CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
ELLIOT
The Rowdy Unicorn is dimly lit. Marko greets Hank and I at the door and lets us get ourselves comfortable at a booth in the back, the early 2000s rock music loud enough to give us some privacy, but not blaring. Neither Hank or I feel ready to put alcohol in our stomachs yet, so we both sip bubbly waters, his with a slice of lemon and mine lime.
My feet hurt like hell and my head aches, but being alone with Hank is the best I’ve felt since we returned to civilization.
He eases back in the booth across from me. “It’s a relief to see you, Elliot.”
Satisfaction thrums through me. “You, too. No one else can really understand what we went through. Not that I feel like I understand myself, totally.”
“We’ve joined a very exclusive club.” He sips his drink. “You’re more adept at social media than I am. How bad do you think this attention is going to get?”
“I’m not sure. People will stop focusing eventually, especially once they realize we aren’t scamming your job or trafficking drugs or anything exciting. But probably this ordeal will always follow us a tiny bit online.”
Hank nods. “That’s what I figured.”
He’s obviously bothered, and I don’t particularly like the idea, either. Normally, I’d see major media attention as an opportunity. Right now, though, it’s more like a distraction when I really need peace and quiet, and it makes things worse for Hank, too.
“Sorry about the career implications,” I tell him.
It’s not until that moment my thoughts fully catch up. It’s going to be even harder to convince Hank to take a chance with me, considering he’s already in trouble at work.
My gut wrenches. He’s right here, but need lashes me. I want more of him, and I’m scared of losing what we have.
“If my dad had given me half as much attention as he was giving to the agency’s reputation, he would have seen that we’re still exhausted and not camera ready. I swear, he’s acting even more uptight than usual.”
“Probably doesn’t help that I talked back to him.”
I lay my hand between us, palm up, offering it to him. “Thank you for defending me. It felt really nice.”
Hank takes my hand, and warmth flows from his touch right to my heart.
“Honestly, I was surprised that you agreed to do the press conference in the first place, considering it was all for the firm.”
“I knew it would matter to you,” I say. “I wasn’t going to leave you stranded.”
Hank squeezes my hand, and the song switches to My Chemical Romance.
“I appreciate that, Elliot,” he says, his voice serious and sincere. “But I don’t want you to try to appease your father for my sake. If he’s not treating you right, and you don’t want to be around him, then you shouldn’t be around him, okay? I’ll handle my career repercussions. You take care of yourself.”
Hearing that tugs at some emotion I don’t understand. It’s so easy for me to tell myself that I’m acting spoiled, or that I shouldjust try a little harder with my family. And though I struck out on my own years ago, I still go back for help, like the night of the casino boat.
My resolve strengthens. I’m going to claim the independence I want, no matter what it takes. And I’m going to be the kind of man Hank can trust, if he’ll give me the chance.
“Let’s make a deal,” I tell Hank. “We’ll both promise to take care of ourselves first, but we don’t have to stop taking care of each other, too. Like when an airplane is going down and you need to fix your own oxygen mask before you help your seatmates.”
Hank chuckles. “We’ve graduated from shipwrecks to plane crashes. But yes. I agree. We still need each other.”
I nod. “Good. Now I have some very pressing business I’ve been dying to ask you about since I saw you at the press conference.”
He tilts his head to the side, concerned. “What’s that?”
“May I please, please touch your face?”
Hank scoffs. “You’ve been wanting to touch my face since the press conference?”
I bat my eyelashes. “Please?”
