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Chapter Three

Canyon

“You are a traitor.” I jab my finger at Taffy.

But she just meows. “He’s a jerk. A…dick.

How could you do this?” I slump onto the couch.

Not sure what to do. Taffy jumps in my lap and snuggles against me.

“It’s not your fault, sweetie—hold up.” I sniff her again.

She smells like Wade Darian’s expensive cologne. “You little hussy.”

My cat loves cologne. She can’t resist rubbing up on a man who smells good.

And then, against my better judgment, I sniff again, inhaling the intoxicating scent I couldn’t appreciate while he was here.

Taffy was probably all over him, rubbing all over his chest. His neck.

Sure, this guy’s a jerk. But he’s an attractive jerk.

I’d love to rub up against him just once.

No. No, I absolutely wouldn’t love that.

Spending five days with him will be challenging in many ways. And he’d be my boss. My straight boss.

Not that it matters. Even if I was interested and he was miraculously gay or bi and interested in me, it wouldn’t happen. I’d never be brave enough to show him my scars.

Or admit I’ve never been intimate with anyone.

The bigger worry is that my mouth will get me in trouble. As an athlete, River was popular in high school. I was not.

And now, I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut, especially around bullies, especially around Wade Darian.

Can I really do this? But what’s the alternative? River loses his job. We lose the car. And the house.

What if River doesn’t come back?

I can’t think about that. The extra money would go a long way to getting us out of debt. And River would still have his job.

“But it’s a camping retreat.” I give Taffy extra scratches behind the ears because she listens to my whining without protesting or scurrying away in a huff.

“Outdoors. You know I hate going outside.” And by outside, I don’t mean the library or the dollar store.

I mean forests, the woods, sleeping under the stars. Those things I hate.

I sigh. I have no choice.

But I still go through the motions and call River one more time. It doesn’t even go to voicemail. He’s no longer screening my calls. His phone is off.

Whatever.

I text my boss next. I’m only part-time, and I’ve had to take time off now and then for doctor appointments and sometimes for stuff with River. He doesn’t hesitate and wishes me luck with whatever’s going on. That is how a boss should be. Not screaming in your face.

My last text goes to Alex.

Going out of town for a few days. Can you keep Taffy for me?

I’ll be right over.

I don’t need you until later this afternoon.

You never go anywhere. Even for ONE day. Give me ten minutes.

Great. As I wait for my best friend to arrive, a thrill runs through my body. Excitement? Or terror?

I’m doing something. It may be a terrible idea—is a terrible idea—but I feel alive. The feeling is completely foreign to me, but I don’t quite hate it.

When Alex arrives twenty minutes later, I have to give her crap. “You said ten.”

She holds up takeout bags from Niko’s, my favorite Greek restaurant. “I brought lunch.”

“You’re the best.” We spread the food out on the coffee table in my living room and eat with our plates in our laps.

And for a second, my mind wanders. Does Wade Darian ever eat meals while sitting on the couch?

Most people do at some point, but he seems so well put together that I can’t picture it.

Yet we’ll be in the woods. In tents? Cabins? He’s sure to get dirty, and my thoughts screech to a halt. I can’t think of that without hyperventilating.

“Give me the tea already.” Alex nudges me with her elbow, and I almost drop my fork.

“Hey. I’m eating.”

“Come on, Can. If you hadn’t already told me something was going on, I’d know just by your expression.”

“What? No. This is just my face, eating my food.”

Taffy tries to join us, but I push her off the couch. “Go away. You have your own food.”

She points her fork at me, her eyes narrowing. “You have this faraway look in your eyes. That’s not unusual, but it’s normally accompanied by a grimace.” She waves her fork around. “Not this thing your face is doing.”

I shouldn’t ask. I shouldn’t. “What was my face doing?” Whatever it was, I did not give my permission.

Her eyes sparkle. “You had this wistful smile.”

“No, I did not.”

She laughs. “I one thousand percent approve of Can and wistful smiles.”

“Stop that.”

Her smile drops and she gives me her steely-eyed tell-me-everything look that works amazingly well on delinquent youth and best friends trying to salvage their dignity. She starts eating again, but I know from experience she’s not giving up. “Okay, so you know this retreat River had for work?”

Her fork stops halfway to her mouth. “Had? Did he get fired?”

“Not yet.”

She puts her fork down. “Tell me everything right this minute, or I’m going to confiscate your food.”

I hold my arm protectively over my gyro salad. “You’re worse than Taffy.” I wait until she no longer looks like she’s going to steal my food, and I relax. Sort of. “After you left, River’s boss showed up.”

She slaps my leg.

“Ow! Stop punishing me.”

“Way to bury the lede, Can. You’re telling me CEO Wade Darian was here? In your house?”

“Yeah. That’s what I just said.” But there’s something in her eyes. Knowledge. “Wait, how do you know him?”

She lets out an incredulous laugh. “How do you not ?”

“Come on, Alex. Just tell me.”

“He’s a billionaire,” she says, gesturing wildly and staring at me like I’m an idiot. “And an eligible bachelor?—”

“Okay, sure, but?—”

“Don’t interrupt. Most importantly,” she says, raising her judgy eyebrows, “he’s your brother’s boss.” She gives me an expectant look. But I’m not sure what to say. I sag against the couch, wishing it would swallow me up. “You’re telling me you never looked him up?”

“I never needed to.” I jab at my salad, avoiding her gaze. “I make sure River has food to eat. A car to drive. That he makes it to work on time.” I ignore the nagging voice telling me I failed. “That’s all the capacity I have.”

“Canyon—”

I make the mistake of looking up. “No. Don’t give me that look.

I ask him about his work. He doesn’t want to talk about it.

Sure, he told me some stuff. His boss is a dick.

He works in an office. Doing office stuff for some company.

I never thought about the company having a CEO, let alone a hot one. ”

She grins, jabbing a finger at me. “So, you admit he’s hot?”

“I never said he wasn’t.”

She nods, putting her finger and her judgy eyes away. “Sorry, babe. It’s your turn to talk.” Putting her plate on the table, she turns toward me. Giving me her full attention. “What happened?”

I stab my salad and take a bite, just to get my thoughts together. And okay, yes, to mess with Alex. “Mr. Darian wanted to know where River was. He didn’t show up for work.”

“Was he still asleep?”

“No. He was gone—is gone—along with his suitcases. But River left me a note.” And because this is my best friend and not an arrogant CEO demanding things, I show it to her.

She reads over it several times. “Do you think he’s in trouble?”

“I don’t think so. I mean, I thought he just didn’t want to go.” And now that’s in my head.

What the heck’s going on, River?

She sits up, her eyes wide. “Are you going to find him? Is that why you need me to risk life and limb by taking Taffy?”

I ignore her comment about my sweet cat. But I can’t ignore the rest. I hadn’t thought of trying to find River. Does that make me a crap brother? “Mr. Darian asked me to take River’s place.”

“Wait, what?” She tilts her head so I can’t avoid her gaze. “He asked you to take River’s place.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

It sounds lame now. “He said he needs an outsider.”

Her face scrunches up. “But River works there. He isn’t an outsider.”

“I don’t know. He wants someone who’s not a part of his core management team.”

“Do you think that’s the real reason?”

I shrug. “Does it matter?”

“It might.” She moves Taffy off the coffee table before she can reach the food, ignoring Taffy’s hissed complaints. “I heard he has an image problem.”

“You were just saying how great he was. How is that an image problem?”

She shrugs. “About six months ago, they had a discrimination suit against them. The employee was fired for being gay or something. It got settled out of court.”

“But River still works there.” For now.

“That’s why I didn’t believe it at first.” She shrugs. “But now River’s gone. It makes you think.”

I push my hand against my chest. How did I miss this? And what else have I missed? “River would have told me if he was having problems.”

Alex gives me a sympathetic smile. “All I know is this is their first-ever Pride retreat.”

I feel like an idiot. I should have asked more questions. “How do you know that?”

“River told me.”

“How is it that my brother talks to you more than he talks to me? Wait.” Oh God. “Do you think that’s why Mr. Darian asked me to go to the retreat?”

“I don’t know. Did you tell him you’re gay?

“No.” I don’t mention he thought River was my boyfriend.

She grins and waggles her eyebrows. “Did you openly check him out?”

I groan. “I tried not to, but he’s hot.” Not to mention how great he smelled.

“I’d like to be close enough to check him out.”

“Alex.” I smack her arm. “What would your husband think?”

“We each get one celebrity hall pass. He’d be happy I picked a billionaire.”

Monday, June 9 th , 2:00 p.m.

Alex wanted to stay to catch a glimpse of Wade Darian. Like I would ever let that happen. She likes to push me out of my comfort zone. I’m already out as far as I want to be.

As I’m packing, I think about her words. If this is about me being gay, why didn’t he just say so? The more I think about it, the angrier I get. But those feelings aren’t useful. The reason doesn’t matter. This is a way for River and me to get out of debt. The only way.