Room at the Top

by Jane Davitt

  “Appealing as that sounds,” Liam lied, “I really do have something else to do.” Something that would be a great deal more satisfying than the horror of spending an evening with drunken coworkers.

  He knew he tended to come across as rather dull, and he didn’t care. There were fellow attorneys at the firm whose company he enjoyed; they were generally his age or older, and most of them had been married for at least two decades. Strangely, though, the younger attorneys seemed to focus on convincing Liam to socialize with them while leaving his peers alone. He hadn’t sorted out if this was because he was single and they felt guilty knowing he was on his own, or if they genuinely thought he’d be good company. He suspected it was the former but hesitated to ask for clarification because he knew it would make him seem more interested than he actually was.

  “You’ve got almost a week to make different arrangements,” Saul said, obviously not willing to let it drop. “Change your plans.”

  “I don’t want to,” Liam said mildly and looked at Saul. “I like my plans.”

  “You go out with Jordan all the time,” Saul protested. “Didn’t you play golf twice last week?”

  Liam blinked. “I didn’t realize my off time activity was a matter of such interest.”

  Saul must have heard the hint of irritation in his voice. “No, it’s just…Junior wants you to come.”

  “Junior couldn’t possibly care less what I do.” Liam was aware now that he needed to end this conversation soon before he said something he’d regret. His shoulder ached, a combination of the aforementioned golf games and the paddling he’d given Jay the night before, and he really wasn’t in the mood to argue. Saul, on the other hand, seemed to get off on it.

  “Well, you’re wrong about that. People like you, Liam. You shouldn’t close yourself up in here like a hermit. Get out, have a good time.”

  “I appreciate the invitation,” Liam said carefully. “But it won’t be possible. I really do have plans. Another time.”

  For a few seconds, Saul studied him, then nodded. “Okay, sure. But I’m going to hold you to that. See you on Monday?”

  “Of course.” Liam had planned to work from home on Monday, but under the circumstances, he didn’t want to appear antisocial. He could work in the office instead if it meant ending this.

  He was more than grateful when Saul went away, and he wished he’d stopped in for those two minutes to collect what he’d needed and then taken it home and worked from there. It could be distracting, though, trying to work in a house where Jay’s and Austin’s voices echoed in every corner. It seemed strange they’d managed to become such an important part of his life in such a short time.

  Speaking of which, he made a mental reminder to phone Jay later in the day and check on Austin. For all he knew they spent weekends catching up on their sleep, something he definitely remembered doing himself back when he’d been younger. The night before had been difficult—what with Austin’s sister and her brush with the law—and Liam wanted to make sure Austin was dealing with all of it in a way that wasn’t emotionally damaging.

  In an ideal world, no one would need therapy. In this world, many people did but didn’t get it for a variety of reasons. Liam believed some of them turned to the world of doms and subs. He found it reassuring, but he also recognized it was a fine line to walk and the last thing he wanted was to contribute to someone’s issues. He wanted to be sure his interactions with Austin were helping, not hurting.

  Liam worked at the office for another hour or so, then wrapped things up and neatened his desk for Monday before leaving. He waved to Saul—on the phone, thank God—on his way out. It was already well after noon when he stopped at the grocery store for supplies. Often, he had a different supermarket deliver, but sometimes it was nice to wander the aisles and choose individual pieces of fruit by touch and smell instead of just by checking a box on a Web site. Not, however, on Saturdays. The store was crowded, and people kept bumping him with their shopping carts. When the same woman bumped into him a third time, he frowned and opened his mouth to say something—what, he wasn’t sure.

  “I am so sorry,” she said, fluttering her eyelashes at him, and Liam realized she was flirting with him. “I should have my license revoked.”

  “Somehow, I don’t think that would help,” Liam said.

  “No, probably not. But I’m still sorry. I thought the worst of the crowds would be here in the morning, but I guess I was wrong.” She was lovely, with long dark hair and a curvaceous figure.

  He gestured for her to go ahead of him. “Please, ladies first.”

  “Thank you.” She smiled at him and moved her cart past his. “London?”

  Liam nodded. “Very good. Most people are lucky to guess the correct continent.”

  “Guess is the right word. But it’s faded, your accent. You’ve been here awhile.”

  “Years,” Liam agreed, taking a bottle of tomato juice from the shelf and setting it in his cart.

  “I went to England in, hm, I guess it was the midnineties. Wow, that makes me feel old.” She wrinkled her nose in an endearing way.

  Liam was quite sure she was hoping to be told she looked young. In fact, she did—not more than thirty-five or so—which certainly wasn’t old by the definition of anyone but a teenager. “Where did you go?” he asked instead, following her to the next aisle even though he probably didn’t need anything there.

  “Different places. It was one of those group tour things. You know, it was fine, and we saw all the stuff they tell you that you have to see, like Stonehenge and whatever.” She stretched to reach a box of trash bags that was just out of her reach.

  “Let me get that,” Liam said, and did before handing it to her.

  “Thank you.” She let her hand touch his a little longer than strictly necessary. “Oh, I’m Leslie, by the way.”

  “Liam.”

  “Two L names,” Leslie said. Her eyes were very soft and warm. “That must mean something.”

  It didn’t mean anything as far as Liam was concerned. Any other time, he would have been pleased to pursue something with her, even just a cup of coffee, but today he found himself less than excited at the prospect. In fact, he found himself thinking about Jay and Austin. “Yes, well. It’s been very nice talking to you. Have a nice weekend.”

  He turned and left, not looking back so he wouldn’t feel guilty about the expression of disappointment he was sure was on her face.

  He ended up doing some of the household chores he had a tendency to put off, including changing the lightbulb above the garage. By the time he’d eaten dinner, he discovered the day was nearly gone and he’d never phoned Jay. No time like the present, so he picked up the phone rather than put it off any longer.

  “Hello.” Jay sounded cautious. “Liam? Is everything okay?”

  “Hello, Jay. Actually, that’s why I was calling you. I wanted to see how Austin was. Is he there?”

  Better to find out right away if the subject of their discussion was in the room.

  “Um, no. He went over to his mom’s house to talk to her. You know, about April. He’s okay. Nervous about how she’s going to take it.”

  “If Austin didn’t tell her, she wouldn’t find out?” Liam asked.

  He could practically hear Jay nodding. “Yeah. Unless she got some kind of receipt in the mail, I guess, but April’s probably been getting rid of stuff like that for months.”

  “And how was… Wait. Is it all right with you if we discuss him like this? I don’t want to put you in an uncomfortable position.”

  Jay snorted. “You love putting me in uncomfortable positions. But yeah, it’s okay. As long as you’re not asking me to keep it a secret or anything.”

  “No, I wouldn’t do that.” Liam definitely didn’t want to do anything that might risk damaging Austin and Jay’s relationship. “I was just hoping to get a feel for how you thought he was, both in general and in regard to last night’s session.”

  “April stresses him
out,” Jay said slowly. “She always does that, the whole time I’ve known him. I don’t think that’s going to change unless she does, and I’m kind of thinking that’s not going to happen.”

  “She’s still young.” Liam felt he was being charitable.

  “I don’t care. I don’t even know if I like her because I’m so sick of seeing how she knots Austin into a pretzel.” Jay sighed. “Anyway, I guess I’m trying to say that he isn’t any more freaked out about her than he ever is.”

  “Which isn’t saying much.”

  “Nope.” Jay brightened. “But hey, on the plus side, he was way more relaxed last night. Maybe not perfect, but he really needed it. Thanks for being flexible on the time issue. I know it wasn’t the night you were expecting.”

  “I don’t think it was the night any of us was expecting,” Liam said ruefully. “I’m just glad we were able to salvage something from it.”

  There was a pause, then Jay asked, “Um, what about you? Were you okay with it?”

  Damn. Liam had hoped Jay would be so focused on Austin that this issue wouldn’t come up. “Fine. Unless you’re talking about the fact that you both came without my permission, in which case I can’t say I was pleased. I expect more control from you than that.”

  “Yes, Sir. It won’t happen again.” As Liam had hoped, the accusation snapped Jay back into sub mode.

  “Good. Then I’ll see you both on Friday. Have a good week, Jay. Behave yourself.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Austin waited to show up at his mom’s house until after six on Saturday night. She worked on Saturdays in addition to all week, so Sunday was her only day off. He felt guilty as hell giving her the bad news about April right before the one day she could really relax, but at least he was doing it in person and not on the phone. His mom had a phone thing. She really, really didn’t like talking on it unless it was totally necessary.

  Her car was in the driveway when he pulled up in front of the house, looking none the worse for wear after its evening in impound.

  He still hadn’t settled on how to enter the house. After living in it most of his life, it felt natural to just walk in without knocking or anything, plus he still had a key. But he didn’t live there anymore. He lived with Jay now.

  Deciding on knocking and then opening the door without waiting for an answer, Austin stuck his head inside. “Mom?”

  “Austin? Is that you, honey? I’m in the kitchen.” She was almost always in the kitchen when she was home, unless she was sleeping. She had a tiny television set up in one corner and would watch the news while she cooked, sometimes reading a magazine at the same time. His mom was a mistress of multitasking.

  “Hi. Sorry I didn’t call or anything.” Austin went over to kiss his mother’s cheek, and she hugged him tightly before turning back to the stove where she was tending a pot of some kind of thick stew.

  “You don’t have to call! I’m just glad to see you.”

  “You aren’t going to be once I tell you why I’m here.”

  His mom frowned and put a hand on her hip. “What did she do this time?”

  Austin gave her a rueful glance. “Why do you assume it’s her, not me?”

  “Because you’ve never given me a moment’s worry and she’s never given me anything else.” Sarah sighed. “Listen to me. I love her; you know I do. She’s my baby girl. Always will be. But she’s not easy to get close to. Goodness knows I’ve tried.”

  “Growing up with no dad and all of us boys teasing her—”

  “You and your brothers grew up with no dad too,” she said sharply. “Sean and Tim were only babies themselves. They don’t remember him. You do, and Chad, but not them. And if making sure she always had the biggest slice of cake, the first pick of any treat is teasing, well, things have changed since I was growing up with your uncles.”

  Austin walked over to the coffeepot and poured himself a mug, adding milk and sugar, moving around the kitchen without thinking about it because everything was where it’d always been. “April’s going through a difficult age.”

  “She’s been going through that since she was a baby. Go on, tell me what she’s done now.” Sarah’s hand tightened on the spoon, her back stiffening as if she was preparing herself for a blow.

  Austin put his coffee down untouched and went to her, hugging her again. “I took care of it,” he said, stepping back after dropping a kiss on her cheek. “It was just some parking tickets.”

  She smiled at him doubtfully. “Oh. Oh well, if that’s all… They don’t make it easy for you, those people. I was over the line by no more than six inches once and came back to find a ticket on the windshield. She should be more careful, of course, but that’s not so bad. I’ll make sure she goes out with plenty of change for the meter.”

  If only it was that simple, but either way Austin was doing what he always did: protecting his mother from the realities of life. She’d had enough, raising five kids on her own, always working at least two jobs. She deserved a little cushioning now and then. “How are you? How’s work?”

  He always asked those questions because answering them guaranteed her focus for at least a few minutes.

  “Oh, you know. Jennifer, at work, she’s fighting with her husband again. Every time I think maybe she won’t go back to him this time, but every time she turns around and disappoints me. I don’t know why his family lets him get away with it. She’s such a sweet girl, you’d think one of his brothers would say something to him about it.”

  “Maybe they have,” Austin said.

  “Maybe,” she agreed. “The doctor thinks my new cholesterol medication is helping this time.”

  “That’s great, Mom. What’s in the pot, anyway?”

  “Oh, something new. Caribbean something or other, with pineapple. I get so bored of the same things all the time, and you know your brothers will eat anything. April, I think she lives on air.”

  “Smells good. Hey, why don’t you sit down and let me take care of that?” Austin took the spoon from her hand.

  Sarah sat at the table, brushing crumbs from it as if staying still was impossible. “You’re a good boy,” she said fondly.

  Austin blushed, his fair skin betraying him. He turned back to the pot of stew so he could blame his flushed skin on the heat rising from it. How many times had Liam used those words to him? It felt wrong to be standing here with his mother, his body tingling at the thought of Liam, but he couldn’t help it. The man was difficult to forget, and Austin found himself thinking about Liam at the oddest moments. Fucking Jay and seeing the marks on his ass that Liam had put there—that was a reasonable moment to recall Liam’s blue eyes and lean, strong body. Booking an appointment for Mr. Shelby to get eight stitches removed from a cut hand, less so, even if Mr. Shelby’s first name was William and he’d never lost his English accent after forty years in the US.

  A comfortable silence fell, broken by a burst of loud music from outside.

  Sarah frowned. “That’ll be your sister now. She’s been out with that Kyle again. I don’t like him.”

  Austin grinned. Kyle, despite his habit of driving around with his car windows down and hip-hop music playing loud enough to be heard a mile away, was okay. In fact, compared to some of April’s former boyfriends, he was a keeper. At least his car belonged to him, not someone else who wasn’t aware it was missing. “You mean you don’t like his mother.”

  “Who would?” Sarah asked. “Vacationing in Hawaii! And we all know how she pays for them.”

  “Mom…” Before he could point out that Kyle’s mom had come into a nice chunk of money after an insurance payout following an industrial injury that had left her in the hospital for a week, the door swung open.

  April’s face tightened immediately, her gaze darting from Austin to her mother, panic and anger clear on her face.

  “There you are, sweetie,” Sarah said, giving her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Just in time to set the table. The place mats are in the dining room.”<
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  The phone rang in the hallway, and Sarah hurried to get it, calling back over her shoulder, “This had better be Alice telling me she’s changed her mind about joining the book club. I’m not going on my own, and she owes me.”

  Alone with his sister, Austin gave the stew a quick stir, then turned the heat down. “Hey.”

  April glared at him, her hostility mixed with suspicion. “You didn’t tell her what her darling daughter did now to shame the family name? Or are you saving that for the dinner table and a bigger audience?”

  “Don’t blame me if you feel guilty,” Austin told her. He’d decided earlier that afternoon, bouncing ideas off Jay, to do his best to be nice to her because being mean sure didn’t seem to change anything. “I downplayed it, okay? I told her you had some parking tickets and I helped you get it straightened out, that’s all.”

  She didn’t look convinced. “Why would you do that?”

  “What, help you out? I don’t know, maybe because you’re my sister?” He knew he was being obtuse, but something about it amused him.

  “No, I mean why wouldn’t you tell her the truth?”

  Austin sighed. “Because it’d just make her feel bad, and I hate doing that. Why don’t you?”

  For once April looked genuinely hurt at the thought of having caused someone else pain. “I do. It’s just…I have to live my life. I can’t do whatever she wants me to forever. I’m not a little kid anymore. She has to let me grow up.”

  “Yeah, but growing up means being responsible for your mistakes,” Austin pointed out, “not expecting your family to bail you out.”

  “It was just some parking tickets.” April was dismissive, irritated. “You make it sound like I murdered someone or…or got caught selling heroin or something. Besides which you weren’t even the one to pay the stupid fine. Who was that guy, anyway? Jay’s dad?”

  Austin shook his head. “Jay’s dad lives like a thousand miles away and doesn’t give a shit about him, let alone me. We’ve had this conversation before. Maybe you’d remember it if you weren’t so self-absorbed.”