Tank (Blue-Collar Billionaires 1)

It would be just the kind of screwed up thing that he would think was normal.

The doorbell rings and Finn answers it. “Mom! What are you doing here?”

I immediately sit up straighter and try to look alive. Even though I’m a grown man, I still don’t want my mom to catch me hungover. Mom nods hello to Gabe and Zack as she hangs her coat on the back of one of the bar stools. She met them a few days ago and it wasn’t nearly as awkward as we all thought it would be.

“I’ve been thinking, boys.”

Mom sits down on the couch next to me. I blink several times, hoping I don’t smell like alcohol.

“After everything that happened, well, I shouldn’t be but I was worried about your father. But when I called the hospital to check on him, they wouldn’t tell me anything. So, I decided to come over. Are you all getting ready to go visit him?”

Finn glances at me. “We’re trying to convince Tank not to let the best thing that ever happened to him walk away because of something our dad started. He still hasn’t called Emma.”

I scowl at Finn. He was always a tattletale. “I’m not letting her walk away. She walked away on her own. Now I’m just thinking about everything. And she hasn’t called me either.” I glance over at my mom. She’s been strangely quiet on the whole subject. “This whole week, you haven’t said much about Emma. That’s not like you.”

“I don’t want to influence you. It’s your decision. But I do want to ask you a question.”

I don’t trust this casual inquiry at all. My mom knows how to get all up in my head and make me face things when I’m being an idiot without ever raising her voice or being pushy.

“Do I have a choice?”

She ignores my smart response. “Why didn’t you tell me about your dad being in town when you first found out?”

Now I really am an idiot. I should have known that Finn and I weren’t off the hook for that. Even though we had good reason, my mom is definitely going to require a good explanation for why we’d lie to her face.

“I was ashamed, Mom.”

“Oh sweetheart. Asha

med of what?”

“Ashamed that I was taking money from him. He hurt you. He hurt us. But I just needed the money to help you. It seemed like the only solution at the time.”

She nods thoughtfully. Then she peeks over at me mischievously. “I wonder if that’s how Emma felt, too.”

Gabe grins and looks between us. “Oh, she’s good. Even I didn’t see that coming.”

Mom smiles. “Thank you. I thought it was artfully done.”

I’m amazed and irritated at the same time. “You’re being awfully charitable towards her about this. She did accept the job after all. No one forced her to do it.”

Mom gives me a knowing look. “Honey, I know exactly how convincing Maxwell Marshall can be. Your Emma didn’t stand a chance.”

Finn chimes in. “Do you really want to let her go? She thinks you’re one in a million, bro. How many guys can say that?”

I pull out the check from my pocket and stroke the now crumpled envelope. Every moment I’ve shared with Emma over the past month flies through my head. The peace, the sharing, and the laughter.

The morning after she caught me fighting stands out in my head in particular. Leaving you is the last thing I ever want to do. I realize the statement is as true now as it was then.

“I need to call her.”

“Go over there. Find her. This is not a complicated covert operation. It’s a simple find and rescue,” Finn insists.

My mom holds up a hand. “First, let’s go to the hospital and visit your father. I want to thank him personally for paying my hospital bill. He didn’t have to do that. “

“And after that, we’ll go with you,” Gabe says. “For moral support.”

“Or in case she doesn’t forgive you,” Zack adds.