“Hey,” I say.

“Hey,” he says back, his smile rivaling my own.

“What are you doing here?” I ask. “Shouldn’t you be with the kids?”

He shrugs, scratching the back of his neck. “Their cousins came down for a surprise visit, so I said I’d get them tomorrow.”