Page 90 of Wish I Didn't Want You Back

He shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m rooting for you two.”

I laughed because I knew how hard that was for him to admit. “Thanks, man.”

He clapped me on the back. “Just don’t ask me to hand deliver anymore shrubs. My ass is getting too old for this.”

“Hey,” I called out as he approached his truck. “Do you wanna grab a beer after work later?”

“You buying?”

“Yeah, I think you earned it today.”

He opened the driver’s side door and grinned. “I’ll meet you at the pub at five thirty.”

The stones bounced off the metal of his truck as he peeled out of the driveway.

I understood where his concern was coming from, but it was a relief that he was finally coming around. Not just for me but for Harlow, too.

I turned around to face the house and exhaled. Harlow didn’t know that I had ordered the shrubs. They were a little something extra to help make this house feel more like a home again.

I went back to work feeling lighter than I had in a long time. My life finally felt like it was headed in the right direction for a change. Maybe Harlow and I would get it right this time, after all.

It was a Wednesday night,so thankfully, the pub wasn’t too busy. Finn and I found Tuck and Hayes in their usual spot at a high-top by the window, they each had a cold beer in their hands.

“How’s it going, loverboy?” Hayes called out and slid a stool my way. “What took you guys so long?”

“I had to stop at the hardware store and pick up a couple bags of sand. The soil in front of Harlow’s front porch wasn’t very well drained.”

“Tell me again why you are working without an active permit and risking getting fined by the town?” Tuck asked as I slid onto my seat.

I picked up a cold beer from the bucket. “Because she wants it done, and I’m not letting that asshole slow us down.”

Finn wiped off some of the condensation from his beer. “Molly has been making some calls, trying to find a loophole around the permits.”

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “I hope she does. This bullshit is the last thing Harlow needs right now.”

My brothers leaned back in their chairs, staring at me in a way that made my skin itch. “What?”

“You guys really are fucking, aren’t you?” Hayes asked without a hint of teasing in his tone.

“You better shut your mouth,” I snapped.

Hayes’ jaw dropped. “Holy shit. You totally are. I mean, I assumed when I stopped by and she was only wearing your shirt, but…”

The vein in my forehead pulsed. “Hayes, I’m warning you. I don’t want to fight you, but if you don’t shut your mouth, I will kick your ass from here to Schenectady.”

He snapped his mouth shut. Smart man.

Tuck leaned forward. “Are you going to tell us what’s going on with you two, or are we supposed to keep guessing?”

“We are trying to work things out,” I admitted, rolling my beer bottle between my palms.

“What does that mean, exactly?” Hayes asked carefully.

Finn threw an arm around my shoulder and grinned like a goof. “They cleared the air and talked about their feelings.”

“And then you fucked?” Hayes asked. I pinned him with a glare while Tuck kicked him in the shin.

“And you wonder why I never call and invite you to do anything,”I muttered. Sometimes it seemed like my little brother was a twelve-year-old kid trapped in a grown man’s body. Either that or he was just a weirdo.

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