Page 38 of The Perfect Deal

My mind was still going over everything that had transpired as I finished getting dressed and headed to the garage. It only took about ten minutes for me to arrive at Tucker’s, and I was early. I hadn’t even glanced at the clock once I’d hung up with Landon. Wandering inside, I nodded hello to a few folks I recognized, went to the bar to grab a pitcher and three glasses, and found a table near the window.

A few people were shooting pool in the back, but there was a table open. I sat down, poured myself a beer, and waited. It wouldn’t be long before the other two arrived, but it was nice to have a few moments to myself, even if I was trapped in my own head.

I saw a girl with hair the same color as Liberty’s shooting pool with a friend, the two of them laughing, and my heart caught in my chest. I knew it wasn’t her. She didn’t laugh the same way, and Liberty would’ve never worn the outfit she had on. Still, for a moment, I imagined it was her, that she would come over and say hello to me, maybe touch my arm.

God, I fucking missed her so much already, and it had only been a few days.

“You all right, man?” Luke’s voice had my head whipping around. “You seem a little lost.”

“Hey, how are you?” I grabbed his hand and we half-hugged. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired from camp.”

He arched an eyebrow, telling me he wasn’t sure about that, as he took a seat. I scooted the pitcher of beer over to him, and he poured a glass. “How was it? Are you creating the next Michael Jordan? Or Tom Brady?”

“I like to think so.” I snickered, knowing I sounded cocky, but I didn’t care. I took a great deal of pride in my company, and we’d already produced some successful college and pro athletes in just the few years we’d been around, so I didn’t hesitate to say I thought there was a chance we could help build an athlete who could rival the GOATs of their respective sports.

Luke and I chatted for a few moments about how camp had gone. Landon wandered in at exactly eight on the nose, which didn’t surprise me. We slapped each other on the back and dropped into our normal conversation. Not seeing my best friend for a couple of weeks still seemed weird even though it happened during camp every year.

When we got up to go shoot pool, Landon stopped in his tracks, his eyes locked in the distance, before he said, “God, I thought that was my sister at first.”

My stomach twisted into a knot. I didn’t have to turn around to know he was staring at the same girl I’d seen before. “Oh, yeah?”

“What’s Liberty up to tonight?” Luke asked casually as he broke. Balls scattered all over the table, a few sinking into the holes. I was really going to have to concentrate in order to keep from getting my ass handed to me when it was my turn. For the first game, Luke and Landon were playing each other, and I’d play the winner, which worked out in my favor. Maybe by the time I had to shoot, I’d have my head on straight.

“She’s at home,” he said. “I think camp wore her out. She said she had a great time getting to know all the kids, but she’s exhausted.” His eyes met my gaze, and I nodded.

“Camp will do that to you.” I tried my best to sound nonchalant.

“It’s great she enjoyed her time there, though,” Luke noted, scratching and relinquishing his turn to Landon. “Is she going back for the second session with you, Joshua?”

“With me?” Suddenly, my stomach was flipping over, and I felt very defensive. “She’s not going with me. I mean, I’ll be there, and she’ll be there, and we got there on a bus, but she’s just there to work. She’s not with me.”

Both of them were staring at me like I was a lunatic. Luke calmly said, “I just meant, is she going to take pictures at the second camp session this summer.”

“Right.” I took a deep breath and reminded myself I needed to chill the fuck out. “I’m not sure.”

“She says she is,” Landon said, knocking two balls into two different pockets with one shot. “She has been acting a little weird, though. I hope it’s not that she doesn’t really like photography as much as she thought she did.”

“Nah, it’s not that,” I supplied, certain of little else in the world except that fact. “Camp is just rough. You’re away from your family and friends for a while. She was surrounded by strangers, and I was so busy we didn’t get to talk much.” That last part might’ve been a lie, but it was a necessary one.

“I don’t know.” Landon missed a shot and let Luke take over. “I feel bad for her. Now that I have Poppy, I feel like she’s alone a lot. Her brother and her best friend are always together.” He shook his head. “Maybe I need to back off a little and give her some more freedom. Ever since that situation with Grady, I’ve kind of been lording over her, trying to manage who she dates and who she doesn’t. I think it might be making her afraid to date anyone at all.”

“Has she dated anyone since she broke up with him?” Luke asked. For a moment, my hackles were raised as I considered why he was asking. Was he interested? But it seemed pretty evident by his tone he was just participating in the conversation.

“Not really,” Landon admitted. “A couple of guys I didn’t know well and ended up running off.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Shit, sometimes I guess I act more like her father than her big brother. She’s a grown-ass woman and can make her own decisions, right?”

He was looking at me, and I didn’t know what to do. My heart was telling me to agree with him, but my mind asked,What if this is a trap?I shrugged, nodded, and finally said, “Whatever you think, man.”

“Poppy thinks I should back off.” Landon looked away, twisting his pool stick into the carpet, deep in thought.

Poppy was right. But then, I wasn’t going to say that either. I decided to keep my trap closed. If Liberty wanted to tell him what had happened between us, I wouldn’t deny it, but I wasn’t going to dig my own grave either.

24

LIBERTY

“Then, you just let the client know the status of their help ticket,” I said to the woman who we’d just hired to take over for me while I was away for so many weeks this summer. Constance wasn’t the same person who’d been covering while I was away at camp. That woman had said the job wasn’t for her and quit, and I couldn’t blame her. At least she’d stuck it out until I returned a few days ago. But with Landon, Poppy, and me being away for much of the summer, it was imperative that we had other people to cover our jobs. Constance had been working here as an assistant for a while. Landon decided she would be a great person to take over for me while I was gone. He had some of the other higher-up execs handling his workload. No one could really replace Poppy, since she was our artist, but she’d managed to get ahead on all of the orders that needed filling, so she’d be good to go as well.

Constance stared at me, a blank look on her face, as she said, “That’s it? That’s all I have to do?”