Crossroads

Page 3

They’d been fucked in the head to think they ever belonged together. Both Bryce and Christi knew that, which was why they’d broken up a couple months ago. The shitty part was he hadn’t had the balls to tell his folks yet. It just meant they’d get on his back again about settling down and taking life seriously. Apparently Bryce was the only person in their family who sucked at that.
It didn’t help that his mom wanted grandbabies, but Mitch and Abbey didn’t want kids, and Jamie and Hope weren’t able to have them. Adoption was a possibility, but it wasn’t something they’d pursued yet, and his mom was getting restless. That meant she put all her energy into Bryce. He tried to play the youngest brother card, but being thirty-two, that didn’t work anymore.
Mitch continued, “Abbey tried to put her off, saying how busy everyone was. You’re lucky she loves you.”
“Your wife is the best. See? There’s no need for me to settle down since you two got the best ones out there. Think Mom will go for that?” Not that Christi wasn’t great. She was. He loved her with all his heart. He just wasn’t in love with her. If there was anyone who could make him settle down, it would be her.
Both his brothers laughed and basically told him he was fucked. When their mom got something into her head, she didn’t let it go. She became obsessed and was as determined as they came, much like Bryce. It would be a hell of a battle, which was why he put off telling her about the break up.
“She already loves Christi like a daughter. This is going to kill her. Especially because your lame ass has kept it going for so long,” Jamie added.
Fuck. What the hell had he and Christi been thinking? The thing was, for a while there, he’d thought he might die—an aneurysm that could burst. Knowing he could die did funny things to him, freaked him out and made him wonder if his mom was right and he was missing out on what the rest of his family had. But being with Christi had just been wrong, and now he had to deal with the consequences of his decision.
“Come on, let’s get this stuff unloaded.” An idea popped into Bryce’s head and he grinned. “Maybe I’ll go out tonight. You know...if I’m ever going to find the right one, I need to get out there and experience what they have to offer.”
Mitch shook his head. “Christ, you’re ridiculous. You know, one of these days you’re going to meet a woman, and she’ll end up knocking you on your ass. You’ll fall head over heels for her without realizing what’s happening, and by the time you do, you’ll be a goner. That’s what happened to me.”
Yeah, somehow Bryce didn’t see that coming. Not fucking likely. While Bryce’s diagnosis made his Mom want him to hurry up and settle down, it just made him want to hurry up and live. He was healthy, and wanted to grab life by the balls. He’d take whatever he wanted, when he wanted. He didn’t see falling in love as one of those things.
CHAPTER TWO
It had been a long night at the restaurant. It was close to midnight when Nick pulled into the driveway in front of his duplex. He’d been here two weeks, but hadn’t had time to do much of anything. He was basically at Nick’s—his restaurant—from open to close, even when he had another chef working. What the hell else did he have to do? Come home to an empty place that he was still working on furnishing?
As shitty as it sounded, that was pretty much all Nick had. He hadn’t had many friends when he and Jill were married. His only friends were her friends’ husbands, which made things too awkward now. Before he was either with her, them, or work, so now he was either at work or at home. So much for all that fun he was supposed to be having.
Nick stepped out of his car and closed the door. He happened to glance at the home attached to his. Someone had moved in a few days after he had. He’d seen a woman come and go a couple of times, but no one else. He didn’t know if it was a family, single person or what. The garage was open now, light spilling out, so he thought, what the hell, and headed that way to introduce himself.
When he got closer he saw a motorcycle on a stand, tools, and a man leaning over the bike. He didn’t know much about motorcycles, but he could tell this was an older one, a classic, maybe. She was a beauty.
“Hobby or profession?” Nick asked, before noticing a second bike in the garage. The other looked newer. It must be the one he rode while he worked on the other.
The dark-haired man looked up at him, a grease smudge on his forehead and a face full of dark stubble. He wore faded jeans and no shirt, more grease on his chest as well.
“Both.” The man grinned at him, stood, held out his hand and then said, “Second thought, you probably don’t want to shake my hand. I’m Bryce, nice to meet you.”