He looks away and nods once. “So … want me to send Sam?”
“I’ll be fine. Tell him to flash the light when you get home.”
He moves to place my guitar back on the stand. “All right, then. Porch light stays on. Deadbolt stays locked.” He wanders through the kitchen, snagging a pizza from the freezer on his way to the door.
I tug on the sleeve of his scrubs, stopping him before he’s gone. “Go call Annie. You’ll feel better.”
He gives me a wary look but no rebuttal. “Temporarily bump me up on your emergency contact list, okay?”
“You’re third.”
“You put the guy with cymbals attached to his dashboard ahead of me?” he huffs.
“No, the girl who can bench my body weight.”
“Ah.” He cocks his head to the side. “Right. Same.”
Was that a confession? I’m not saying a word.
“Thanks, Jace.”
As soon as I lock the door, I call Jude.
Chapter 33
Here Without You
As curious as I am about the marked pages in my notebook, the first thing I want to do is pull off my work clothes, climb into Jude’s Braves T-shirt, and face-plant in my bed. I shamelessly sniff for any trace of wintergreen and leather or whatever habit-forming substance that must be in his shampoo.
“Thank you for the shelf,” I tell him over a video call. “It’s so perfect. I never bothered to get one because everywhere I live feels temporary. What do I owe you?”
He grins at me while running a towel over his wet hair, breaking my heart a little when he hangs it over his bare shoulder, covering the artwork. “You never owe me, Punk. Aunt Judy was cleaning out and asked if I wanted it. I thought it would fit there, and it did.”
He downplays all he does for me, but I see it. I seehim.
It’s still hard to believe he does these little things because he loves me and not just because he’s a nice guy.
“And the lights make the room look … enchanted! It’s the perfect reading vibe. I love it.” I gush like an excited kid. Heknew it would make me happy, so he just did it. Such a simple thing but it feels big to me.
“Why didn’t you ask me before? You know I would’ve done it.”
“I needed sticky hooks,” I say with an overwhelming desire to crawl through the screen and attach myself to his person. And maybe sniff his hair.
He shrugs. “Eh, I found clear thumbtacks.”
“I’m not supposed to put holes in the walls.”
“I won’t tell.” He winks. “Find anything interesting yet?”
“Other than your interior design skills, not yet. You cleaned. Weirdo.” I roll over with my phone in hand. “But Jace was being all serious, so I haven’t investigated much. I think he had a hard night.”
Jude winces in understanding. “That happens sometimes. Was he a prick?”
“No, he wasn’t. That’s what concerned me.” I release a breathy laugh, loving the way he genuinely cares about what I’m saying. “Hey … umm. Nathan showed up at Pop’s yesterday.” Jude stiffens and leans closer to the screen. “Lainey said he was angry, and he told Dave I wasn’t really visiting my mom. He said I was in Nashville …cheating on him. Nothing unexpected, but Jace was adamant I tell you.”
“Okay.” He nods. “Just quit.”
“Jude.” I smile, because he has to be joking. “I can’t quit. I can’t leave Lainey like that, and I have school fees coming up. I can’t drain my account.”
