Speechless (Pier 70 #3) (7 page)

Gannon’s smile was awkward, as though he were reliving that moment and he didn’t much care to. It made Roan chuckle. He’d heard the story about that incident, and for the life of him, he couldn’t understand how Cam had gotten Gannon to jump out of a plane. Then again, it seemed Cam and Gannon pushed one another’s boundaries in ways that defied logic.

“I survived. If I didn’t love this guy”—Gannon nodded toward Cam—“I can tell you, I would’ve been really pissed that day.”

A rumble of laughter ensued. Roan didn’t doubt that one bit.

“It’s good to get you out of your comfort zone,” Cam teased.

That was Cam. He’d always been the reckless one. As a way of rebelling against his underlying fears—traveling and relationships—Cam had opted for taking things to the extreme. Sometimes Roan wished he’d been born with that trait. Unfortunately, that hadn’t happened. Hell, he was scared of every damn thing. Although he wouldn’t admit that out loud. He tried to be the tough one, the strong one, the rebellious one. Instead, most of the time he simply felt like the third wheel.

“So, you think you’ll do it again?” AJ asked, chuckling.

“Not a chance.” The definitiveness in Gannon’s response made them all laugh.

“Figured as much.” AJ sat down on the pier beside Gannon. “How’s Milly?”

Roan glanced over at AJ, noting the hesitancy in his voice when he directed his question at Gannon. He knew why AJ was asking, because, during the cruise, AJ and Milly had spent quite a bit of time together. Roan knew this firsthand because he’d been helping Milly with the wedding preparations—he’d been Cam’s best man and Milly had been Gannon’s maid of honor—so he’d witnessed quite a bit of their interactions.

Now that he thought about it, Milly had been happier than he’d ever seen her. That was saying something because the woman always had a smile on her face.

“She’s good.” Gannon looked confused as he stared back at Hudson’s brother. “You haven’t talked to her?”

AJ shook his head. “I’ve tried a couple of times, but she won’t return my calls.”

That was interesting. Roan hadn’t seen Milly since the cruise, either, but he had talked to her on the flight back to Texas, and she’d been quite excited about her little rendezvous with AJ. He wondered what had happened that she was avoiding the man now.

Gannon looked as baffled as Roan felt. “Sorry to hear that. But yeah, she’s doing good. She took a couple of days off last week. She hasn’t been feeling well. I tried to get her to come tonight, but she’s pretty sure she has the flu.”

The flu? Now Roan wasn’t a doctor, but he didn’t think it was flu season.

“Sorry to hear that.”

Roan turned his attention toward the sky, watching the colors light up the night, the acrid scent of sulfur drifting on the breeze. He wished his sister would’ve joined him. He had invited her, but of course, she’d turned him down. If he had to guess, she was trying to find a way to get her next fix. Roan probably should’ve stayed with her, but he had needed a break. A break from her anger, a break from the fighting, a break from the constant bitching … a break from
her
.

He wouldn’t pretend to know what she was going through, but he felt as though he did put forth enough effort to help her that she should’ve recognized that by now. Hell, he’d given up his apartment to move in with her. Not that she’d been happy about that, but truthfully, he didn’t give a shit. She was heading down a dark and dangerous path, and his biggest fear was finding her dead somewhere from an overdose. Not that he could stop her from doing what she was doing, but he was damn sure making an effort to interfere as much and as often as he could.

She was on her own tonight, though.

For a few minutes, Roan was going to stand here on the pier, watching the fireworks and pretending that his life hadn’t become a full-time babysitting gig. And then, when it was all over, he’d get back to it.

Six

Friday, July 8
th

“ARE YOU FUCKING serious?” Cam’s laughter boomed, slipping out through the open door as Teague headed inside the main office. “Congrats, man.”

Teague watched the bro-hugs taking place as Cam smacked Dare on the back hard enough to rattle the guy’s teeth. Cam was a big guy. There was a lot of power in that arm, sometimes more than he even realized, apparently.

Dare and Cam turned to look at Teague, matching smiles plastered on their faces. It was a little creepy, quite frankly.

“What’s going on?” he asked, hesitant to get in the middle of this love fest.

“I’m gettin’ married,” Dare announced.

And now he had the creepy smile going on as he stared back at Dare. He knew he looked as dumb as he felt, but he couldn’t have erased it if he’d wanted to. He was truly happy for his friend. Teague had known Dare for a long time, and he was a good guy. Something had always been a little off about him, in the sense that Dare had never been interested in love—very similar to Teague—but it looked as though that streak had come to an end.

“Congratulations, bro.”

Dare’s grin widened. “Thanks. And we’re buyin’ a house.”

“A house? Really?” Well, that was fast. Then again, Dare and Noah had been together fifteen years ago, so maybe it wasn’t as fast as it seemed. “That’s great. Somewhere close?”

Dare nodded. “In Cam’s neighborhood. Noah and I put an offer in a couple of days ago, and the sellers accepted it. We should close in early August.”

Teague didn’t know what to make of all that. It seemed that things were changing around Pier 70. Between Cam and Gannon getting married and now Dare and Noah. Even Roan was different since he’d been dealing with his sister’s issues… What the hell was this world coming to? Everyone seemed to be ... growing up.

“I’m gonna go tell Hudson,” Dare noted, glancing between Cam and Teague. “Be back in a bit.”

Teague watched as Dare practically skipped out the back door, whistling as he did.

Cam was still laughing when he turned back. “Crazy shit, huh?”

That was one way to put it. Teague had no idea what to say to that, so he simply stared at the door where Dare had exited.

“Did you need something?”

Oh, right. Nodding, he looked back at Cam. “Wanted to see if you had any appointments I could help with today.”

Cam glanced down at the appointment book. “We’ve actually got it covered.” Cam lifted his head and met Teague’s gaze. “Unless that’s what you want to do. You can take mine. I’m sure I can find a way to keep myself busy.”

Teague could see the concern in Cam’s eyes. “No, I’m cool. I can help Hudson. I’m sure he’s got too much on his plate as it is.”

He’d actually been hoping to avoid Hudson today, but since he’d managed to pretty much keep his distance all week, he figured he had to suck it up at some point. Ever since the night of the fireworks, when Hudson had stood behind him, his hands on Teague’s hips, holding him there but not doing anything more than that, he’d felt a little out of his element. For the most part, aside from that little moment they’d shared, things weren’t weird between him and Hudson, although neither of them had brought up Hudson’s offer again. Yet.

Granted, Teague still wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Nor did he know how he wanted to handle it. For the first time in his life, Teague wasn’t jumping feetfirst into something. He got the eerie feeling that giving in to Hudson could very well alter his life in ways he wasn’t ready for. Didn’t mean he would actually like the guy, but he could see himself getting addicted to the sex.

Maybe.

Then again, Hudson could very well be a huge snore-fest in the sack and Teague would get bored.

Doubtful but possible.

“If we get any more appointments, you’ll be the first one I call.” Cam’s gruff voice interrupted Teague’s thoughts, pulling him back to the moment.

“Awesome. Thanks.”

Shaking himself out of his weird mood, Teague left Cam and took his time as he made his way down to the dock. He wanted to give Dare a few minutes to share his news with Hudson. Standing around and watching Dare’s excitement would’ve made Teague a little uncomfortable.

He’d managed to keep busy stacking rope for a good ten minutes when he saw Dare walking back to the main office. At that point, Teague headed over to the boat repair shop. With every step, he felt his tension increase. He wasn’t excited about having to see Hudson face-to-face, or talk to him, or work with him, either. Sometimes the shop didn’t feel big enough to house them both safely. And the place was actually pretty big.

It was nothing more than a giant steel building with one huge bay door that faced the water, allowing them to bring boats right in when necessary, or for customers to pull them around via the parking lot. On the left side of the building, a paint booth had been installed. Hudson’s little side business of painting boats was evidently doing pretty well. Inside the building were tools galore, along with several industrial-sized fans, lifts, racks, engine stands, and all the other equipment used to repair motors and fiberglass.

At some point last year, Hudson had divided the shop more evenly so that Teague had his own space, which allowed them to divvy up the jobs. He wasn’t as adept as Hudson in everything, but he was a quick learner, so generally, it only took him studying Hudson for a bit to catch on to something. All in all, he loved the work; it was the company he had some issues with.

When he stepped into the building, Teague glanced around, searching for Hudson as was normal for him. He was always aware of the guy. Always. And ever since that night on the boat… God, he had such a hard time thinking about that night without a foreign sense of anticipation filling him. He had yet to broach the subject with Hudson, and at this point, with a week having passed since the offer, he wasn’t even sure if he could accept now. The only good thing—if it could even be considered that—was that he hadn’t had a single drink in almost seven full days.

Now, he wouldn’t go so far as to say he was an alcoholic, but he couldn’t deny that he used alcohol to numb himself. It’d been a crutch for a long time, one that wasn’t easy to kick, but he’d managed.

Hudson stepped out of the small office, his gaze zeroing in on Teague instantly. He felt the intensity radiating from Hudson, something that wasn’t new, nor was it unfamiliar, but it hit him the same as it always did. Whenever they were in the same room—especially when they were alone—Teague felt like Hudson was a jungle cat and he was the prey. As though any second now, he was going to be pounced on. Only that had never happened.

And when Hudson turned around and returned to the office, effectively brushing him off, Teague didn’t think today was going to be any different.

Except maybe it was, because for the first time all week, he felt the anger begin to bubble up from within. And it looked as though Hudson was about to be his outlet.

HUDSON HAD HEARD someone enter the shop, which was the reason he stepped out of the office to check it out. Sometimes customers wandered in, and he made a point to keep an eye out for them, although greeting them was sometimes uncomfortable. There was a white board on the wall near the office, which he used from time to time to communicate. It stated that Hudson could hear but couldn’t speak, because that seemed to be the easiest way to get the news out there. No sense in trying to pretend otherwise.

Most of the time, Teague dealt directly with the people when they arrived, but there were the one-off instances when Hudson had no choice. Since these days most people had a cell phone, it was easier for Hudson to explain via text message. For the most part, the people who came into the shop were receptive to that. Although, there had been a couple of jackasses who refused, and in those cases, Hudson would seek out one of the guys so they could relay what he needed to say.

However, this time the newcomer wasn’t a customer, so rather than have a confrontation with Teague, he decided to go back to his office to take care of the paperwork he’d been working on.

“Are you purposely ignoring me?” Teague blurted as he stepped into the office a few seconds later.

Keeping his expression neutral, Hudson glanced up at him. He’d been waiting for Teague to come to him, to tell him whether or not he was going to take him up on his offer, only that hadn’t happened. Even after the night of the fireworks, when they’d shared a moment—and yes, no matter what either of them wanted to say, they had shared a moment—Teague hadn’t confronted him. Possibly a record for the kid.

Rather than answer, Hudson gave Teague his undivided attention, watching him closely.

“I don’t know what you want from me,” Teague grumbled, his hands going to his hips. “One night you barge into my apartment, kiss the fuck out of me, offer to fuck my brains out, and then…”

And then?

Teague stared at Hudson’s hands as he signed the two words, but the expression on his face didn’t change. Sometimes, he wished Teague would’ve learned sign language like the others. Admittedly, Hudson had been floored when Dare insisted that they were going to learn sign language so that they could overcome the communication barrier between them. It had taken him completely by surprise, and in a way, it had made him feel more welcome at the marina than he’d felt anywhere in his life.

Only Teague had purposely avoided learning, which meant the only way they could communicate was if Hudson wrote out the words or sent them via text. He opted for the latter, grabbing his phone as he leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the desk.

He typed out the same words:
And then?

Teague peered down at his phone when the message came in. “I fucking hate this shit,” he mumbled under his breath.

Hate what shit?

“That I can’t fucking talk to you.”

You’re doing a good job now.

Hudson knew it was uncomfortable for a lot of people that he couldn’t talk. He’d experienced so many strange situations over the years because he was mute. Some people assumed he was also deaf, so they chose not to talk to him at all. A couple of people had made that assumption and then spoken aloud their real feelings, which had both amused and infuriated Hudson at the same time. He’d put many people in their place when he responded to what they said via writing down his thoughts or typing them out. When he was younger, he would often call them on it, which made things even more awkward. These days, Hudson pretended not to notice most of the time.

“What do you want from me?” Teague dropped his hands and stared directly at him. Hudson could see the frustration in the kid’s steel-blue eyes.

I gave you my offer.

“But you haven’t acted on it,” Teague retorted after he read the text.

Not my place. I told you what you needed to do.

Hudson watched Teague closely.

“I quit drinking. What fucking more do you want?”

I’m proud of you.

He didn’t mean it as condescension—he was really fucking proud of him; it couldn’t be easy—but clearly Teague took it that way. That was one of the major issues with “talking” through text messages. People assumed what they wanted to when they read the message. They could “hear” emotions that weren’t there.

“Fuck you.”

Hudson smiled. He couldn’t help himself. For the past week, Teague had been a little off. Not quite as combative as Hudson was used to. And during the two years they’d worked together, Hudson had experienced a gamut of emotions from Teague. His mood swings could take you out at the knees if you weren’t careful.

He didn’t know why Teague had been extra prickly until now. Seemed he’d knocked the kid off his game with the offer.

The offer still stands.

Teague stared at his phone for longer than was necessary to read the message, so Hudson waited for a response. Regrettably, the sound of voices in the shop brought their conversation to an abrupt halt. Teague glanced out the door, then back to Hudson. “I’ll take care of this.”

Hudson nodded, dropped his feet to the floor, put his phone on his desk, and got back to his paperwork. Well, he tried to, anyway. The only thing he could do was think about Teague. The kid had said he’d quit drinking, and from what Hudson could tell, he wasn’t lying. Not once had he caught him with so much as a beer, and Teague wasn’t the type to try to hide it. He was ornery by nature, so he would’ve felt the need to rub it in Hudson’s face if he was still drinking.