“You’ve said more than once,” I suppress my fervor for a second, “I’m your anchor. The truth is, you’re mine, Dar. Ineedus.”
His eyes flick up. “You could have Linus if you wanted.”
I close the distance, drop onto the coffee table in front of him. “I love Linus. I really do. But, our time is almost up.”
Padraig frowns. “You don’t know…”
“I do.”
“Really?”
“I think…” I scrub a hand down my face. “I think I don’t want to be tied down. I want to fuck who I want. Love who I want. Build a career no one can take from me.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t believe you. You’d take fuckin’ around over Linus?”
“Yes.”
“Bullshit.”
I meet his gaze and double down. “Believe me. I want this to be you and me. Youbesideme. Not behind me. No distractions. We started this together. It’s the only thing we have.”
“I miss her.” His shoulders slump.
“I know.”
He buries his head in his hands. “No,reallymiss her. Her laugh. Her way of knowin’ exactly what I need. The way she always makes me feel.”
“I miss her too.”
He laughs, surprised. “You do?”
“She’s always been our glue.” I pat his knee. “From the time we were kids.”
“I wish I believed you.”
“Now.” I smile. “If you stop letting Felicity cloud your decisions, we’ve got a shot.”
He groans and hides his face in his hands.
I stand and offer my hand. “You know I’m right.”
“Doesn’t mean I want to admit it.” He takes it and I pull him up.
“Start by showin’ up. Fully. We’ve got new tracks to cut. A shot at touring this summer. A few festivals are sniffin’ around.”
He perks up. “Seriously?”
“Linus has contacts. Our new songs are better than anything we’ve done.”
His brow furrows. “You really think we can replace her?”
“I know we can.”
He looks at me, really looks. “Let’s get through the shows we have and low-key look around.”
My chest eases. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
