The rest of the afternoon passed in a daze. Blake arranged for his mom to keep Caroline overnight so he could go talk to Linc. He knew what he had to do. Better to end things now before he fell any further and complicated all of their lives in ways he could have avoided. All he needed to do was be strong now, and he would have to suffer the consequences later. He steeled his nerves and drove over to Linc’s house.

Linc had just climbed out of his truck when Blake pulled into the driveway behind him. A wide smile appeared on Linc’s face when he saw him. He walked over and opened Blake’s door. “Hey, you. How’d you know I could use some time with you?”

He leaned in and pressed a sweet kiss to Blake’s lips.

God, he was going to miss this.

“I didn’t,” Blake managed to choke out.

Linc grabbed his hand. “Come on inside.”

Blake followed him and they made it as far as the entry before Linc stopped and devoured his lips in a kiss. “Been thinking about you since I got up this morning.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Should have gotten up with you. Climbed in the shower, got you all wet and slippery. Done really bad things to you.”

“I would’ve let you.”

“Want to let me now?”

It took every ounce of strength Blake possessed not to drag Linc down the hall to the bathroom.

“That’s probably not a great idea.”

Linc pulled away with a frown. “Blake?”

He squeezed Linc’s hand in his and led him over to the couch.

They sank down beside each other and Linc started shaking his head.

“Blake, I don’t know what’s wrong, but we can work this out. I know that look. I’ve seen it one too many times.”

Blake reached up to cup Linc’s cheek in his hand. “What you said about it being a mess with my family? You were right. We work together and it’s my family’s business. I never should have put you in that position.”

Linc closed his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Linc. I really care about you, and if the circumstances were different, I… well, but they aren’t, are they? I can’t quit. I thought about it. Almost did. But I can’t do that to Uncle Henry. You’ve worked too hard to get where you are to let a relationship with me mess anything up. So we’re going to do the adult thing here and stop seeing each other before things get bad for either one of us.”

Linc huffed out a bitter laugh. “Yeah, too late for that.”

“I know.” He leaned forward and pressed their cheeks together. “I know. I’m so sorry.”

He forced himself to pull away and tried to push to his feet. Linc pulled him back down. “Don’t go.”

“I have to.”

He tugged his hand free and walked to the door. Linc followed and wrapped his arms around Blake’s waist. His laid his head against Blake’s shoulder and squeezed.

Blake leaned his head over while wrapping his arms around Linc’s. “It’s going to be okay.”

Even he didn’t quite believe his hollow words. He pulled Linc’s arms loose and opened the door. He couldn’t look back or he wouldn’t stop.

The drive back to his house passed in a blur. Blake stumbled over to the couch and collapsed onto it. He had no idea what to do next. His chest ached, a searing hole where a glimmer of happiness had formed. He couldn’t even talk to anyone about it. His entire family loved Linc. They were all imagining their happily ever after. How was he supposed to tell them? What would Uncle Henry say?

Normally, his first call would be to Abe, but he couldn’t drag Abe into the middle of it either. Abe worked side by side with Linc, and he definitely didn’t need to make any sort of friction between the two of them. He couldn’t sit here and wallow though, so he grabbed his keys and left the house. When he pulled up in front of his cousin’s place, Blake realized he might be making a big mistake. But he couldn’t think of anyone else who could distract him right then.

He climbed out of the car and knocked on the door.

Kale answered a few minutes later wearing an apron dusted with flour. “Blake?”

“Hey. I need to talk to you for a minute.”

“Sure. Come on in.”

Blake hadn’t been to Kale’s house since he’d moved in, even though he’d seen it over the years as Uncle Henry fixed it up. He couldn’t even stop to appreciate all the work they must have done because his mind was turning over and over the look on Linc’s face. He kept seeing the hurt in his eyes.

Kale led him into the kitchen and gestured to a bar stool. He turned on an electric kettle and took off his apron, wiping fruitlessly at the patch of flour on his cheek. It did nothing but make it worse. It lightened his mood, even if only a little, to see how cute Kale was. Everybody thought the same thing, and had told Kale so his entire life. He had curly hair that flopped over his eyes half the time, and even though he was— God, he had to be twenty-five already since Blake had just turned thirty, but he barely looked eighteen. Kale must have seen the glimmer of humor in his eyes because he raised his knife and glared at Blake.

“Whatever you’re about to say, don’t even think about it,” Kale grumbled. “I have a chef’s knife right here and I am not afraid to use it.”

“Sorry,” Blake said.

“Well, at least you don’t look like you’re about to die now. What happened?”

Blake took a breath and explained that he’d just ended things with Linc.

“Wow. Okay, well… I think this conversation requires beer.”

“Okay,” Blake said.

He sat down at the counter and dropped his head into his hands. The entire day rolled through his mind in slow motion. How happy he’d been when he’d woken up beside Linc. How great they were together in bed. How amazing he felt when Linc touched him. How giddy he’d been when he’d thought their relationship could turn into something else. How much it hurt to realize that they both had too much to lose to continue taking so much risk.

A giant gaping hole had formed in his heart where his feelings for Linc had been.

Kale carried over two bottles of beer and placed one in front of Blake.

“Here’s to bring an adult and having to make really shitty choices.”

They clinked their bottles together and took a long drink. He hadn’t eaten since the half bowl of soup he’d managed at lunch and his stomach growled when the liquid hit his empty stomach.

Kale took one look at Blake, rolled his eyes, and pulled out a cutting board. He slapped it in front of Blake. Next came a peeler and a bag of potatoes.

“Peel,” Kale demanded.

“What?”

“Peel. Just do it. And don’t cut your finger off. Pay attention.”

“But I’m not—”

Kale stopped and arched a brow. He’d clearly inherited the ability from his mother. “Peel.”

“Fine! I’m peeling.”

Kale turned the radio to the local classic rock station and began pulling out pots and pans. Blake kept his eyes on the potatoes in his hands and created a rhythm of peeling. He shouldn’t have been surprised when he heard the front door open. He really shouldn’t have been surprised when Abe walked into the kitchen.

Blake glared at Kale, who did his fake Who me? I’m cute grin that none of them ever fell for anymore.

“Don’t blame him,” Abe said. “You know you would have called me too.”

“I didn’t want to involve you,” Blake said. “I didn’t call you on purpose.”

“Hmm. That’s interesting. So you want to tell me what’s going on?”

Blake frowned then turned back to Kale. “You didn’t tell him?”

“Nope. But you should.” Kale walked over and plucked the peeler from Blake’s hand before sliding away the cutting board full of potatoes and skins.

“What’d Linc do?” Abe asked once Kale resumed his chopping.

Blake ran his hand over his head and sighed. “How’d you guess?”

“Because there’s nothing else you wouldn’t want to talk to me about. We work together, so I can’t punch him in the face for upsetting you.”

“You really can’t, Abe. Promise me.”

Abe slapped his hand down on the table, palm down. Blake placed his on top of it. They both turned expectant glares toward Kale, who grumbled and put his knife down. He added his hand to the mix. It was still a bit slimy from the potatoes.

“We won’t punch Linc for hurting you. And we promise to behave ourselves otherwise. And to keep our mouths shut, unless you’re actually physically hurt and then Kale’s gonna carve him up like a turkey.”

Kale sputtered, but then seemed to reconsider it. “I could make him into chili. I saw that on NCIS once. Or maybe it was Criminal Minds? One of those shows. It was a good one. Really gross and demented.”

“But we Bartlett swear, okay?” Blake asked.

Abe and Kale both swore before they lifted their hands.

Blake took a deep breath and went through the story from the beginning.

Abe didn’t respond for a long moment. He leaned against the counter, tapping his fingers against the pale gray granite. When he finally finished processing, he met Blake’s gaze.

“That sucks.”

“That’s all you got?”

Even Kale looked disgruntled. “Abe, you’re supposed to be the smart one of the group. Our noble leader. Have more wisdom cause you’re old. Can’t you think of anything more to say than that?”

Abe scowled at both of them. “That really sucks. I mean, I see what you’re talking about, Blake. I don’t think it would be a problem, but I mean, if we’re looking out for the family and the business, then yeah. If things went south later, it could cause big issues all around. I thought you guys were… but hell, Blake. I don’t know. I like Linc. He’s a hard worker and smart. Good at what he does. I don’t want to lose him as a friend or coworker, but I liked the thought of you guys together. I thought you were good for each other.”

Blake sighed. “I thought so, too. But at the end of the day, I had to think about the promises I made to myself when I moved back to Havendale. I screwed things up with the family once, and I won’t make that mistake again.”

His cousins shared a look.

“Okay,” Abe said. “We’ll get you through this.”

“Good,” Kale said. “Now that’s settled, eat.”

He passed a plate of potatoes, onions, and bacon with cheese melted across the top toward them.

“How did you—

“Don’t question it. Just eat it,” Abe said. He grabbed the fork Kale handed him and dug in.

They ate quietly with Kale replacing Blake’s beer once he’d drained the bottle.

“Well, we aren’t going to sit here and wallow,” Abe said once he’d cleaned his plate. “It sucks. Let’s do something.”

“Like what?” Kale asked.

“I don’t know. I’d say go out and get shit-faced, but we all have to work tomorrow. Let’s make a pact that the next break-up should happen on a weekend so we can get trashed like normal people do at times like this.”

“Fuck responsibility,” Kale said.

They all looked at each other and laughed.

“Can you imagine? The lecture we’d get from all three sets of parents.”

Blake shivered. “No, thank you.”

“Well, we could call Micah and make him come play poker. We toss back a few more beers and he drives us home. Could work.”

“I could come get you guys in the morning and bring you back here so you can come get your vehicles,” Kale offered.

“This is sounding more and more like a plan. Kale, you got enough beer to get us through the night?”

“Probably wouldn’t hurt to get a few more. We should probably call the others or we’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Bartlett cousin poker night is on.”

Blake trusted Kale and Abe to make sure his love life was an off-limits topic for the evening. He got the poker table set up while Abe and Kale made phone calls. Within half an hour, Danielle, Aubrey, Micah, and Claire, and Nathan had all shown up for the game. Josh was out of town for work and Carter and Matthew were both out with their girlfriends or they would have had a house full of cousins.

The game had the desired effect of distracting Blake from his dark mood. His cousins were ferocious poker players and Blake hadn’t played with them in years. He’d forgotten how cut-throat they were. Kale had the best poker face of all of them and before an hour had passed, he had a large stack of chips in front of him.

“He’s cheating,” Danielle grumbled. “No one is that lucky.”

Aubrey cackled. “It’s not luck. He bluffs.”

She was the only one of them able to read Kale, and even she had trouble sometimes.

“Call,” Blake said as he glanced at his cards and tossed in the required chips.

“Fold,” Abe said. “Anyone need another beer?”

Blake handed over his empty and Abe replaced it with a new one. He had a pleasant buzz and hadn’t gotten lost in depressing thoughts in over an hour.

Abe bumped their shoulders together as he sat back down.

The cards worked in his favor, and Blake won the next hand, stealing a stack of chips from Kale.

“Ha! Gotcha!”

“Finally,” Danielle cheered. “And on that note, I’ve got to head out, boys. It’s officially into single digits and I have an early meeting with a bride.”

Blake groaned and pulled out his phone to check the time. “Oh, it’s going to suck being me in the morning.”

“Come on,” Micah said with a laugh. “I’ll get you home.”

The evening had done what he needed it to. Some of the tension had left, and even though he still felt the sadness, he knew he’d done the right thing.