“You could’ve schooled me without referencing my brother’s dick.”
“I’m not schooling you.”
Billy grunted and lit another cigarette. “Sounds like it, and I get your point, but you’re forgetting a major difference between my situation and yours.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?”
Billy slid out of the van and blew smoke in my face. “You’re the nicest bloke in the world.”
He walked away before I could answer.
I figured he’d head back to the ladders, but when I climbed onto the roof we were working on, he was nowhere to be seen.
Luke shook his head. “I asked him to bring those boards up. Guess he’s decided he doesn’t want to work after all.”
“You asked him to carry scaffold planks one-handed up the ladder?”
“Course I did. I need them up here and he’s down there. Somewhere, at least. If he’s not in the pub by now.”
“He hasn’t been in any pub since he got back.”
Luke frowned. “Why are you defending him? He’s been a pain in the arse all day.”
“And you haven’t?” A sudden irritation swept through me, too spiky and fast for me to contain it. “Jesus, Luke. You’ve been on him like white on rice. What did you expect?”
“I didn’t expect anything. I’m just trying to get the job done.”
“By asking him to hoof scaffold planks around when he’s only got one working shoulder? Are you serious? Or do you just not care that he’s in pain?”
My shout rang out on the rooftop, and Luke flinched. In the lifetime I’d known him, I’d never raised my voice in anger. What was the point, when there was always someone around to shout me down? But Luke wasn’t like that either, and our friendship had been built on a mutual respect of each other’s desire for a quiet life.
He set his drill down and took a cautious step closer to me. “What are you talking about? He told me his shoulder was fine when I asked.”
“When did you ask?”
“A while ago.”
“A while as in before he came back? As in months ago when you were dealing with the court case and he probably didn’t want to worry you?”
“No, when I let him into your house. I mean, I know he didn’t bother with the physio...” Comprehension dawned in Luke’s worried gaze.
It hurt to see him torn up, but I bit my tongue. Yelling at Luke already felt like a betrayal, of him, and of Billy. Him because I’d always been the steady person in his life he could trust, and Billy because he’d trusted me with his pain. Trusted me enough to sleep in my bed while I held him and wished I could kiss his suffering away. “Whatever. It’s a lot to ask of him when he’s still recovering. You could’ve waited for me to come back.”
Luke nodded slowly, processing, and I should’ve left it. I’d made my point, but somehow I couldn’t let it go. “He’s a good worker, better than me at some stuff. You need to have a little faith and stop assuming he’ll mess everything up.”
“I’m not assuming that.”
“Liar.”
“Really? That’s what you think? That I brought him back here and gave him a job just for the pleasure of watching him screw up like he has a million times before?”
I didn’t think that. Of course I didn’t. But Billy did. I sighed. Luke was my best friend, and Billy had become someone I couldn’t go a minute without thinking about. Why did they have to be so complicated. “When are you doing the wages? Maybe he’ll feel better about your obsessive perfectionism if he’s actually getting paid.”
“I did them this morning when I was waiting for you two to stop bickering and come downstairs.”
“What?”
“I saw him come out of your room. Something you want to tell me, Gus?”
My heart thudded against my ribcage. “Like what?”
“Like why my brother is coming out of your room at six o’clock in the morning. I mean, it’s none of my business who either of you fuck, but you could at least be upfront about it.”
I’d had a thousand things to say to Luke, but as realisation dawned that he really did think I was screwing his brother, my mind went blank, and I was left with nothing but truth. “He was coming out of my room after barging in to wake me up. And you’re right, who I have sex with is none of your business.”
Luke had always been perceptive. Sometimes he stared at me so hard I was sure he could see out the other side of my head. But he didn’t stare me down this time. He shrugged and shook his head again. “You’re right. About everything. I’m sorry, okay? I just... I don’t know. I love him so much, but I don’t know how to make him believe that when he’s such fucking hard work. I—”
A car roared to life at the end of the street. It screeched around the corner and sped past, burning tyre marks into the road. This estate was boy racer central, but the sudden intrusion into the quiet afternoon made Luke jump a mile. He checked himself, and anyone else, even Billy, might not have noticed, but I saw it, and my irritation with him faded fast. Perhaps I was being as hard on him as he was on Billy. After all, it hadn’t been that long ago a car had deliberately run him down. He’d never have admitted it, but he’d been jumpy ever since.
The last of my anger evaporated. I pulled him into a loose hug, ignoring his rigid posture, knowing he’d let it go if I stood my ground. After a moment, he knocked his head on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, man. I really am.”
“You don’t need to be. Just trust him a little, okay? It’s too easy for him to act the
