Hearts Like Ours | Red View Romance #1

🍎 Thirty One

"I guess you're used to dressing nice," Dawson grasped at the topic. "I'll be lucky if I make it through Kenzie's wedding without coming back here to change into jeans."

"She'll either be too swept up to notice, or she'll kill you for breaking the dress code." The small, breath of a laugh that escaped Jack had Dawson looking up from his food in surprise. "I guess you'll have to weigh the risk."

Dawson shrugged a shoulder, smiling at the thought of the upcoming wedding. "I'll stick it out. I can survive one night in a tux, if it'll make her happy. She's handling all this wedding stuff better than I expected—especially with Gabby being gone for so long."

"And Cliff not showing up until the last fucking minute." Jack paused, looking down to dip a piece of sandwich crust into his soup. "I'm trying not to be mad at him, you know? I want to believe he'll show this time. But if he would just get here earlier, then Kenzie wouldn't have to be so anxious that he isn't going to get here at all."

"Did he seem flaky the last time you spoke to him?"

"He always seems flaky."

"Well... he's had his reasons," Dawson vouched for his older brother, earning a second-long glare from his twin. Cliff's career, from the sound of things, was extremely demanding and had a schedule that could change on a dime.

"He ran off to some other country and hasn't sent any of us a single picture in four years. I don't know about you, but I'm beginning to forget what the hell he even looks like. He never made time to video chat with Kenzie so she could show him her dress—he kept telling her he was busy until eventually she just gave up like the rest of us. If it wasn't for the odd text and call, Mom and Dad wouldn't even know he was alive. So I don't exactly have my hopes up that he's not going to come up with some excuse again." He locked eyes with Dawson. "But don't tell Kenzie I said that."

Dawson shook his head, too stunned to do anything else. With how focused Jack was on the business, Dawson hadn't thought he noticed, let alone cared about how absent Cliff was. "I miss him too."

Jack looked away, jaw tight. But instead of denying it, he just returned his attention to his soup and changed the subject. "Why are you in here, Dawson?"

He almost wanted to laugh at the bluntness of the question, but it stung a little too much to do so. "Just... trying to be civil, I guess. For a minute there, I thought it was going pretty well."

"Yeah, that's the what, but not the why." Jack finished a bite, then continued, "The why has red hair and an engagement ring that's been suspiciously absent for the past week or so."

Dawson choked on a bite of bread and cheese, struggling to keep the tray on his lap steady as the coughs rocked him. He set it on the ottoman beside him and reached for the mini-fridge that held bottled water for anyone who came to meet with Jack. As he opened one, he looked up at his brother with watering eyes. So much for a poker face. "What?"

Jack wore a smirk, one that made him look like a gloating teenager again. "Layla. You two are... well, I don't know, exactly. You tell me."

"Layla's engaged," Dawson said before taking a sip of water, as if the words would refute anything. When they were out of his mouth, he realized he hated saying them. It was easy to lie to himself when they were together and pretend it wasn't true, that Colin was already completely out of the picture. But the reality was, he was still very much in frame.

"And yet the two of you are sleeping together. And I suspect more than that, if she's got you cooking me dinner and hanging out in my office."

Dawson rolled his eyes. How the hell had he figured it out? The two of them didn't even talk anymore, and yet still Jack could read him like a book. "She thought it would be good if I tried to get along with you, and I agreed. Things are complicated between me and Layla. She's... her fiancé isn't part of the equation, alright? Let's just put it that way. There's a lot for her to consider, but she wants to come clean soon, so I guess it's fine that you know. As long as you don't tell anyone—especially not Kenzie."

"Like I'd want to be the bearer of that news." Jack shook his head.

"It's good news. Telling everyone the truth about everything will hopefully make it so she's more likely to stay here than go back to New York."

Jack nodded, already knowing about her potential decision to open her own business in Red View. "So I take it this thing between you two isn't casual."

"No," he answered, and felt a swell of pride at the fact. He and Layla were serious. Maybe a bit unconventional, but a hundred and ten percent serious. "What I'd like to know is how the hell you knew about it."

Jack shrugged, glanced down at his desk, and finally brought his gaze back to Dawson with a resigned look. There was the slightest hint of a smile as he said, "I could just tell, Dawson. You know how it is."

"Yeah." Dawson let out a short laugh, leaning back in the chair. They were twins, and not too long ago, they'd been best friends since they were born. Dawson could tell with a single glance the difference between when Jack was angry about an incorrect shipment or an overload of paperwork. They just knew each other, whether they wanted to or not. "Yeah, I guess I do."

A silence fell over them, one that Dawson wasn't quite sure how to break. He wasn't even sure if he should. Silence, after all, was better than fighting. 

So they ate, clearing their plates and bowls as Dawson wondered if anything had changed at all. He could just come out and ask what went wrong, when and why things had changed, and get to the root of the problem so they could do something about it. 

But maybe there wasn't a root at all. Maybe two boys grew up into men who were just too different to do anything more companionable than eat dinner together.

It was the fear of that that kept him from asking, scared him away from the prodding that he usually couldn't help.  

"Well." Jack cleared his throat, sat up in his chair when he'd finished his last bite. "Thanks for dinner. I didn't realize how late it was." He stood, crumpling his napkin and setting it on his tray. He tapped the base of his desk lamp, turning it off, clearly done for the day. "I'll take dish duty."

"Thanks." Dawson let Jack take his tray when he came around the large oak desk. He stood too, and struggled to find something to say as Jack used his elbow to flip the light switch. Jack was already into the hall when he managed to come up with nothing more than, "Night."

"Night," Jack echoed back as he turned the corner, leaving Dawson alone in the moonlit office.

It could've gone worse, Dawson reminded himself, feeling stuck somewhere between relief and disappointment. It could've gone a hell of a lot worse.

I was so excited to post this chapter! 😅 Jack and Dawson's dynamic is one of my favorite parts of the series for some reason. They've got a long way to go, but hey, it's a start, right? 🥲