Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 63481 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 317(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63481 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 317(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
But there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn’t change these people’s way of life, no matter how backward their laws were.
What he could do was grant Gadiel’s wish and help him get together with Scott—no matter how ill-suited they were for each other. Scott might be ill-suited for the kid, but at least he wasn’t an asshole. He was very romantic when he was at the height of his infatuation. He was capable of giving Gadiel a few months of happiness before the honeymoon period ended and they inevitably crashed and burned.
He could help them.
“All right,” Will said with a sigh, pushing his misgivings away. “I’ll help you with Scott.”
The smile that lit up Gadiel’s face was incandescent.
Chapter 7
The next day, as he sat opposite Scott, Will wondered whether he should tell him about Gadiel’s morbid conviction that he wouldn’t live long. But for some reason he couldn’t bring it up. It felt wrong.
It made no sense. Scott was his cousin. He’d taken the job for his sake. His loyalty should be to him first, regardless of what Gadiel was paying him.
And yet, he couldn’t force himself to say anything. Gadiel had opened up to him, not Scott. It felt private.
“So, how is it going with Gadiel?” Scott said.
Will took a sip of his drink to put off his answer.
“Did he talk to you about me?” Scott said, smirking.
“Why would he talk to me about you when he doesn’t know I’m your cousin?” Will said. “Lying to him, even by omission, makes me uncomfortable. I should have told him we’re related.”
“No way! I’ll look desperate if he finds out! And trust me, no one is into desperate guys.”
Will heaved an irritated sigh. “And what are you going to do, hide that I’m your cousin for the rest of your life? If he’s ‘The One,’ he’ll eventually meet your family.”
That shut Scott up.
But not for long. “Sure,” he said, shrugging. “But we can get away with not introducing you for a long time. You aren’t really family.”
Will said nothing.
“Like, obviously you’re family,” Scott said after a moment of silence, chuckling awkwardly. “You’re almost like a brother to me, always have been. But you aren’t really my brother. You get what I mean, right?”
“Of course,” Will said, his tone even.
It didn’t bother him anymore.
But growing up, it had bothered him a great deal. Ever since he was nine, he’d been an almost son, an almost brother. No, this is my nephew, William, he’s almost like a son to me; this one is my son, Scott.
Almost. Over the years, he’d grown to loathe the word. It only made him miss his real family. Scott’s parents had treated him well, but he’d always been an afterthought to them, the other boy, the one who wasn’t Scott. He’d even gotten birthday presents he didn’t care for because Scott wanted them and wheedled his parents into buying them for “Will.” It was fine. Will knew he’d been luckier than most orphans. He knew he should have been grateful that he hadn’t gone into the system, and he was. But it had still left a bad taste in his mouth.
And nearly twenty years later, it still did, though not to the extent it used to. The past ten years of living away from Scott and his family had helped. He’d never regretted dropping out of college—the same prestigious college Scott had been enrolled in—and making his own way in life. He’d had a decade of living in Scott’s shadow; he’d be damned if he let Scott’s parents groom him into being Scott’s trusted sidekick at the family company.
“Hey, man, you didn’t take that wrong, right?” Scott said, touching his arm. “Because I didn’t mean it that way.” He sounded genuinely worried and uncomfortable, and Will shook his head.
“It’s fine,” he said. If his voice was a little more clipped than it normally was, Scott was unlikely to notice.
“Anyway, I texted Gadiel and asked him on a date. Not sure if he’ll tell you about it. If he doesn’t, he might be planning to sneak out. Then you’ll obviously turn a blind eye and let him think he successfully tricked you.” Scott smiled wryly.
“He’ll tell me,” Will said.
Scott blinked before grinning. “Man, have I ever told you that I’m super envious of your confidence? No, confidence is the wrong word—maybe self-assuredness? I don’t know, the way you just say things like you’re a hundred percent sure that they’ll happen the way you expect them to—I’ve always been jealous of that. Archie and the other guys at school always said you needed to loosen up and stop being a total bore, but I never minded that. You’re always so serious and strait-laced, and some people might find you boring, but my friends just never understood that your sense of humor was simply different from ours. That’s not a bad thing. You’ve always just been different from the rest of us.”