Pascal is in Brooks’s office and has been there a while.
And maybe I should let them continue to talk. I don’t know all that was on the drive. I don’t have it any longer. And truly, I don’t even know if itisimportant—though, I have to presume it is considering that the powers that be went through the trouble of having me steal it.
Still, I may be completely off base.
But I don’t think so.
And I don’t want Brooks to have to deal with this alone.
Space and time. Patience and kindness. And love, so much love it burned through my veins like lava when he left, bubbled like champagne during our happy moments, and now flows like a raging river, swollen from the snowmelt as I walk down the hall.
Love that never faded. Need that never waned. Peace that I can only find with him by my side.
I approach the door, lifting my hand to knock.
But it’s slightly ajar, their voices drifting out into the hall.
And what I hear Pascal say is a bucket of icy water dumped over my head.
“I still think you’re making a mistake by not leaving.”
But what Brooks says in return is worse.
“Maybe you’re right.”
THIRTY-SEVEN
BROOKS
“I still thinkyou’re making a mistake by not leaving.”
“Maybe you’re right,” I say and sigh. “Maybe I shouldn’t be here. Maybe I should walk away.” I hold his stare. “But I’m not going to.”
He opens his mouth.
“And don’t say that I did before. I’m not going to rehash this shit but we both did what we thought was best and yes, it was the biggest fucking mistake of my life, but I’m not going to keep apologizing for it, keep fucking up my present, my future?—”
“Good.”
Only, it’s not Pascal saying that.
It’s Briar.
Fuck, how much had she overheard?
“Raindrop,” I rasp.
She moves over to me, eyes sad, and my heart sinks. “I don’t know how much you heard?—”
“I’m sorry,” she says.
I blink. “You have nothing to apologize for.”
She shakes her head. “You explained. I told you I understand—and Ido. But I threw it back in your face, didn’t make it clear that I’m here too. That I’m not goinganywhere. So yeah,” she says. “I do have to apologize. I’m sorry.” She cups my face in her hands. “Because if it meant keeping you safe, I would have doneanything, even if that meant breaking your heart, even if that meant you hated me.”
Movement catches my eye and I glance over her shoulder, see Pascal standing in the doorway.
He winks at me and then disappears—fuckingdisappears.
