I flip him off, “Asshole.”
“Naw,” he leans forward his arms draped over his legs, “I’m the steady.”
I bark out a laugh and shake my head before looking at Killian. He’s staring at a spot on the floor like it’s the most interesting thing he’s ever seen. My gut twists as worry starts to fill me, but when I glance at Coyle, he doesn’t look worried.
“Kill,” I prompt him gently.
His hazel eyes come up and meet mine and I suck in a breath. “I’m more in now than I was before. Getting to have her come apart between us was everything I thought it would be and more. I’m just,” he looks away, “struggling because I was afraid that she’d run, but didn’t want to believe it was really an option for her. I thought that it could be smooth sailing now that we had her. Stupid,” he chastises himself.
“It’s not stupid,” Coyle’s voice manages to be stern and gentle at the same time. It must be a big brother thing. “It’s good to have hope, little brother.”
Killian shrugs one shoulder as if he’s trying to brush off the encouraging words. I don’t think I like this side of him.
“Well, I’m pissed she ran. I don’t know what I was expecting but waking up to find her gone was not it,” I grouse.
Coyle barks out a laugh. “For stalkers, you guys kind of suck.”
I scoff and then find myself looking around again. That same feeling of this not being the right home for us nags at me. I know what I need to do and say, but I’m unsure of their reaction.
Before I can do what I need to, Killian pipes up, his voice stronger now, “We need to give her a little time to wrap her head around what happened. She was excited to see me. She liked what happened, but even I can admit it was a lot at one time and we didn’t ease her into anything.” I give him a deadpan look and he gives me a sheepish smile in response. “Fine, I didn’t ease her into anything.”
“From stalking for months in the shadows to an invite to a sex club wasn’t the most graceful transition,” Coyle teases.
Killian runs his hands through his hair and grips it hard. “I wasn’t thinking all that clearly. I just wanted her. I was tired of waiting and watching. I didn’t know how to do it in a better way. I figured it was neutral ground. It would give her an out, but also give us an opportunity.”
“Kill,” I bark, and his eyes snap up to mine. I gentle my voice, “Stop beating yourself up about it. In a way, it did work. She did show up. We did get to give her exactly what we know she needs.”
I shoot Coyle a pointed look until he holds his hands up. “Jude’s right, brother. I’m not mad at you or anything. In fact,” he takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, “thank you.”
A slow smile grows on Killian’s face. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
Coyle rolls his eyes and flips off his brother before he mumbles, “You heard me.”
“I think I’m going to need to hear it one more time,” the amusement in his voice, the friendly brotherly needling, has something inside of me settling.
We’ll be okay. We’ll get the girl.
Well, maybe. Hopefully.
Now, I just need to come clean about a few things and then I think I know what the next step is. I’m just not sure how they’re going to react to it.
“My name is Jude Perez. I own my own tech consulting firm and I do really fucking well, like really well. Like I said last night, the only reason I got the janitor position was to be near Edison,” the words come tumbling out of me with surprising speed.
Killian’s words are slow and measured, “So, you’ve been leading a dual life this whole time?”
“Yeah,” I sigh and let my body relax back, feeling like a weight had been lifted from me. I don’t think Edison will take it very well, but that’s a problem for another day. “I was willing to take any job and being a janitor was the only one where I could start pretty much immediately.”
Coyle gives me a long look, “I’m not going to lie, I figured it was something like that. I wasn’t sure what you did, but being a janitor is clearly not your calling.”
I scoff, “Why do you say that?”
Coyle points to my hands. “I know the hands of a man who has used them to work for years.”
I turn the tables on him, “You’re in construction, right?”
“Yup,” he pops the p and looks around the house. “I did most of the work on the house. It started as a project that I was planning on flipping, but then decided to stay. I don’t think it’s quite home, but it’s been good enough.”
He has no idea the kind of gift he’s just given me. I was nervous that the brothers had some sort of attachment to the house. Knowing they don’t is fucking amazing.