Page 15 of Not That Guy

Weston

Who the hell is Brenner talking to?

The man murmured something in Brenner’s ear that had him laughing out loud.

Brenner. The perpetual scowler. I watched as they whispered to each other.

He squeezed Brenner’s shoulder and I caught sight of the light picking up the gleam of a wedding band.

He walked away, leaving Brenner alone, and that made me feel better, though I couldn’t understand why.

“What’re you staring at?” Grady murmured. “Or should I say whom?” His voice held an undertone of amusement I didn’t appreciate. As if he were looking inside my head and seeing the mishmash of twisted emotions.

“Nothing. Just seeing who’s here.”

“ Mmmhmm .”

I set my coffee cup on the table and shifted to face him. “Okay, what?”

A lazy grin ticked up Grady’s lips. “What, what?”

“Come on. I’m in no mood for games. You clearly have something to say. So go ahead, spit it out.”

Maddeningly slow, Grady finished his coffee. “You’re awfully jumpy. And all throughout lunch, you kept glaring at Brenner.”

“Glaring? Better get your eyes checked, my man.” I’d always prided myself on my poker face and made good use of it while talking to Grady, who was a master at digging beneath the surface.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.

I was seeing if there was anyone I hadn’t yet met and wondering who’d be at the bar later. ”

“Classic denial,” Grady said.

“Meaning what? You’re talking in riddles.”

Grady shifted his chair closer. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think there was something going on between you two.”

“Are you fucking crazy?”

Unfortunately, at that moment there was a lull in conversation, so the entire room heard me go off.

Heads swiveled to gape at me, but I brushed them off with a shake of my head.

“Nothing to see here, folks. Just two friends having a bit of fun.” Waiting for everyone to return to their conversations, I leaned over and hissed, “I meant that, by the way. What the hell are you talking about, ‘something going on’?”

Grady merely smirked. “I said what I said. You know what the words mean. And I’m not only talking about today. There’ve been times since he joined the firm when I’ve seen you watching him.”

“Yeah, hoping he didn’t screw up.” A blatant lie, as Brenner was as sharp an attorney as they came.

“Yeah, okay, West.” Grady cackled. “That’s the most bullshit thing you’ve said all day.”

“I am not into him,” I gritted out. “I like women.”

His smile beamed bright. “If you say so.”

“You’re just being a dick. You think you’re funny.”

Grady popped a cookie into his mouth. “I am?”

It was true—I liked women. And over the past year since Brenner and I’d had our…

encounter, I hadn’t had a single sexual thought of another man.

It must’ve been a deadly combination of pent-up sexual frustration and too much alcohol that had twisted my libido for that one night.

If I really was into guys, I’d want to have sex with other men, not only Brenner.

Not that I wanted to have sex with Brenner. One drunken hand job didn’t make me bisexual. Neither did constantly thinking about it a year later…did it? Dammit . I was confusing myself.

Trying to remain calm, I blew out a frustrated breath. “Fleming means nothing to me. He’s a pain in the ass, is all. Do you know what he did? He read a text on my phone.”

Grady’s brows shot up. “What? That doesn’t sound like him. How did that happen?”

“Well, I, uh…I left my phone on the table earlier when we were doing the exercises, and the screen lit up with a message. But he shouldn’t have read it.”

“I agree, but if the same thing happened and it was sitting right in front of me, I doubt I’d have been able to ignore it.” Eyes narrowed, Grady peered at me. “You’re upset, and I don’t think it has anything to do with Brenner reading your text. I think it’s the text itself.”

Heat rose to my face. “It’s nothing,” I mumbled. “I’m fine. How’s that adoption case going?”

“Don’t make me use that psych degree on you, man. What’s wrong? You haven’t been yourself all day.”

“No? Who have I been?”

This was Grady I was talking to, not some first-year associate who wouldn’t challenge me. Plus, that psych degree meant it was almost impossible to bullshit the man.

“West, come on. I thought we were friends. I confided in you when I got shot down by Miranda.” His lips twitched. “Did I tell you that the day after they announced the new partners, she came by my office to say she’d like to take me out for a celebratory drink?”

“Not surprised in the least. She’s only interested in seeing whoever can help her up the ladder.”

“Yeah, you were right. And man, it was painful to have to say no. She wore a tight little dress…damn. I didn’t know I had that much willpower.”

“Your restraint is admirable.” I snickered. “I know how she can be when she wants something.”

Twin brows shot high. “I’m all for an ambitious woman, don’t get me wrong, ’cause confidence is sexy as hell, but they have to like something about me other than my partnership in the firm.”

“Are you looking for a girlfriend?” While Grady and I were pretty friendly, we’d never delved much into our personal lives, preferring to take in ball games or go clubbing, where one or both of us would inevitably leave with a lady.

I had no intention to let him into the fucked-up dynamics of the Lively family.

This, however, was the first time he’d ever mentioned wanting a relationship, and I wondered what had changed.

“I might be. I feel like I’m too old for the scene, and to tell you the truth, I’m tired by the end of the day.

Who wants to be ‘on’ all day at the office and then have to stand around and be impressive all night?

Maybe it’s clichéd, but I’m thinking it’s not so bad to come home to someone who actually cares about me.

Someone I want to know better and be with all the time.

Being in foster care meant never knowing if a home was your forever place or one where you’d pack up and leave. I want a family. Permanence.”

“Wow.” I guess it had never occurred to me to put myself in his shoes, but what Grady said made sense. What I didn’t tell him was that you could have that home, have everything you could want, and still be the loneliest person in the world.

But I didn’t need anyone’s pity.

“So what is it? Something’s bothering you.”

I drummed my fingers on the tabletop. “Maybe…I don’t…” It made no sense to deny it. Grady was my friend. “It’s my father.”

“What about him?”

“Here. See for yourself.” I shoved the phone at him, and he picked it up. Darkness clouded his eyes when he handed it back to me.

“You’re not going, I presume?”

“No. I never have.” The room started clearing out. I could see Brenner by himself at the table.

“Any particular reason?”

With Grady, I knew I had to choose my words carefully. “We don’t get along. As you might’ve figured out from his message. Anyway, we’d better get going.”

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?” My steady gaze was all the answer he needed, and he shook his head. “Fine. But you know I’m here for you if you need to vent.”

The last thing I wanted was to dive into the rot of the relationship between my father and me. It was deep and ugly and would send me into a dark place I had no desire to revisit. My smile was tight. “Thanks. It’s not a big deal, so please, let’s drop it.”

Grady looked unconvinced, but I wasn’t about to cave and he knew it. “I think your partner might be waiting for you. What’re you going to do about him?”

“Nothing. Hopefully with the scavenger hunt, we can ignore each other. I’ll catch you later at dinner.” We parted ways, and I passed by Brenner, who scrambled up from his chair and followed me.

“West, wait up, please.”

I kept going. Brenner caught me by the arm and held me with a firm grip. I could feel the heat of his hand through my shirtsleeve and whipped around.

“I think it’s pretty obvious I don’t want to talk.”

“So let me. I want to apologize. I was wrong to read your text, and I’m sorry.”

If I refused to accept his apology, I’d look petty. “Forget about it. No big deal.”

“Are you sure?”

I neither needed nor wanted Brenner Fleming to feel sorry for me. “I said it and meant it, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember, but—”

“No buts,” I snapped and ran a hand through my hair. “Look, just drop it. Consider it one of the things you didn’t know about me.”

“Is there more? I still don’t know anything other than what you used to talk about in the frat house. Girls, vacations, and partying.”

Two could play this game, and I cocked a brow. “Does that mean you’re willing to talk as well?”

Brenner’s eyes widened; then he pressed his lips tight.

“I didn’t think so.”

We stood in the middle of the hall with people walking on either side, but our gazes clashed.

I recognized that expression from years ago.

Lockdown. Fifteen years ago I would’ve believed it was typical Brenner Fleming disapproval based on a combination of jealousy and annoyance. Now I wasn’t so sure.

Hmm . Maybe there was something to be said about this exercise I’d dismissed as nonsense.

Despite how angry I’d gotten earlier with Brenner, I itched to know more about his past. What the hell had happened to him as a child?

The tidbits he’d dropped so casually in passing sounded horrifying and explained so much about his personality.

Brenner was as cagey about his past as I was, though for different reasons.

With the room filling up, I wanted time to sit and check my messages before the afternoon session began. “We only have one more thing to do today, so let’s get it over with.”

“Guess that explains how you feel about the whole weekend.”