His grin grew larger as he ducked his head and pulled his box cutter from his tool belt out and scored the drywall. He felt himself smiling as he snapped the material and then cut the back. He probably shouldn’t care whether or not Brynn dated, but damn, he was just a man.
The woman had turned his world upside down and inside out.
Axel had always been a master at compartmentalizing things. It was a skill he’d either come by naturally or honed as a kid. Whatever was happening in his life, good or bad, he filed it away in his brain until he needed to deal with it. It wasn’t something he did consciously. It was just his natural response.
But he couldn’t compartmentalize Brynn. He didn’t possess the ability to put her out of his mind. He thought about her all the time, and not because she was a job. It had nothing to do with that.
“I worry about her.” Ryder lifted his arms and held the next piece in place.
Over the past few weeks, Axel felt like he’d gotten to know the kid pretty well. He reminded him a lot of himself. He could see that Ryder was protective of Brynn. And Axel got it. He’d been the man of the house all of his life.
But the difference between him and Ryder was that Axel’s mom had put the weight of the world on his shoulders so she didn’t have to carry it herself. She’d depended on Axel too much. He’d had no choice but to grow up way too fast.
Brynn didn’t do that to her son, but he could see that Ryder had taken the responsibility on himself anyway.
“What are you worried about?” Axel asked.
“I’m leaving for college in a few years and…and she’s going to be alone.”
Axel could see that the thought of Brynn being by herself was really weighing on the kid.
“I’ve only been here a few weeks, but from what I’ve seen, no one is alone in this town.”
Ryder grinned but it didn’t quite meet his eyes.
“I know, but that’s not what I mean. Her friends, they’re all getting married and she’s just…alone.” The kid shrugged.
Axel pulled the trigger on the drill and secured the sheet of drywall in place as he tried to collect his thoughts, trying to find the right thing to say to the kid. His last call with Izzy had not gone well and she still wasn’t talking to him. He knew that he couldn’t dismiss Ryder’s worries outright, but he wanted to put his mind at ease. He tried to think of what Duke would’ve said to him.
When he released the trigger, he lowered his arms. “Listen, I don’t know your mom that well, but from what I’ve seen she’s successful, strong, independent, smart, and funny. She’s—” Fucking perfect. “—amazing. Any guy would be lucky to have her in their life. But this isn’t Jerry Maguire—”
“Who’s Jerry Maguire?”
Wow.Axel felt old and it had nothing to do with his sore back.
“Never mind.” Axel tried to get back on track. “All I mean is, people don’t need anyone to complete them. And believe me, it’s better for her to wait for the right one than to marry all the wrong ones. My mom always had a new boyfriend. Eight of them she walked down the aisle with, but there were at least twenty she didn’t.”
“What about you?”
Axel wasn’t sure what the kid was asking.
“What about me, what?”
“Do you…date a lot?”
“No.” Axel shook his head. “I don’t.”
Ryder walked over to the pile of drywall and pulled the next sheet and set it down so Axel could measure it. “Do you have a girlfriend?”
“No.” Technically, Axel had only had one proper girlfriend and he’d married her. That ended in a trainwreck.
“I have a girlfriend.” Ryder casually threw out.
That took a turn. Axel was relieved because he’d thought the kid’s line of questioning was headed toward an Axel and Brynn matchup.
“Fiona, right?”
“Yeah.” Ryder’s brow furrowed. “How’d you know that?”