Ethan (Alluring Indulgence #5)(24)
Author: Nicole Edwards

Beau dropped his arms, letting go of his defensive stance as soon as Blake’s truck was out of sight.

“Where do you want me to drop this?” Ethan asked, pointing toward the toolbox that still sat up on the flatbed.

Beau grabbed his phone from his hip. “I don’t know. Let me call Zane.”

He dialed the number, but after several rings, the call went to Zane’s voicemail. Beau figured he was still in a meeting with Travis.

“Shit.”

“How about I take it back to the shop? You can leave it there for the time being. At least until you get another job and need them again. You’re welcome to come by if you need something.”

Beau started to argue. Then he thought better of it. Ethan had just given him an open invitation to stop by the shop. He had spent months running in circles when it came to Ethan, and now this? He wasn’t sure he even knew what to say.

“I’ve gotta go. I’ll have Jared help me get it down when I get there.” Ethan took off toward the wrecker without a backward glance.

“Give me just a few minutes and I’ll meet you there. No sense in bothering Jared. It’s my stuff. I’ll get it down,” Beau yelled at Ethan’s retreating back.

Ethan waved him off, but Beau wasn’t going to leave it at that. As Ethan drove off, he grabbed what was in the bed of his truck and lugged it up to his apartment. He didn’t want to carry all of his tools around because they were too expensive to have to replace. Especially now that he was without a job.

Once inside his tiny apartment, Beau was wishing he’d taken off after Ethan immediately. Why was he wasting time? He should be jumping at the opportunity to go to the shop, spend just a few minutes with Ethan. After all, he knew Ethan wasn’t in a good mood. How could he be?

Finding out that the guy you’d been inadvertently dating for the last few months was fucking around on you couldn’t be easy. Didn’t matter whether they were serious or not. It was the principle of it. Even Beau knew that much.

A minor twinge of guilt tugged at Beau’s insides as he remembered that kiss. It didn’t matter that Ethan hadn’t initiated the smoldering encounter, Beau still felt a degree of remorse for his actions.

Grabbing the towel he had hung over the back of the chair in the kitchen, Beau opted to shower. Then he’d head over to Walker Demolition. Maybe he could get there before Ethan had to bother Jared. And if he didn’t, that was all right too. At this point, it wasn’t like his day could get much worse. He’d been laid off, nearly beat the boss’s brother’s head in for his stupid remark, and on top of that, he had to ride out the scene between Blake and Ethan.

Without waiting for the water to heat, Beau hurried through his shower, toweling off as fast as he could before making his way back to his bedroom.

What a joke. Beau hadn’t given much thought to his living quarters. He was just happy to have a place of his own. Until today, or rather, until Ethan.

Now, for some reason, his humble surroundings seemed lacking. His bedroom consisted of a mattress and box spring sitting on the floor. Hell, he didn’t even have a headboard. No fancy comforter. And the dresser was second hand, but it worked for him.

He thought about Zane’s house. How nice the place was, and he couldn’t help but wonder whether Ethan’s was the same. He knew the structure itself was impressive. Different from his brothers because of its modern design, versus the rustic preference the other brothers seemed to have. He could only imagine that the interior was similar.

But Beau tried to remind himself that he came from a different world than Zane and his brothers. He knew the Walkers didn’t hurt for money, but he also knew that Lorrie and Curtis didn’t spoil their kids just because they could. From the time each of them was old enough, they’d had to work for their extra money.

For Beau, he had to work for any money. There hadn’t been money for college because his father said he had wasted every penny he had on Beau’s high school football and the dream that he would one day make it to the NFL. Any time the opportunity presented itself, his father had ensured Beau understood that he had failed them.

Pulling his t-shirt on over his head, Beau tried to ignore his own meager possessions. If it ever came down to it, could he actually bring Ethan there? Would he want him to see his meek surroundings? Would Ethan think he was pathetic?

Beau forced the thoughts away. It wasn’t like it mattered right at the moment. Maybe if he could get a few minutes with Ethan, some time to talk, then he’d worry about what the next steps might be.

By the time five o’clock rolled around, Ethan decided to call it a day. He’d kept himself away from the shop, handling the tedious errands that he always put off, all in an effort to avoid running into Beau. He knew if he had gone back to the shop they would’ve had another encounter, and at this point, Ethan was fresh out of defenses – something he needed when Beau was around.