Page 42 of The CEO I Hate (The Lockhart Brothers #1)

LIAM

“ Y ou have a lot of nerve showing up here after the way you treated my sister,” Jake said, swinging his apartment door open. Ash sniffed at the doorway, recognized Jake’s scent, and wagged his tail. I hadn’t planned to bring him along, but he had refused to leave my side all damn day.

“Well…you answered the door this time,” I pointed out. “So you can’t hate me that much.”

Jake huffed, glaring at me the way he reserved for all Mia’s loser ex-boyfriends. “Maybe I only answered it so I could slam it in your face again.”

His stare was brutal, but I didn’t move. I knew if I left now, that if I left this wound festering between us, it would be the end of our friendship. I didn’t know if there was any way back from where we were currently, from the hurt I’d already caused him, but I had to try.

“What are you doing here, Liam?” Jake said after a beat.

“I wanted to see you. And I know you don’t want to see me right now, but?— ”

“But?” Jake said. The elevator doors opened in the hall behind me, and Jake managed a smile and a wave at one of his neighbors before wheeling his chair back. “Well?” he snapped at me when I didn’t move. “Are you coming in or not?”

Not willing to look a gift horse in the mouth, I immediately stepped inside.

Jake closed the door behind me. “Nosy old bat,” I heard him mutter under his breath before turning his chair sharply to face me.

Ash trotted in behind me like he owned the place, paused in the entryway, then beelined straight for Jake.

He rested his chin on Jake’s footrest like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Jake raised a brow. “You brought the mutt?”

“He didn’t give me a choice,” I muttered. “He gets separation anxiety now, apparently.”

“Huh,” Jake said, reaching down to scratch behind Ash’s ears. “Seems like he’s doing just fine without you.” He turned his attention back to me. “All right, now you…what could you possibly have to say that I want to hear?” he demanded.

“Because I already know you were dating my sister behind my back. I already know you turned around and broke her heart.” His eyes narrowed. “I already know everything, man. So what’s left to talk about?”

There was only one thing I could say. “I’m sorry.”

Jake scoffed. “I’m not the one you should be apologizing to for your shitty behavior.”

“Okay, fair,” I said, walking into the living room. Jake had a calendar pinned to the wall and printouts of exercises. “You restarted PT?” I asked.

“Surgeon gave me the go-ahead,” he muttered.

“That’s great. Do you need help with these exercises today? ”

“I don’t need your help,” Jake said, annoyed.

I picked up a worn resistance band from the corner where he kept a couple weights and medicine balls.

“If you’re gonna be pissed at me, that’s fine, but at least let us channel it into something productive,” I said, holding the resistance band out to him.

“You know this was always easier with me helping.”

“I don’t need you,” he said again.

“Well, I’m here and I’m offering anyway.”

Jake released a heavy breath, snatched the resistance band from my hand, and tossed it aside. “What, do you think helping me do some exercises would let you off the hook?”

I knew he was beyond pissed at me. I’d known his angry face since we were teens.

That pinched line between his brows, the way his cheeks sort of puffed up with hot air, and those puckered lips.

Jake wasn’t usually one to hold a grudge, but for Mia’s exes, he was always willing to make an exception.

I just hadn’t thought I’d end up on that list.

“I’m not trying to be let off any hooks,” I said. “I’m just…trying to help a friend.”

“When I look at you, do you really think I see a friend instead of the asshole who broke my sister’s heart?” he said.

I couldn’t help flinching. On the one hand, I knew that if it really came down to a split, Jake would be on Mia’s side—as he should be.

But did it have to come down to a split?

Jake was one of the most important people in my life, and I couldn’t stand the thought of that relationship being over for good.

I had to figure this out, so we could navigate our way past it.

“That’s what I thought,” Jake muttered. “Nothing to say for yourself. ”

“Well, what do you want me to say?” I shot back. “Nothing I tell you is going to change how you feel or what happened between me and Mia.”

“Exactly, dude.” His voice cracked. “ Mia !”

That’s all he had to say. Just Mia . Because I already knew how he’d feel the moment he found out.

I already knew why he was so angry. It was everything I’d been afraid of.

Everything I’d been trying to avoid…trying to protect us all from.

I thought I could fix this in a way that worked, that let me have Mia and not lose Jake, but thinking that had been my first mistake.

“You decided to make a go of things with her, and then you hurt her,” Jake said. “You chose to hurt her.”

“That’s not what I set out to do,” I said. “I think after all these years you know me better than that.”

“I thought I knew you better too, man,” he said, shaking his head.

I swallowed hard, the weight of Jake’s words sitting heavy on my chest. I hadn’t expected this—hadn’t expected to be torn to pieces losing Mia and then torn up all over again trying to salvage things with Jake.

I rubbed at the back of my neck, searching for the right words.

“I messed up. I didn’t want to, but I did. And she deserves better.”

“You’re damn right she does,” Jake said. His eyes were full of disappointment. “She gave you everything she had and you…you just slammed the door in her face.”

I wanted to argue, to tell Jake that things weren’t as simple as they seemed, but there was no defending myself when it came to Mia. Not now. Not after all the ways in which I’d screwed up.

“Do you know how shitty it was to see her break down over you? To listen to her cry herself to sleep on my shoulder? ”

“I know, I’m sorry, man,” I said, my voice cracking. “I never wanted that for her.” My chest clenched, and I knuckled at the uncomfortable tightness. I hated the thought of Mia in pain, especially over me. I could imagine what Jake was thinking right now: I never wanted you for her.

Ash let out a quiet huff, his tail tapping once on the floor. It was barely audible, but somehow it still felt like a judgment.

I didn’t know if it was my tone or the utter look of despair on my face, but the tension in Jake’s jaw eased somewhat, his gaze softening a fraction.

“You’re lucky I’m in this chair right now,” he noted. “That’s all I’m gonna say.”

“You could probably still deck me if you tried.”

“You’d have to bend down,” Jake said. “Feels like a lot of effort, and I’m not sure you’re worth that.”

Pain surged through me. “I don’t know how to make it up to you, but I don’t want this to be the end of our friendship.”

Jake sighed heavily.

I slumped down on the couch, and we sat there in awkward silence for a long time.

“You’re an asshole,” Jake finally said, though his voice lacked the fiery anger from before. Now, he just sounded tired.

I nodded. “I know.” I picked up the resistance band he’d tossed aside and offered it to him again. It was a shitty stand-in for a peace offering, but it was all I had.

Jake seemed to realize that too, though he still refused the band .

“You still have to do your exercises,” I reminded him. And we both knew he’d have an easier time with them if someone of my size and strength helped him get in the right positions and provided enough resistance.

Jake grunted and took the band from me, and I helped him maneuver it beneath his left foot. I helped him stretch his leg out while he used the band to create tension.

“What’s all this?” I asked, nodding to the papers and massive textbook on his coffee table.

Jake glanced at the table. “I started the process to get my certification as a fire inspector.”

“Really?” I said, surprised but pleased at the news.

Jake tightened the resistance band in his hands. “Figured it was time I stop moping around here and get my life together.”

“All right then,” I said. “I’m glad to hear it.

” Actually, I was incredibly relieved to hear it.

I’d worried that breaking up with Gabrielle would have cemented Jake even further into inaction, that it would have set his recovery back weeks if not months as his depression deepened, but if anything, the breakup had the opposite effect.

I didn’t say it out loud, of course, but maybe Gabrielle leaving had been the best thing for both of them. Once he’d stopped being distracted by their complicated relationship, by trying to prove their love could last, he’d put his life back on track.

“What’s the process for becoming a fire inspector look like?” I asked.

“There’s a bunch of courses I have to do through the California State Fire Marshal’s office, then I have to pass an exam. I figure if I work through the course while I’m doing my PT, I might be ready to try for the exam by the time the surgeon gives me the all-clear. ”

“And you’re…” I began. “That’s what you want to be doing?”

Jake’s eyes flickered briefly to the textbook and back, then he nodded.

“It feels like a way for me to be a part of something that matters, even with all this,” he gestured to his wheelchair, “going on. I spent my whole career running into burning buildings, trying to save people. I need something that gives me that same sense of purpose without pushing my body to the limit every day. I’m not ready to sit on the sidelines, and I think this is a workable compromise.

I can use my knowledge and experience, just in a different way. ”

“That’s…Wow, man. It sounds like you’ve really taken a big step here.”