Reservations

“Let me be very clear about this, it’s not a good time for Levi. His plate’s all filled up with a whole lot of crap. He needs friends, not the chaos known as Thane Walker.”

“All right,” Thane said, acknowledging he’d paid attention to Julian.

“And for full disclosure, I’m pretty sure he’s planning on raising his brothers. I wasn’t fully aware of that before, so he has complicated responsibilities. Not as complicated as your head-game baggage, but you should know that while you’re trying to figure out your next move,” Julian advised.

The thought of kids did take his comfort zone to the next level of crazy, but for some reason, they didn’t really matter to his heart. Weird. “How old is the other one?”

“I don’t know for sure, both in high school. They’re old enough that he works nights here with no known problems.”

Thane found himself nodding to no one. “Okay, I’ll authorize the funds for the house on Monday. I’ll do six months with a revisit then,” Thane said and stared unseeingly at the embers glowing in the fireplace. “And it freaks me out to say, but I’ll admit to you and only you…I’m into him too.”

“Then stop being a douchebag and be yourself. But first, give him some space. He wasn’t happy that you went to his house. I’m guessing you showing up embarrassed him,” Julian replied, finally staying on topic.

“Yeah, I regret that decision, but it helped me see things more clearly. You filled in all the missing pieces. I’ll also admit I was an ass,” Thane confessed.

“I know. I’ve been dealing with the aftermath for the last couple of days,” Julian said dryly. “All right. I’m hanging up my relationship specialist hat; I have a club to run.”

“Thanks, Julian,” Thane said and lowered the phone, not paying attention to whatever sassy reply the guy made to end the call.

Thane rose enough to pour himself another glass of wine. He agreed whole-heartedly with Julian’s sentiment: this was all too much. The last week and a half had been an out-of-body experience for him. He didn’t like the obsessive ogre he’d become.

And Levi had brothers, as in more than one, to take care of… Mmm.

Julian had nailed his core problem. Thane did have a hang-up over his parents’ divorce, but dammit, he had lived with his father’s selfishness his whole damn life. When he was a young boy, he never really understood what was happening, but now that he was older, he got it. His mother was in love and weak. His father was a cheat and a user.

His old man would come like clockwork to pick him up for visitation. Thane would have to wait by the door for a solid hour while his mother and father went to the bedroom to “talk.” From a young age, he learned not to move from his spot by the front door because his father didn’t want to be made to wait. Thane had gotten more than one spanking when he’d ventured off from his perch on the stairs before it was time to leave. As he’d gotten older, he’d made sure his old man would have to search for him. Defiance was all he had to show his disgust for the situation. Thane had willingly taken those licks, praying the whole time that his father would stop coming around altogether.

His parents’ talks would leave his mother depressed and in bed for days to follow. She’d barely have herself back together before his father was there again to pick him up. The cycle never stopped through his father’s three other wives. Hell, it could still be going on today for all he knew. Until he’d started this company, Thane’s only goals in life were to never hurt anyone like his father had hurt all the women in his life. Yet inevitably, Thane had seemed to do that very thing to the few men he’d chosen to date.

“Damn,” he growled to the empty room and reached for the remote control to drown out all the bullshit in his head. After he turned the volume up on whatever show was on, he picked up his laptop and decided to start making this right with Levi. Even if they went no further, he’d have the peace of mind that he’d tried to help the man of his dreams in his time of need. He chose five simple words in the form of a message.

“Do you need any help?”

He pushed send, still thinking about those words. They were nonintrusive and straightforward. That was good, right? He rolled his eyes at all this second-guessing and moved the laptop to the sofa while reaching for the wineglass.

He felt a decent drunk coming on.

~~~

Twisting the lock in place, Levi barely got inside the house before his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He reached for the cell as he took in the scene in his living room. Luke was asleep, stretched out along the length of the couch, his head resting on a pillow. Logan was on the floor, his back against the armrest of the couch, watching television.