Page 86 of Kicks

“Go on.”

He fought to keep his voice level.

“We never accept twenty percent. It’s usually ten. Fifteen at most.”

Billy found himself stunned into silence.

“You didn’t even try to negotiate,” Eddie continued. “I allowed myself to be carried away with beating Brad and we hadn’t got to know each other at that point.”

“We have now though. Pretty intimately, as well,” Billy said. He was rapidly losing control of his tone. “Were you ever going to tell me?”

Eddie hung his head. “Of course. I’ve been working my ass off to find another decent client so I could then give you a discount.”

“You were still going to lie to me.” Billy fired back.

“Not lie as such.”

“Telling me something that is untrue is a lie, Eddie. Fucking hell.”

Billy sprang off the bed as though it had burst into flames.

“Billy, don’t. I’ve been so stressed about it. I’m sorry.”

“I think I’d better go.”

Billy pushed his feet into his trainers.

“Please stay,” Eddie said, getting up and taking hold of him. “Don’t leave here in anger.”

But Billy didn’t want to hear it.

“You consoled me when the books still wouldn’t balance,” Billy roared. “Just sitting there while I took on architecture hours and you knew you could ease the pressure with a click of your fingers.”

“Billy—”

“Trust is the only thing that matters, Eddie,” Billy said. “My mother took so much shit from the men in her life and I’m still dealing with the fallout. I half expect my own father to appear out of the woodwork. And now this? I can’t deal with any more liars. I’m sorry. I need to go. This is going somewhere neither of us wants.”

His whole body shook as he grabbed his phone and keys from the dresser.

“We need to talk,” Eddie pleaded.

“No, Eddie,” Billy said, raising his voice. “The time to talk was the first night we spent together. We both knew this had the chance to be something important. Fuck, if you had confessed the lot, I probably would have told you to keep the twenty percent. How fucking stupid am I?”

“You’re not…”

“I suppose Scott and Tyler encouraged you. It’s all a laugh to them.”

Eddie shook his head. “That’s not how it is.”

“You’ve discussed it with them?”

“Yes.”

“Which means they know more about my relationship than me? Fuck you, Eddie.”

That was it. Billy stormed out of the room. Scott and Tyler were on the sofas looking aghast at the shouting. Billy didn’t care what any of them thought. His sole focus was getting out onto the street and never returning again.

The marina was a hubbub of activity. The restaurants were doing a roaring trade. Billy had never felt more removed from the world as he stared out of his window at them.