Page 35 of Cherry Picked
“Like you’d know,” Webb said with the hint of a grin. “You haven’t been interested in finding a partner since I’ve known you.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ve dated plenty of people since moving here.”
“Hardly,” he scoffed. “You’ve had sex with people. There’s a difference. I tried to set you up with Knox, and you had zero interest—”
“In dating your brother who was already in love with Gage?” I folded my arms over my chest again. “How wasthatgoing to work?”
“Well, I didn’t know about his feelings for Gage at the time,” Webb said reasonably. “But there were other guys. People whowouldbe interested in a relationship—”
I shook my head. “Nooo. Nope. I do not need or want a relationship, thank you. Plucking out your beating heart and handing it to someone is a recipe for disaster. I’ve seen it time and time again. You struck gold with Luke, sure, but remember the debacle before that? No.” I shook my head. “I have close friends who are there for me. I have my mom. I have this place, which takes up most of my time and energy.” I spread my hands to encompass the whole restaurant. “That’s plenty.”
Webb leaned back against a wall where a laminated placard of sanitation procedures hung. “Being a workaholic isn’t doing you any favors, Jack.”
“A refrain I hear often enough from my mother, thank you very much. Besides, why are we talking about me? Hawk is the one who needs our help, Webb. He’s having a rough time.”
Webb shook his head. “I just don’t know what’s gotten into him lately. He’s consumed with stopping the Fogg Peak development, he’s spending all his time with this new server of yours, and now he’s telling the entire world he’s a virgin?” He peered at me for a moment. “The way he said it, he kind of made it sound like it was your fault. Are you…?”
“What? No!” I barked immediately. “No, I swear it. I haven’t touched him.”
“Whoa!” Webb’s eyes widened. “Of course you haven’t! God. I would never think that. I was gonna say, are you upset at him for taking out his anger on you? It’s not cool, especially when you’ve gone above and beyond to bring him under your wing and be a mentor to him all these years. I apologize on his behalf. I really thought the kid was more mature than that.”
Oof. I’d known that Webb was overprotective, but hearing him talk about Hawk and our friendship that way made my heart squeeze.
“Thatmanis mature as fuck,” I shot back. “I don’t need or want you to apologize for him. And don’t make it sound like I’ve been doing Hawk a favor for the past seven years because that’s bullshit. He’s smart. And hilarious. Hardworking. Reliable. Kind—and I mean, kind down to hisbones,Webb. I trust him more than anyone on this Earth, and I love spending time with him. And ifyouwere spending time with him rather than blowing bugles and fucking people in orchards, you might get to know the adult he’s become rather than assuming he’s the same sweet Hawklet your family’s always known—”
“Okay, hold up!” Webb raised both hands to stop my tirade. “What are you mad atmefor? You make it sound like I’m running a one-man whorehouse in my own damn orchard. This was one time, and the only ‘people’ in question was my actual, legal husband.”
The satisfaction contained in that one word made me snicker, despite my annoyance. “You’re really getting off on that, aren’t you? Calling Luke yourhusband.”
“So freaking much, you have no idea.” Webb’s smile could not be contained.
I hadsomeidea. Webb had been in a really dark place for a long while. Luke was a good man, a great husband, and a wonderful stepfather to Webb’s son, Aiden. I was truly happy for all of them. But Webb had been so focused on settling down with his new little family that he’d become a little blind to anything outside of that.
I sighed and moved over to a metal stool to lower myself onto it. “Webb… You need to stop treating Hawk like a kid. Your whole family, really, but especially you. It’s taking a toll on him.”
Webb moved closer and took the other stool. “What’s he said to you?”
“He hasn’t said anything about you specifically,” I hedged. “But it’s come up in the context of other stuff he’s dealing with.” I was glad now that I hadn’t told Webb about Hawk’s indecent proposal, but I still wanted to find a way to get the point across. “He’s a grown man with needs and opinions of his own, and you’ve gotta respect that.”
“If he wants to be treated like an adult, he needs to act like one,” Webb retorted. “Starting with talking to me about things that are bothering him instead of blowing up and causing a scene at his place of business—”
I shook my head. “Like the way he talked at the town meeting the other night? He said flat out how he felt about the Evola development, and how did you respond? Heck, how didanyof us respond?”
Webb opened his mouth, then looked away and shut it again unhappily.
“Exactly. We shut him down and dismissed him. You know how important Fogg Peak was to your dad. It should be no surprise to any of us that it’s important to Hawk, too.”
He set his jaw, and his eyes met mine again. “Obsessing over something simply because our dad valued it isn’t adult behavior—”
“Now you’re just being an ass,” I said mildly. “I seem to recall you picking a fight with the guy who became youractual, legal husbandjust a few months back because you thought you were going to lose a few feet of land in Sunday Orchard. Remember?”
Webb pursed his lips and said nothing.
“Hawk loves the Hollow, and he’s proud of the Sunday heritage here the same way you are, Webb. There’s nothing immature about him wanting to be a good steward of the land he feels connected to. There’s nothing immature about him feeling especially raw because all this is happening right around your dad’s birthday—”
“Ah, shit.” Webb closed his eyes and ran a hand over his face. “I can’t believe I forgot.”
“Uh-huh. And there’s nothing immature about Hawk wanting to have a relationship of his own either… as long as he does it, you know, safely.”Without Grindr.
