Love Lessons (Brotherly Love Book 3)

by Aiden Bates

  I shook my head. Rome and I had handed Eli a preformed, perfect lie, and he’d made up one of his own. As I thought of Rome, I shivered. It was a whole lot less of a lie, these days.

  “Why are you laughing?” The words were curt, and Eli narrowed his eyes.

  “Because…because that’s ridiculous, Eli. And why wouldn’t you just tell him about Rome to simmer him down?”

  He pushed his hand through his hair before clasping the back of his neck as he strode toward my door then turned on a dime and headed back toward me.

  I stared at him, curiosity ringing through me at his awkward mood. Eli had always been pretty easygoing, even though he was generally selfish and inconsiderate. But he could never keep his thoughts or feelings to himself—he was like a walking virus, ready to infect everyone with his innermost thoughts—so if I waited for him to explain, I’d soon know what his deal was.

  “Look, I want to tell you everything. But I can’t, because you might never talk to me again, and I couldn’t bear that.” The pain in his eyes as he looked at me actually altered their shape, and I could only stare.

  What the hell was he talking about?

  “I don’t understand, Eli. What is everything?” I wasn’t sure I actually wanted to know, and if I did, it was only to sate an objective curiosity rather than relate to him and his feelings.

  “Meet me after school finishes, and I promise I’ll explain further.”

  I shook my head. Hell, no. I wasn’t that curious.

  “Please, dude? This concerns you, too.”

  Although Eli was certainly pulling out all the stops to get me to sit down with him.

  “Me?” The fewer words I said, the less information he had to use against me.

  He nodded. “Yes. C’mon, Gray. I’ll treat you to one of those fro-yos you’ve always loved.”

  I hesitated. I did love that frozen yogurt.

  But Eli saw my moment of indecision and pressed his point. “It’s the last thing I’ll ask of you. If nothing you hear changes your mind, I won’t bother you again. So, for old time’s sake…? Come on, say yes.”

  For fuck’s sake. I’d been holding strong to my position until he threw the thing in about old times. Eli and I had a lot of years to consider before I walked away for the last time.

  Against my better judgment, I nodded.

  I walked hesitantly into the frozen yogurt shop. I’d changed my mind multiple times on the walk over, and nearly headed back to school twice. Strange when offering to supervise the afterschool group was an easier place to be than the relative quiet of a frozen yogurt shop. Eli had already bagged a table in the corner, and he waved. My favorite sundae was already on the table in the spot opposite him, and his own was already half finished.

  I sat and picked up my long-handled spoon before plunging it to the bottom of the glass to dig out some of the melted fudge sauce. Whatever Eli had to say would sound better with the taste of chocolate on my tongue.

  “Sorry for how I’ve been acting, dude.”

  I looked up. Not that I was counting, or anything but Eli had apologized to me at least three time in recent memory, and usually made it a point of pride to never apologize for anything, because he’d always said apologies made you weak.

  He seemed to latch onto my train of thought. “I mean it. I’m just stressed about the wedding, and there’s been so much more pressure on me with Benji feeling insecure, but there’s only so much I can do about that, you know?” He looked at me like he was willing me to understand something.

  “But why the hell is Benji feeling so insecure now? There’s a ring on his finger, right?” I dug into my fro-yo again. Eli needed to stop agonizing over whatever it was he wanted to talk to me about and spit it out or he’d miss his opportunity.

  Instead, he stared at me, his eyes wide, but not because he didn’t believe something. Instead it was the look he usually reserved for those who’d just said something he thought was crazy. Ridicule usually followed this look.

  “Have you actually seen yourself, Grady Caldwell? Ever looked in a mirror? Caught a glimpse of yourself in a store window as you walk by? Looked at a photograph?”

  I paused, my spoon partway to my mouth and looked in the mirror behind Eli. “Sure. I look great, my mouth open wide enough to swallow a semi because I’m wolfing down my frozen yogurt so we can head back to work. I also look a lot like Jamie, who looks like Saint, who looks like Kairo, who looks like every single one of us, and we all look like Dad.”

  Eli tightened his lips into a wry smile and shook his head. “Oh, Grady,” he murmured.

  He reached forward, the movement sudden, and grabbed my free hand, the one not busy shoveling frozen yogurt into my gaping mouth.

  “You’re gorgeous.” He almost whispered the last word, and I choked on a chunk of chocolate coughing it out of my airway and releasing my spoon to pat myself on my chest.

  “What now?”

  “It’s why Benji has been so insecure about us being friends, and why he’s been pressuring me to end our friendship.” This time his wild eyes were something other than disbelief but also not because ridicule would follow. “But I couldn’t do it.” He looked down to where he held my hand in an almost white-knuckle grip. “I couldn’t end our friendship because you mean too much to me.” Then he sighed. “But I did feel torn. And because of that I acted out. I was a bastard to you over the job interview, and I haven’t supported you as I should have.”

  I clattered my spoon back into my empty sundae glass and extracted my hand from his grip. “Okay,” I said.

  “No. It’s not okay. I told Benji that his suspicions were right about us—that he was right to be suspicious of us being friends—and that’s why you backed out of the wedding.” He looked down at the table and drummed his fingers softly before he met my gaze again, and when he did, his eyes shimmered. “I told Benji you have feelings for me.”

  Nausea rolled through me in a wave, and my stomach gurgled in displeasure. The sundae seemed like a bad idea in the face of this news. I stared at Eli, already knowing the next thing he was going to say would be worse. He sighed, and I braced myself.

  “I thought your crush on me would go away, but it never did. And I didn’t want to lose you as a friend so I—” He broke off and glanced over my shoulder then looked back to me. “So, I never went there.” He swallowed, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. “I’m not in love with Benji. It’s a business thing. Look.” His voice became urgent. “I have to stay married to him for three years and that’s it.”

  Confusion prickled through my thoughts. Eli wasn’t making a whole lot of sense. An arranged marriage? A convenience thing? Did those really exist? And why the hell did I need to know about it? Plus, that rat bastard. Rome had been right—Eli had known how I felt about him all along.

  He grabbed my hand again and spoke in that same urgent voice. “If you wait for me… If you do that, we can be together when I’m done with Benji.”

  I snatched my hand away and stood. “What? No, Eli. You have no idea what you’re even talking about. So, not just ‘no.’ Fuck, no.” The realization that I loved Rome slammed me hard in the gut. It wasn’t fake, and it hadn’t been fake for a while. I had to find him and tell him and hope he’d be happy about that.

  Eli shook his head and pulled his mouth down at the corners. “It’s not going to last with Rome, you know. He’s already dishonest and keeping things from you. He’s the jealous, insecure one, which is why he didn’t tell you.” He laughed, a short, sharp, mean sound.

  “Eli. Stop. I don’t know what you’re talking about, and we need to get back to work. You have to stop talking now.”

  But he didn’t stop talking. “Oh, I told him about my sham marriage weeks ago, but he hasn’t told you, has he?” He sneered a little. “I hoped Rome could work on you a little, help us patch things up, you know?” He took the last bite of his sundae and wiped his mouth with a napkin, like we were just having a friendly conversation about anything other than an a
ge-old crush and a fake marriage.

  I glanced at my watch then toward the door. I needed an excuse to leave.

  “I think he kept the news to himself because he’s afraid, Gray. He’s afraid you’ll choose me instead of him.” His insidious little whisper drowned out the rest of the chatter in the shop.

  I pointed at him, but my finger trembled. “You’re wrong, Eli. You’re wrong because I love Rome, and not even your wishful thinking will change that.” Then I looked at my watch again. “And on that note, I have papers in the trunk of my car that won’t grade themselves.” I hesitated. “And we won’t be doing this again.”

  Oh my God. Oh my God. This meeting had crystalized so much shit, and I was such a fool. Eli had revealed himself completely and the man I’d thought I’d loved was an ass. A fucking ass. I could almost mourn for the man I’d thought he was. Asking me to wait for him? Now? He was marrying another guy and he still wanted me as the back-up guy. I’d wasted so much of my life being that back-up already.

  I jogged back down the sidewalk to school and the safety of the parking lot… but as much as I’d just acknowledged about Eli’s character and how little he deserved to feature in my life, all the way back his voice whispered insidiously in my head and my gut churned with nausea over his words as I wondered.

  Why hadn’t Rome told me about Eli and Benji?

  20

  Rome

  I clicked the final button on my screen and grinned. I’d planned an entire weekend away for Gray and me, and it was going to be perfect. The right amount of romance, the right amount of togetherness, the right amount of surprises to make him happy.

  I had everything arranged. Right down to the moment I was going to tell him I loved him. That part sent a shiver of nervousness through me, but it was quickly chased away by happiness and certainty. Telling him was right. After all these years, I needed to do it.

  “Hey, there. What you smiling about? Are birds tweeting and fish singing in your happy land of love?” Coop stopped by my office and announced his presence by teasing me.

  But I didn’t mind. I was in love. “Oh, you know. A few hearts and flowers here and there. Nothing major.” I waved him away. Then, as he stepped back, “Did you come for anything in particular? You know, like business?”

  Coop laughed. “No.” Then he smiled ruefully. “Just every so often I like to remind myself what a happy man looks like. Grady Caldwell is good for you, Rome.” He knocked absently against my doorframe as he appeared to think. “I’m glad everything’s working out for you the way it is.”

  “Thanks,” I grinned it him. “But don’t think I’ll be any easier on you just because I’ve got other things on my mind.”

  He mock-pouted. “Huh. I’ll keep hoping though.” Then he lifted his hand in a casual wave. “I’d better get my nose back to the grindstone, then, and double-check a couple of things before I run the figures past you. I’ll catch up with you later at the meeting.”

  He headed back down the hallway to his office, and I returned my attention my computer screen and the confirmation of Gray’s and my weekend away.

  The rest of the workday passed in a blur of smiles and easy interactions with my colleagues. My head was filled with thoughts of vacation. Grady and I were going to have an amazing time, and I couldn’t wait to show him what his life was like now that he was properly mine. And I couldn’t wait to tell him exactly how I felt about him. If I was doing everything right, he probably already knew, but I wanted to say the words.

  But as the afternoon grew to a close, I glanced at the clock. Anxiety tangled in my gut. I had to meet with the board for their vote for chairman. It should have been only a formality, but I’d heard some recent grumbles that suggested they weren’t all as behind me as Matthew had led me to believe. I didn’t want to let Dad down by not achieving the board’s confidence and that balanced awkwardly with my belief I should have already had their confidence. The company had my name on—it wasn’t possible to be any more invested in a prosperous future than that.

  I entered the boardroom and smiled at the board members. “Good afternoon, everyone.”

  Matthew smiled widely as he greeted me, but there were a couple of members who didn’t meet my eye.

  Once we were all seated, Matthew called the meeting to order.

  “Good afternoon,” he began. “I have called this meeting to formally announce my intended resignation at the end of this meeting and begin the process of transferring the responsibilities of chairman. I guess it’s no secret, but I propose Roman Hayes as my successor, and I think we all do agree this is the position we’ve been waiting for him to step into.”

  “So there should be no contest on this at all?” Megan Langley asked the question in a dangerously casual tone.

  “I second Megan’s question. I have a nominee of my own I’d like to put forward.” Deacon Blake narrowed his eyes.

  Matthew lifted his hand. “We’ve discussed this many times. Rome has a long history with and a vested interest in this company. We’ve watched him grow in his years as CEO…”

  “That may be,” Deacon said. “But has he grown enough? He’s very young, still, to be chairman for a company of this magnitude and success. We need someone who can lead us forward.”

  I held in my snort of derision, and Matthew cast a glance toward me before looking back at Deacon.

  “Oh, really? And who is your nominee?” His tone rang drily across the board table, but Deacon didn’t so much as blink.

  “Aron Blake,” he said. “He has experience, maturity, and forward thinking. He’s also available for the board to interview for the position at our leisure.”

  “And I’d like to propose Chandler Langley, if we’re already looking outside of the board at Aron,” Megan said.

  It felt like a setup, and Matthew sighed. “In that case, no decision will be made today. I’ll make the arrangements to interview two individuals from outside the company and communicate the details to the board in due time.”

  As he closed his notepad, board members stood up and began filing from the room, and Megan and Deacon shared a smile between themselves.

  “Don’t worry,” Matthew murmured at my shoulder. “It’s an attempt at a power grab, yes, but not one we can’t thwart. You still have majority backing, and I can’t see the board adopting the high-risk strategy of appointing a director from outside Hayes. But we have to follow the process.”

  “Yeah, thanks.” I attempted a smile at him but the lack of confidence from two board members had rocked me a bit, even though I understood it was less about confidence in me and more about their desire to place their own sons in positions in power.

  But not in my company. Not happening, no way. My father had started this company, and he’d essentially left it to me, so I wasn’t about to be railroaded and sidelined by anyone else’s shady parental values. They could stage as many low-life coups as they wanted, but no one on that fucking board was going to steal my business and my biggest connection to Dad from me.

  My irritation threatened to work itself to full-blown anger as I walked back to my office but then I found Gray sitting at the small meeting table, and my earlier joy returned. Just the thought of him lifted my spirits, so the fact he was actually there was fantastic.

  He stood and I pulled him into my arms, but he remained tense against me, not relaxing as he usually did.

  Worry seeped into my happiness. “What’s wrong? Is everything okay?” I held him at arm’s length while I looked into his eyes, searching for the cause of his unusual attitude.

  He stared back at me, his gaze bleak. “Do you have anything to tell me? Anything you’re hiding?”

  “What? No.” I didn’t keep secrets from Gray. And I’d only just stepped out of the meeting that threw my chair position into doubt, so he couldn’t have expected me to tell him about that. “No. No. I don’t hide my stuff or my feelings from you.”

  Gray sat on my small couch and looked at me, his gaze moving from bleak
to calculating. “And what about Eli’s stuff?”

  “What?” Why did he even think I’d care about Eli? I didn’t give a fuck about Eli and his shit. “I’m not bothered about what Eli does.”

  But something felt wrong, like Gray wanted me to answer a question he hadn’t directly asked, and a pulse began to beat at my temple.

  “Not even when his engagement is fake?”

  I wanted to stress spew all over my carpet. I’d never expected Eli to tell Gray, but then why wouldn’t he? Whatever decision best manipulated Gray’s feelings was usually the one Eli made. Had been for years. So, yeah. I wanted to stress spew and punch Eli in the face.

  And I hadn’t wanted him to tell Grady, about what Eli told me. I hadn’t needed the competition—and that’s what it was. Eli knew that. He was many things but not truly dumb. He knew he could attract Grady’s attention again if he just softly clicked his fingers.

  As it was, he’d pretty much sounded a foghorn.

  I was so nearly there, too. Gray nearly loved me. I’d just needed a bit more time, and Eli could have carried on making his own bed as badly as possible before he had to lie down in it.

  “So? Why didn’t you tell me?” Gray sounded accusatory. “Did you really think I’d go running back to Eli if I knew his engagement and marriage weren’t real?” He looked so self-assured, like that idea would never even have occurred to him.

  But it would have. If Grady had found out about Eli earlier than this, Eli would have had him on a string forever.

  “Well.” I stayed standing, not even comfortable enough to take a seat in my own office. This whole conversation felt huge, and my office began to darken, the walls shifting inward, until my sole focus was Grady, sitting on my couch, waiting for me to speak. “Eli came here, to my office, and I told him he needed to man up and tell you himself because I couldn’t be that go-between. This situation is something he needed to own. That said, I also couldn’t be sure he wasn’t just blowing smoke up my ass. I only had his word for any of what he said. And Gray, he would have said anything to keep you hoping. I couldn’t be the one to hurt you.” And I couldn’t risk losing him. I loved Grady more than Eli ever would, and I’d just needed this weekend to prove that. Damn Eli. I spoke again. “You’ve loved Eli for so long. It wouldn’t have been surprising to anyone if you’d decided to hang around, waiting for the crumbs of attention he might offer you when he decided he had time, or he was bored.”