I cleared my throat. “Hi, Vincent, I—shit. I don’t need to say that.” I flushed bright red and scanned my note. Was the whole thing going to make me sound stupid? I blew out a frustrated breath and flattened the crumpled piece of paper under my hand. This was Vincent. I shouldn’t rely on notes. “I want to start by apologizing for how I’ve handled things,” I said. “You and I have had our routine for a long time, and then I just went and flipped everything around. It wasn’t fair to you.”
He inclined his head.
“Additionally, I believe we both made a mistake in how we’ve treated each other,” I continued. “I view you as much more than someone who works for me. For the longest time, you were my only friend. But when I met Colt and Lucas, I changed your hours as if you were an employee and nothing more. I barely talked to you about it, and I assumed you wouldn’t mind because it would give you time to hang out with your real friends. I treated you the way I assumed you felt about me—that I was just a job. Then you texted—”
He winced at that. “It’s my turn, Kit. I set out to hurt you with those texts, and I did.”
I nodded hesitantly.
“Things were changing too fast, and I had no control over it,” he murmured. “I guess, in a way, before…it was you and me against the world. Except we were both hiding from the world.”
Oh. So, he knew now he’d been hiding too? “I’ve been trying to tell you that.”
“I know.” He offered a hollow smile. “I haven’t been consistent. When something you said didn’t fit how I felt, I brushed it off in my head. You was just some sweet punk I worked for. The fuck did you know about the real world, you know? I was a dick. And I flipped it around too. When you cut my hours but continued to pay me, it was like you swept me under the rug.” He paused and moved his coffee closer. “Basically, I’ve treated you like a friend when it fit me, when it meant I could make you feel bad, and I’ve treated you like an employer when I didn’t wanna deal with what you said.”
It was as painful as it was freeing to hear him say all this. It was never fun to be hurt, but at the same time, I’d done the same thing. “The lines have been too blurry.”
He nodded. “They have. I’m sorry I hurt you, buddy.”
I smiled weakly, refusing to get emotional. My Daddies would have to deal with that mess later. They’d made me promise to let them take care of such things, and I was going to obey, dammit. At home, I didn’t have to feel bad about crying. I’d be embarrassed like crazy if it happened here.
“We have to unblur the lines,” I said quietly.
Vincent’s own smile was rueful. “This is the part where I get fired.”
Jesus. I shook my head quickly and blinked past the sting in my eyes. “Nuh-uh. It’s called reassigned. Richard has a better job waiting for you. One that my dad promised you a very long time ago.”
His brow furrowed in confusion.
So I continued. “You’re keeping the perks from having worked for my family—your condo and so on. That’s what I can do as a thank-you for everything you’ve done for me. Maybe you see the very few occasions you tried to make me feel guilty, but I am thinking of all the times you stopped by the house and pretended your TV was broken. When, in reality, you knew I was lonely.” I dove for my milk shake and gave myself a brain freeze that could explain why my eyes got teary. “Ouch.” I rubbed my forehead. Damn it, I could’ve just faked it. “Bottom line, Vincent, is that I don’t want you to work for me personally anymore. I want you at the company where you can live up to your full potential. And most of all, I want you in my life as family and as a friend.”
Vincent cleared his throat and looked out over the coffee shop a moment, and I saw his jaw tick. Then he sniffled and chuckled. “Well, damn.”
“Are you okay?” I asked worriedly. I hadn’t seen his eyes glassy since the funeral.
He winked. “Brain freeze.”
No, I was not falling for that. He hadn’t even had any milk shake!
“I’m fine, kid. Just didn’t see this comin’.” He patted my hand briefly on the table.
My forehead creased. “You knew you had job security, right?”
“Sure, but the security is only there until it ain’t.”
Well. I huffed. “Okay, but now what? Can we be family or not?”
He rumbled a low laugh and picked up his coffee mug. “You’re already my annoying little brother, Kit. Sometimes more than my real brothers are.”