Page 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

TYLER

“Look who’s alive?” Nathan spots me before the rest of the crew and runs over to give me a hug.

“Very funny.” We had a great time camping. And an even better time at the luxury hotel. I might leave that part out of my retelling.

It’s been a week since we got back, and somehow, I got talked into bringing Graham to one of Matthias’s backyard get-togethers. We let ourselves in the side gate to join everyone else. I’m glad we went camping last weekend because the weather has taken a turn for the worse and it’s much colder now. I’m bundled up in a hoodie and a jacket. Thankfully, Matthias keeps a fire pit in his backyard that will help with the chill.

Between Nathan and Colt showing up for breakfast and his appearance at The Flaming Unicorn, Graham already knows everyone. Mostly. Oliver’s here today. It’s not unusual for him to show up since Aaron adopted him into our group, but he hasn’t been around in a couple of months.

“Graham, tell us the real story. All Tyler will tell us is that you had a great time. That can’t be the whole truth,” Matthias says, joining us near the porch. It’s too small for all of us to be up here at the same time.

“Sorry, guys. It’s the whole truth. We had a great time camping, hiking, and generally enjoying the outdoors.” I give Graham a smile. Someone’s getting a blow job later for sticking to my version of events.

“I call bullshit,” Matthias says, but he grabs a couple of beers from the cooler and goes back to his seat. I grab drinks for Graham and myself and lead him over to the circle of chairs.

“Any luck on the job hunt?” Colt asks. I know he doesn’t mean anything by it, but my heart rate ticks up a bit at the question. The clock is running out. Graham’s company is asking him to pick from the shortlist they sent him. None of them are in Cardinal Falls, but a few are close by. Not perfect, but it means we can at least spend weekends together.

“Not yet,” Graham replies. “But I’m still looking. If I have to, I’ll take another temporary position while I keep searching.”

After our trip, we’ve talked about it a lot. I’m not keen on the whole long-distance thing, but I’m willing to give it a shot, knowing that it’s temporary. Nathan puts his hand on my arm, and I place mine on top of it. I know he’s been helping where he can.

“Steph’s asked me to stay on an extra week when she comes back so that we have handover time.” Graham slips his hand into mine and gives it a squeeze. Steph coming back is… complicated. I love her to death and can’t wait to see her. It does mean we’ll need to come clean about our relationship. I might not need to say anything as a volunteer, but she’s Graham’s friend, and he doesn’t want to hide us.

The plus side is that it means I no longer have an issue at work, either. Graham won’t be a client anymore, so my conscience will be clear. Not that I’ll be advertising it, but at least I won’t worry that someone will see us at a restaurant. I give Nathan a look, begging him to change the topic. I’m slowly making my peace with the situation, but I’m not ready to spend an afternoon discussing it.

“When are you finally going to get this backyard fixed up?” Nathan asks. He’s been asking the same question for years. It’s an amazing yard, but it’s bare bones. There’s so much space that could be used, especially since we gather here often. We always sit in chairs on the grass because the deck is too small.

“Funny you ask, I actually have a company starting the work next month. They’re going to tear out the current deck and build a brand new one.” I hope they do some planting, too, because right now, the yard’s limited to grass. Maybe I can talk him into letting me have a small flower bed here to grow a few things of my own.

Colt whistles. “That sounds incredible.”

“Yeah, but it means one of you might need to host for a while.” A round of not-its makes its way through the group. There’s no chance everyone’s going to fit in my apartment. Especially now that we’ve got a few extra people. I look around, trying to figure out who might serve as a temporary host. Aaron has the best place for it, but he rarely invites anyone over. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been in his house. Guess that means Nathan and Colt are up.

Once the group finishes squabbling over who has the best apartment, the conversation moves along to something about sports. As usual, I tune out. Instead of picking up my phone to scroll social media, I watch how easily Graham fits in with the group. He shares so many of their interests, easily talking about who’s injured this year or which team got the best draft picks. He’s never afraid to fight back when they get pushy either, going so far as to throw a potato chip at Aaron.

I spy Oliver grabbing another round of beers, and I follow him over to the porch. Even though he’s around occasionally, I don’t know him very well.

“Hey,” I say, reaching around him to grab a couple of cans from the cooler.

“Hey, Tyler. What’s new?” Oliver picks at the label on his bottle.

“I went camping for the first time and didn’t get eaten by a bear.” I try to make it sound funny, but it’s clear from Oliver’s expression that he’s concerned. “Shit, I didn’t mean it like that. I don’t think there are even bears around here.”

“That’s good, I guess. I’m not really the outdoorsy type.” Yeah, I can see that. Though, up until a week ago, I would’ve said the same thing about myself.

“What’s new with you? It’s been a while.”

“Oh, you know, work and stuff. It’s been busy.” I don’t know. Honestly, I have no idea what Oliver does. It might be too late to ask, so I nod knowingly.

“Hopefully, it calms down soon. We like having you at these.” It’s the best I can do. I hope Aaron appreciates it. Oliver lights up at the comment, so I did something right.

“You’re all great. I’m not really sure I fit in, though.” Oliver waves a hand toward the others.

“Because you don’t know about sports?” He nods. “Fuck that. I don’t know what they’re talking about, either. Eventually, they’ll wear themselves out on the topic and go back to more sane discussions.” I’m not sure my explanation is convincing, but Oliver nods as he walks back to his spot next to Aaron.

Aaron leans over and whispers something to Oliver. It must be good because Oliver’s cheeks turn a bright shade of pink. Graham looks over at me and mouths, “Okay?” I nod and grab the beers I got out for the two of us.

When I hand over the can, Graham pulls me into his lap. I don’t put up a fight, letting him wrap his arms around me and pull me close. He’s warm and comfortable. The mix of alcohol, a warm fire, and the man I love cast a spell over the afternoon.

* * *

GRAHAM

Unknown

Hey, it’s Nathan. Call me when you get a chance.

The message appears on my screen in the middle of a staff meeting. My heart races as all the worst-case scenarios run through my mind. Did something happen to Tyler? Wouldn’t Nathan say if it was some sort of emergency? Maybe he wants to tell me personally rather than putting it in a text message.

I wrap up the meeting in record time—twenty minutes early—and race back to my office, shutting the door behind me. My hands shake as I click on the number.

“Hey, thanks for calling.”

“Is Tyler okay?” I sink into my office chair, holding onto one of the arms to steady myself.

“Shit. Sorry, I didn’t think you’d jump to that conclusion. Tyler’s fine. I’m calling to talk about a job.”

Relief courses through my system. He’s okay. Tyler’s okay. I repeat the words in my head a few times until the message sinks in. “Great, go ahead.” My throat is still tight with worry, and I clear it a few times to make my voice sound less forced.

“So, I told you our development director is getting ready to retire in the next month.”

“Are you looking for someone to fill in until you can hire a replacement?” It’s a temporary fix, but it would keep me in Cardinal Falls a little longer. I know we can make long-distance work, but I’d rather avoid it if we can.

“That’s the thing. I thought they were going to want to hire a temp to fill the role while we did a whole big search, but they changed their minds.” My stomach sinks. That’s not what I wanted to hear.

“Thanks for trying. I really appreciate it.” The words sound flat, and I hope Nathan knows I mean them sincerely.

“I’m not doing very good at this.” He sighs, and I can hear him rustling paper in the background. “They want to hire you. Permanently.”

“What?” I must not be hearing him correctly.

“You’d have to interview for it, but it’s a formality. I gave them your resume, and everyone was really impressed.”

Seriously? Even without seeing a job description, I can tell it’s perfect. Nathan speaks so highly of the place, and their reputation is flawless. Plus, it’s here. With Tyler. This is my dream come true. Everything is coming together—a bit last-minute—to make our future work.

“Are you still there?”

“Sorry, speechless. I can’t thank you enough for this. Really.”

“I want you to stick around for Tyler. He’s happier with you than I’ve ever seen him. Keep making him happy and I’ll do just about anything for you. Same with the rest of the crew.”

“That means a lot.”

“I’ll send you the details. They want to get moving, so they’ll have you in for an interview within the week.”

Given that this man is offering me a job, asking for more is rude. I do have a request, though. “Can you not tell Tyler yet? I don’t want to say anything until I know for sure.”

“Of course, just don’t keep it a secret too long. He’ll kill me when he finds out, and the longer it’s been, the madder he’ll be.”

I laugh. That sounds about right. Maybe the joy of finding out I’m staying will override the anger?