Page 42 of Hard Bargain

“And the gossip shows,” Knox said.

Liam sighed audibly. “I mean, we knew it was going to blow up. It’s not like we don’t deserve it. I don’t know what you saw, but… yeah. We fucked up. We fell in love.”

Knox blinked. Jesus. This guy really just said whatever came into his head.

“We made some terrible choices,” Liam went on. “Hurt people. Made a mess of things. But I can’t regret it. I did get Jacob out of it, and he makes me happy.”

Jacob, sounding deeply resigned, muttered, “You done?”

Knox shook his head, smiling despite himself.

“What? I’m helping,” Liam said, not even a little apologetic.

Knox’s shoulders loosened. It should’ve been awkward. Honestly, it was awkward. But there was something surprisingly genuine about the effort. And somehow, after that, things got easier. Liam carried most of the conversation, tossing out easy questions, keeping things moving whenever silence threatened to creep in. Jacob spoke too, just less, as if words didn’t come as easily to him.

Knox found himself talking more than he intended. He talked about Stockton and how nothing really changed here. About his home life, without getting into anything too real. Work came up eventually, but he kept it vague. It was easier that way. At some point, he realized he had stopped looking for a reason to end the call.

“So,” Knox said eventually. “What now?”

There was a small pause on the other end. When Jacob spoke, his tone was careful, like he’d thought about this and still wasn’t sure how to say it. “We could keep in touch.”

Knox’s chest did something weird. “Yeah,” he said, before he could overthink it. “Yeah, alright.”

“Alright,” Jacob said. “We’ll… talk soon?”

“Yeah. Text or whatever.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Silence.

Liam groaned dramatically. “Oh my god. Strong ending.”

“Good night, Knox,” Jacob said.

“We’ll talk to you soon, Knox. Bye,” Liam laughed.

“Night.”

There was a rustle on the other end, like the phone changed hands. And then, muffled enough that it clearly wasn’t meant for him. “Thank you, baby,” Jacob whispered.

A second later, Liam answered, just as soft. “Always.”

Then the line clicked dead.

Knox let the phone drop onto the bed beside him and stared at the ceiling. That had been weird. Awkward as hell. And, somehow, not terrible. Actually… kind of nice.

The thought settled warm and unfamiliar under his ribs, and Knox immediately shoved it down.

No.

One decent phone call didn’t mean anything. It didn’t make Jacob his brother in any real sense. Didn’t mean this was suddenly going to be some meaningful sibling relationship. People showed up all the time. Staying was the part they never managed. Family least of all.

He knew better than to get attached to the idea. Still, when he reached for his book again, his hand hovered over his phone instead. “We’ll see,” he muttered.