Lies in Love (13 page)

Dawson
had perfect timing, reentering with his cell phone still in his hand.
“Mya said you can have the place for as long as you like.”

“Daddy,
can Uncie Landon play Barbies with me?”

Dawson
looked at Landon, questioning with his eyes before answering. “Baby,
Uncle Landon and I are talking right now. Why don’t you go play
Barbies with Alice?”

“Maybe
we can play Barbies another time. After all, I plan on being around a
lot more.”

Millie
beamed at him. “Really?”

“Yeah.”
He couldn’t help but smile back at her.

“I
love you, Uncie Landon.” She hugged him tightly, lingering
longer than Landon expected, but when she let him go, she hopped out
of his lap and ran down the hall in search of her siblings.

“You
know you’re in trouble now. That kid has a memory of gold. She
doesn’t forget anything. You might as well have signed your
life over to her if you still plan on moving above the garage,”
Dawson chuckled.

“That
might not be so bad. She may be the only person who wants to keep me
company after today. The guys are going to freak when they find out
I’m moving out.”

“You
never know. They might understand how you feel. Give them the benefit
of the doubt.”

“You
always were the eternal optimist. I guess that’s why you’re
happily married and I’m miserably single moving in with my
brother.”

“It’s
not that bad. Just think of it as a break. This isn’t
permanent. It’s just temporary until you can wrap your head
around what you really feel, what you really want in life.”

“I
know.” Landon got up to leave, but Dawson stopped him.

“You
want to stay for dinner? I’m making mac and cheese.”

Landon
shook his head. “I think I’ll pass. I ought to head back
and talk to the guys. I still haven’t talked to Quincy since
that debacle on Friday.”

“Landon,
it’s been nearly a week. What have you been doing?”

“Avoiding
reality.” He grabbed his jacket from the peg and slipped it
back on. “I’ll call him when I get back to the apartment.
Hopefully by then I’ll know what to say.”

“It’ll
be alright. I’ll run over to the garage after dinner and get
the room ready. The kids will like helping me tidy the place up for
you. After all, that place has been storage to a few toys they
haven’t seen in a couple years.”

“Thanks,
bro. I’ll call you before I head back over.”

“Sounds
good.” Dawson hugged his brother. “Whatever you need, I’m
here.”

“I
know.”

Landon
returned to his bike, dreading the return to his apartment.

“Where
you been?” Ethan hollered from the couch as Landon walked in
the door.

“I
went to my brother’s.” Landon dropped his jacket on a
barstool and took a seat next to Ethan, watching the basketball
players run back and forth on the screen.

“How’s
he doing?”

“He’s
good. His kids are growing up way too fast.”

“Oh
yeah? How old are they now.”

“Millie
is three, Derek is six, and Alice…” Landon had to think
for a minute. He couldn’t even remember the last birthday party
he’d been to, so remembering Alice’s age was challenging.
“Alice is ten, I think.” Landon remembered pacing the
hospital waiting room before Alice was born. His father had just
married Gina and he had been spending quite a bit of time with Dawson
to ignore the new
stepmother.
He hadn’t
been present for Derek or Millie’s births, because he was too
busy with his current job by then.

“Damn.
I can’t believe Alice is ten. I remember the first time I met
you, you and your brother were out shopping for what, her second
birthday?”

“I
think so, yeah.” Landon became abundantly aware that he’d
wasted quite a bit of his life as an escort and had missed out on so
much in the last six years.

“Hey,
Landon.” Brent came out of his bedroom dressed for yet another
job.

“Working
again tonight?” Landon watched him search the kitchen.

“Yeah.
Quincy set me up with a model just in town for the evening.”
Brent was smiling.

“Speaking
of Quincy, I need to give him a call.”

Ethan
observed Landon from the corner of his eye. Before Ethan could say
anything, Landon left the room to make the call he’d been
struggling to come to terms with. He had no idea how to tell his boss
that he needed time, that he wasn’t sure whether or not he
would be coming back. Quincy had given him so much. He’d been
there for him when his dad was arrested for drunk driving. He’d
helped him get a place set up for his dad when he got out of jail.
These were things he couldn’t put on Dawson since he had a
family. Dawson didn’t deserve to be dragged into the garbage
heap that his father’s life was. Landon knew he could turn to
Quincy and save his brother from all of the drama. He owed Quincy
everything and the call he was about to make felt like a huge
betrayal.

Falling
down onto his bed, he dropped his head in his hands. Could he really
walk away from what he’d lived and known for the past six
years? What would he do with his life? He was at a crossroads and the
road he was about to choose gave him no way to turn back, flashing a
huge “no U-turn” sign in front of him. It was now or
never. He had to make a choice. He was giving up everything he knew
on a gamble with a single phone call. Landon took a huge breath, held
for a beat, and blew it out. Before he could talk himself out of it,
he dialed Quincy’s number and waited on the line.

“Hey,
kid. Everything okay?” Quincy’s deep inhalation could be
heard through the line. He was, no doubt, taking a drag of his
cigarette.

“I
need to talk to you.” Landon took another deep breath. He was
going to have to blurt the next bit out before he could change his
mind. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately and I decided I
need to get away for a bit. I need to separate myself from the
business and clear my head. I’ve just got a lot on my mind and
I can’t get things sorted while I’m here, doing this.”
Landon waited for Quincy’s response, but he only heard Quincy’s
labored inhalations as he continued to puff on his cigarette. “I’m
sorry, Quincy, I know I owe you more than this, but I just can’t
wrap my head around it right now. I need some time to myself.”

“I
understand, kid. I just hate losing you. You’ve been like a son
to me.”

“This
isn’t forever, Quince. It’s just until I get my head
sorted. Things are really muddled up there right now and I can’t
concentrate on anything. I’m not doing this business any favors
if I continue escorting. The last thing I want to do is give you a
bad name.”

“Yeah.”

Landon
hated when Quincy was this quiet. He knew he was letting him down. It
was the last thing he ever wanted to do. “I’m real sorry,
Quincy.”

“I
know, kid.”

Landon
didn’t know what else to say. The soft click of the line going
dead let him know that he was off the hook. He didn’t have to
say any more. Quincy heard all he needed to hear. Now all that was
left was telling the guys. He decided to pack a backpack full of
clothes and his essentials to take to Dawson’s for the night.
He’d have to come back later with Dawson’s SUV to get the
rest of his things. When he had everything he couldn’t live
without, he returned to the living room with his backpack in hand to
give Brent and Ethan the news.

Brent
was still rummaging through the kitchen for something; Landon still
hadn’t figured out what. And Ethan was still perched on the
sofa watching basketball. This wasn’t one of his favorite
teams, so he was reclined rather comfortably instead of screaming at
the players, telling them how they weren’t worth the paycheck
they lived off of.

Landon
stood by the bar and cleared his throat. Everything about this was so
nerve wracking. He just hoped that Quincy, Brent, and Ethan could
forgive him. “Hey, guys, can I talk to you for a minute?”

Brent
turned with a stern look on his face. He shoved a kitchen drawer shut
with his hip, crossed his arms in front of him, and stared at Landon.
Landon waited for Ethan, who got up from the couch and joined Landon
at the bar.

“What’s
up, Landon? This looks serious.” Ethan was intuitive, but never
judgmental; not like Brent could be.

“I’ve
decided to stay with my brother for a while. I’ve got some
stuff going on that I need to sort out and I just can’t do that
here.”

Brent
slammed his fist on the counter, rattling the silverware in the
drawer below his hand. “This is because of that chick, isn’t
it? You just couldn’t help yourself. You had to take that
date.”

“Brent,”
Ethan scolded.

“No,
I told him this would happen.” Brent turned his scolding from
Ethan to Landon. “You think I don’t know what I’m
talking about? You think I haven’t lived this very same thing?
What happens when that little chick of yours finds out what you
really are? You think she’s going to be so keen on sticking
around when she finds out you’ve fucked half the women in the
Dallas area?”

“I
don’t know what she’ll think, but it’s not really
about her. This is about me, about the life
I
want to live. I haven’t been able to think about anything more
than this job the last few weeks and I know I won’t be able to
figure it all out trapped here.”

“Who
says you’re trapped? You don’t have to be here. No one
made you choose this job. If you don’t want to be here then get
the fuck out.” Brent marched off to his room, giving up his
search in the kitchen.

“Are
you okay?” The creases in Ethan’s forehead deepened.

“I
will be. I’m sorry, man. I didn’t mean to cause any
problems, I just need to be on my own for a while.”

“It’s
cool. I’ll talk to Brent and calm him down. You just take the
time you need to figure this all out. And you know, if you need
anything, I’m here.”

“Yeah,
I know.” Landon grabbed his jacket from the barstool and
slipped it on before pulling his backpack onto his shoulder. “I’ll
call you.” When Ethan nodded, Landon turned to leave. He didn’t
know where this road led, but he hoped he was making the right choice
for everyone.

“I’m
not going, Sara. Just leave it alone.” Talia rushed around the
shop, trying to keep her distance from Sara and the other girls.

“You
have to go,” Sara practically whined her pleas.

“I
can’t. I have a meeting in Fort Worth,” Talia uttered.

“What
meeting? Why didn’t I know about it?”

“You
don’t have to know about every meeting. I’m the one
running this place, remember. Daddy left it to me. Not you.”
Talia knew it was a low blow but she had to get Sara off her back.

“Only
you would set up a meeting on a Friday night,” Sara muttered
through her clenched jaw. “I see what you’re doing,
Talia. I know you’re trying to shut me out. But this business
is just as important to me as it is to you.”

“Stop
being so melodramatic. This has nothing to do with you.” Talia
rolled her eyes and scurried to the front of the shop to rearrange
displays.

“That’s
not true and you know it. This has everything to do with me and Camey
and Reina. You’ve been avoiding all of us. You keep shutting us
out.” Sara pulled Talia’s shoulder to spin her around.
“What is going on, Talia? What are you trying to hide?”

“NOTHING!”
Talia screamed, then looked around the shop for prying eyes.
Fortunately, there were no patrons roaming about the store. “Stop
trying to make such a big deal about this. It’s just a damn
meeting.”

Sara
rolled her eyes, mimicking her sister. “If it’s just a
damn meeting, reschedule.”

“Why
is it so damn important for me to go out tonight? Will the world end
if I don’t go?” Talia wished Sara would just let it go.

“No,”
Sara huffed, clearly frustrated. “It’s just …
never mind. Just forget it.”

When
Sara turned to walk away a load of guilt poured over Talia. “Sara.”
She wanted to apologize, but for what? She wouldn’t tell her
the truth. She couldn’t go to
Satin
tonight. She wouldn’t allow herself to search for Landon only
to be let down again. She had to separate herself from the situation
and force herself to get over it. She wouldn’t be some sad
puppy dog pining for a guy that she clearly meant nothing to. “It’s
just a meeting. Please don’t make this out to be anything
else.”

“Whatever.”
Sara returned to the back room, leaving Talia to finish arranging a
few potted plants sitting in the display window. She’d make
this up to Sara somehow.