Page 23 of Should Our Hearts Catch Fire

“I’m calling now.”

“That’s not—” He cuts himself off, groaning. Seriously, how is this his brother? “I’m at a meeting. Come on up. Amanda will let you into my office.” Technically, Cal’s office. “Can you wait half an hour?”

“I can wait.”

“Good. Do you have your card?”

“I do. Which floor is it?”

“27th. I’ll let Amanda know you’re coming,” Ellis promises. He hangs up, shaking his head. Seriously. How is this his life?

He smooths down his suit before stepping back into the conference room, sparing another apology. If he was distracted before, there’s no way anything from the presentation is going to register now. He’ll just have to get Steve to send him the slides so he can go over it again.

The next thirty minutes drag like an old lady with a hip replacement, followed by a series of questions and a long-ass discussion Ellis has no chance of following. He gets a few weird looks as he basically runs out of the meeting, rushing to his office. Amanda gives him a curious look as he breezes past her desk but, bless her, she doesn’t say anything.

He swipes his card to open his office, spotting Cal sitting at his desk, immersed in his phone.

“Sorry for being late. The meeting went a bit—” The sound coming from the phone makes him stop in his tracks. Surely, that can’t be…

Oh, but it is. And it’sloud.

Ellis slams the door shut. “Are you watching porn?!”

Cal pauses the video, putting the phone down, his face the picture of nonchalance. “It’s for research.”

“Research,” Ellis echoes dryly.

Cal nods. “Yes.

“Can’t you do ‘research’ at home?” Ellis grunts, counting down from 100, so he doesn’t strangle his brother.

“I was bored.”

“Bored.”

Cal cocks his head. “Why are you repeating everything I say?”

Ellis throws his hands up, his voice a pitch higher. “I don’t know! Maybe because you show up unannounced—”

“I called you when I was downstairs.

“—and watch porn in my office, where anyone can hear you! I don’t want to be explaining this!” He only recently started to settle in here. People are not used to him as they were to Cal.

“Did you hear anything from the outside?” Cal asks, giving Ellis a pause.

“That’s beside the point!”

Cal sighs, ducking his head as though he finally understands Ellis’ frustration. “Sorry.”

Ellis runs a hand over his face—he’s been doing that a lot recently—and spreads his arms. “Well, I’m here.” He runs his gaze over Cal, trying to gauge how yesterday went based on what he looks like.He’s watching porn, so it probably went fine.“Is everything okay? How did it go with Dawson yesterday?”

His brain supplies a handful of possible scenarios that might’ve taken place, but Cal totally blows him away when he says, “We had sex.”

Well, that explains it. “Uh…okay. I was kinda hoping you’d talk it out first.” He doesn’t bother reminding Cal of TMI. The concept is probably lost on the guy, anyway.

“We did,” Cal says. “Twice, actually. This morning too.”

“And? All good?”