“How’s it—Oh.” Dev walked into the kitchen, stopping short. Merritt and Niko both took a giant, guilty step away from each other, which was probably the worst thing they could’ve done. Dev’s eyes flicked between the two of them, then down at Niko’s shirt, obviously unhappy with whatever he was seeing.
“I’ll let you get back to your game,” Merritt said, turning on her heel and striding out of the kitchen.
Dev and Niko both watched her go in silence. Once they heard her bedroom door shut, Dev turned back to Niko, his brow creased.
“What are you doing, man?” he asked under his breath. Niko cleared his throat.
“Nothing. I mean, she was just helping me out.”
“Okay.”
It was the least convincing “okay” Niko had ever heard. Dev opened his mouth again like he wanted to say something else, but he thought better of it, shaking his head before opening the fridge to grab another beer.
“What?” For all of Dev’s disapproval, Niko still had no idea why, specifically, he was so worried.
Dev drew his thumb and forefinger across his lips like he was zipping them shut. “Mm nmt gttng mnvolved.”
Niko wasn’t amused. “No, seriously, what am I missing here? Because you keep acting like if I get close to her, she’s going to ruin my life.”
Dev took a deep, weary breath. “I told you, I’m not comfortable gossiping about her behind her back. All I can say is…I really, sincerely hope she doesn’t.” He clapped Niko on the shoulder, then went back into the living room, leaving Niko somehow even more confused than he had been when the night began.
8
Hi Merritt—
I hope this is still the right place to reach you. Of course, if this is an unwelcome intrusion, please feel free to ignore. No hard feelings.
I wanted to get in touch because I’ve recently taken on a new client, Sadie Rose. Not sure how tuned-in you are these days, but she’s a young singer-songwriter—the real deal. Her EP got a lot of buzz last year, and we’re hoping to get her in the studio for her first album later this summer. She’s a big fan of yours, to put it mildly, and now that she knows I used to represent you, she keeps dropping hints about how you’re her dream collaborator.
Before you say no—it would be much quieter than a “comeback,” if that’s still not something you’re ready for. It doesn’t have to be a major commitment. If you just came out for a day to play guitar or piano on atrack, uncredited, I think she would die of happiness. And who knows? It might open the creative floodgates for you again.
Here’s the videofor her latest single. I’d encourage you to consider it seriously; she’s quite talented. And she reminds me a great deal of you at that age.
Hope you’re well. Believe it or not, we all miss you out here.
xx
Audrey
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Audrey Aoki
Greenfield & Aoki Public Relations
Los Angeles, CA
The email arrived in herinbox the morning after the poker game. Merritt read it a dozen times, maybe more. Not all at once, but over the course of the next few days. Every time she went to delete it without responding, like she did all her other emails from Audrey, her eye caught on the same line:She reminds me a great deal of you at that age.
It might have been a coincidence, but after she’d gotten it, the nightmares had come back for the first time in almost a year.
After another night of tossing and turning, she dragged herself out of bed, stumbling to the bathroom to pee. In the pale morning light, her face looked wan and drawn.And old,she thought ruefully, leaning closer to the mirror to examine the fine lines on her forehead and the sunken purple hollows under her eyes. Maybe she should postpone meeting up with Niko,give herself time to make sure she looked rested and dewy—at least use some kind of moisturizing mask first.
Their strange, loaded encounter in the kitchen should’ve been enough to remind her that she needed to stay guarded around him. He’d caught her at a weak moment, right after hanging up with Alan. Even before she’d bumped into him in the kitchen, she’d been chastising herself for the image of thick, golden-brown thighs, muscular enough to crack a watermelon, that had flashed unbidden through her mind as she came.
She’d gone into the kitchen to get a drink and clear her head, and the next thing she knew, Niko was hovering shirtless next to her as she fussed over his laundry like his doting wife.
And then there was the moment she’d been sure he was going to kiss her. She hadn’t been imagining that, right? She was never going to make the first move with him, but she didn’t know if she had the self-control to shut it down if he did.
