I hadn’t even noticed how close he’d stayed.Not crowding or hovering.
Just… there.
Solid.
Tempi popped up from behind the bar like she’d been waiting for us.“Britta!”
She didn’t even pretend to play it cool.She rushed around the end of the bar, practically sprinting across the room and throwing her arms around me before I could brace for it.
I let out a soft oof.“Easy,” I laughed, careful of my shoulder.“You just saw me yesterday.”
“I don’t care,” she shot back, squeezing me anyway.“You’re here.”She pulled back just enough to look at me, her hands still gripping my arms like she was making sure I was actually standing in front of her.“In my bar.”
I smiled.“In your bar.”
She shook her head, eyes a little glassy for half a second before she blinked it away.“Okay, nope,” she said quickly.“We’re not doing emotional.I’ve got enough of that crap going on.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement.Twister leaned against the jukebox, arms crossed, watching everything like he always did—quiet, calculating, and taking it all in.
Nugget, Method, and Wheels were scattered around the place, hauling out debris, stacking boxes, wiping down surfaces like they were trying to scrub the memory of what happened right out of the building.
“Look who decided to show up,” Nugget called, grinning.
“Thought you were going to milk that whole getting-shot thing for at least another week,” Method added.
I snorted.
“Trust me, it’s best for all of us that I am not trapped in my apartment anymore.”
Wheels gave me a nod.“Good to see you upright.”
“Good to be upright,” I shot back.But even as I joked, my eyes drifted back to the floor.
That spot.
Right here, and now it was spotless.
Clean.Like nothing had happened.
Like life just… kept going.
It hit me in a weird way.
Not sad exactly.Just… surreal.
Like the world didn’t pause just because something bad happened.It just moved on and expected you to catch up.
Swift shifted beside me, just enough that his arm brushed mine for a second.
A reminder that he was here.
I let out a slow breath.“Looks like you guys have been busy,” I said, dragging my attention away from the floor.
Tempi huffed.“You have no idea.Insurance is a nightmare, contractors are worse, and apparently everyone suddenly has an opinion about how I should rebuild my own damn bar.”
“That tracks,” I said.
She rolled her eyes.“But we’re getting there.”She glanced around like she was seeing it for the first time too.“It’ll be back.”
