“That was once.”
“Yeah, but what if I did that to Grace and she came to you about it?”
“If she can’t pick the right men, that’s not my problem,” he said dismissively. “She made her bed. Let her deal with it.”
“What would your dad say if he heard you say that?” I asked. I couldn’t believe he had the balls to say it to me. If I’d never let myself give into Grace, I would have cracked his head for that. “Because I know if I said something like that, my mama would have my ass. No matter how old I am.” I didn’t bother to hide my disgust with him. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me by saying that.”
“What do you want?” he finally snapped. “I’m at work. I don’t have time to entertain this hypothetical bullshit.”
“A few things,” I said, not letting his change in demeanor affect me. If it came to a fight, I wasn’t afraid of Kyle. He spent most of his day behind a desk. I worked with my hands. It wouldn’t be a fight that would go in his favor. “I want you to be smart for once. I want you to look at the position you’re in now and ask yourself, ‘Do I enjoy being alone?’ Then I want you to realize that I didn’t get involved with your sister to spite you.” I took a breath and let it out slowly. “I can’t say the same forAdam, but I’m pretty positive Cam is in the same position I am. She took advantage of something she already knew was there.”
“What’s next? You want me to hire Adam back?” he asked snidely. “And if it wasn’t to spite me, why are Cameron and Adam involved? Do I even want to know why all three of you were in bed with my sister?” His face twisted up, “Or was she just there as a buffer so when I walked in I wouldn’t think you were all just fucking each other?”
“Do you really want to know what it was like to have her between the three of us?” I asked. “Because I can assure you, she was the center of attention.” I shrugged and straightened, folding my arms over my chest. “I can honestly see why she would be into it after playing second fiddle to you her entire life. It explains a lot about why she would do it.” Saying it out loud made me realize I needed to see her.
Kyle immediately waved both of his hands, closing his eyes tightly. “I don’t want to know about it. I don’t need the details about why she would fuck the three of you.”
“You mean how?” I pointed out. “Why should that concern you?” I rolled my eyes. “If Shay pulled this, I’d want to know why.” Irritation rolled in my gut. I’d have to see her after this. “When I found out she started working here, I couldn’t figure out why. The first thought was she was trying to go over your head and get Adam his job back.”
“No luck there,” Kyle snorted. “Dad’s been reviewing Adam’s sales history. He might move cars, but he hacks into the bottom line to do it.” He shrugged it away. “Dad supported me for firing him. Grace doesn’t have any kind of sway with Dad, and she knows shit about the business. She has no chance of appealing to Dad to undo it.”
I worked my jaw and considered the man I had once called a friend. “And there’s no undoing any of this?” I asked.
“If I made you pick between me and Grace,” he started, leaning forward slowly, “who would you pick?”
Chapter 23
Grace
It was after midnight by the time I got home. Two days of getting up early to start my new position at the dealership and closing at the bar had turned me into a zombie. I knew I wasn’t gonna be able to do this for much longer, but I couldn’t make myself ask for time off. I knew if I did, Kyle would use it against me. Especially since I just recently had a sick day.
The lights were on, and I barely noticed Shay seated on the couch. I didn’t stop on my trek to my bedroom until she pointedly cleared her throat. “You just gonna walk by a bitch without saying anything?” she asked, not bothering to sugarcoat her irritation. “That’s cold. I knew you could be like that, but I never thought you’d be like that to me.”
“I’m tired,” I whined. “I’ve got four more days of this shit. One of them is my day off from the bar, and even then I still have to work at the dealership.”
“You’re the one that decided you could juggle two jobs,” she pointed out, scrolling through her phone like she wasn’t bothered by me.
“But it was your idea that I file it down to one,” I pointed out. “And because I’m going down to one job, the one that pays less and doesn’t have tips, I had to start a new position as soon as possible so I could learn all this shit about cars and car parts.” I flopped down onto my butt on the floor. My feet ached from being on them all damn day. I couldn’t stand any longer. “I don’t have a car, so all this information is gonna go to shit as soon as I get sick of my dad and my brother and quit.”
“Nobody told you to work for your dad,” she said as she leaned back on the couch. Fatigue settled on her too. “No one told you to put yourself in a position where you will be uncomfortable and unhappy.”
I looked at Shay, seeing a similar exhaustion on her face. “I did this so I could spend more time with you and with Adam, Cam, and Darius.”
“Darius is talking to you now?” she asked, sitting up. “He hasn’t said shit to me.”
“He wants an apology from you,” I pointed out to her. “A real one, not your factory setting of smartass.”
Shay snorted and immediately looked away. She shifted back against the couch, her irritation becoming increasingly more obvious. “I will call him,” she said after a beat. “I will offer to take him to dinner.”
“I can pay for that,” I suggested. “That way you don’t feel like your arm is getting twisted.”
“You were just complaining about money,” she pointed out. “How does that make sense? You’re gonna complain about losing money by working for your dad only to turn around and buy my brother and me dinner?”
“I feel like I owe it to both of you,” I said easily. “I’ve got money in the bank. I’ve been saving up money. As long as you don’t take him anywhere super expensive, it should be fine.”
Shay pursed her lips. “If you’re gonna buy me dinner, then you should be there with me.” She rubbed at her eyes, showing just how tired she was. “If you can’t go, then you don’t get to pay for it.”
“Shay—”