“Please sign the paper. Come down south with me. This can all end when you decide to do that.”
Her lip trembled. She didn’t answer.
I didn’t push. Couldn’t. If I stayed another second, I’d fold. Instead, I turned, got in the car, and shoved my key into the ignition.
50
dirks
3.5 Months Later
“I haven’t heard much either,” I said, leaning down to press a quick kiss to her forehead as we walked toward the studio.
She let out a frustrated breath. “I don’t understand why he walked out. I know what he wants from me, and I—” She shook her head. “I can’t give it to him.”
“He didn’t go far. Just needs to cool down.”
Her eyes flicked to mine. “Almost four months of cooling down?”
I steered the conversation away. “Focus on the studio. And my party.”
“Why did we have to do it in the late-summer again? Why not spring?”
I gestured up at the clear blue sky. “Who wants a rainy retirement party? I wanted the rooftop pool.”
“Whatever you say, Dirks.” She smiled faintly, pressing a kiss to my lips. “Thanks for walking me. I’ll meet you back at your place for the party.”
“It’s yours as much as it’s mine.”
“You’re too good for me,” she chuckled, then disappeared through the studio door, leaving me standing on the sidewalk with that familiar ache in my chest.
I was pissed, too. Pissed he’d disappeared on her like that, because this wasn’t just her problem, it bled into all of us.
The first thing I was going to do was go to his house. After watching Luna walk in, I turned and got in the car, headed toward his apartment building as fast as I could. The fucker wasn’t going to hide from me, and I knew he didn’t work on Saturdays. Easy target.
“No one’s home,” Jer groaned from inside.
I pounded harder. “Your neighbors are going to get pissed you’re not answering because I’m not leaving. Open the fucking door.”
There was a long pause—long enough for me to imagine him standing there, arms crossed, debating whether I was worth the effort—before I heard the lock click.
He cracked it open, scowling. “What?”
I pushed it open the rest of the way and stepped inside without waiting for an invite. “You’ve been hiding long enough.”
Jer slammed the door behind me. “I’m not hiding. I just?—”
“Bullshit. You disappeared on her for months. She’s wrecked, and you’re sitting here acting like it’s some noble self-sacrifice. You think that makes you look strong? It doesn’t. It makes you look like a coward.”
His place smelled faintly of stale coffee and the kind of air that hadn’t been moved around in days. A blanket was crumpled on the couch like it had been his bed for a while.
Jeremy dropped onto the couch like I’d already drained him just by standing in his doorway. “I don’t think you fucking get it, Dirks. I’m broke without her.”
That one caught me for a second—not because I bought it, but because it was the first thing out of his mouth that didn’t sound like posturing.
“Do you love her?”
He looked anywhere but at me. “Fuck. I don’t know, man. I’ve known her my whole life. She’s... ”
