“And you’ve opened up to her about this?”
“Yes? No? I mean… they know bits and pieces.”
“So you’ve opened up tothem?”
“As much as I can,” I reply honestly. “I just…” I hang my head back and look up at the ceiling of their house, where he’s been hosting our sessions due to the onslaught of snowstorms.
“Need to know what happened.”
I look down at him and nod.
“If you didn’t fight this New Year’s, what would that mean to you?”
“Nothing.”
“If you did?”
I shrug my shoulders. “Nothing.”
“I don’t think you should fight.”
“Then what?”
Damon stands to his full height and inhales sharply, exhaling in the same manner while fixing his lavender tie. “I think there are more ways to spend the new year, and one of them is inside, with your wife, quite possibly handing her a brand new ring and reminding her why she fell for you in the first place. I’m not sure if you’ve even noticed, but she lost hers in Wales. The woman deserves a ring, Maks. And she wants to wear yours.”
“I already have an appointment with the jeweler that sold me the first ring. Noticed she wasn’t wearing it last night. It still won’t fix everything.”
He shakes his head at me as we head to the door of his office. “No, it won’t. But it’s a small start. Notice your wife sooner, Maks. Stop being afraid to look at her even when it’s hard. Otherwise you’ll miss it.”
“Miss what?”
Damon gestures vaguely while staring at me. “Everything.”
It feels like a warning.
“Hey, fuckface.”
I catch Parker in the home gym jump roping away like he does every day. Parker looks up at me, brows furrowed, still jumping as the music switches to a different song. He doesn’t speak to me, just keeps jumping along to the beat of Numb by Linkin Park. He hasn’t spoken to me since we fucked Sabrina together the other night, and I hate to say it, but his indifference is beginning to irk me. So I shut off the music. He lets out a groan and stops jumping like I knew he would. “Where’s Bri?”
“Out shopping with Raven and Jonas for baby stuff at the boutique in North Side.”
“What do you need, Maks?” he asks, throwing the jump rope to the hardwood floor and bending at the waist to stretch. He stands tall and goes to the corner where a little sidebar is set up with a mini fridge that holds water and dry face towels. He grabs a towel and wipes the sweat from his face, throws it over his shoulder, then reaches for a water bottle.
I lean against the doorframe, shoving my hands in my pockets. “I have an appointment with Sabrina’s preferred jeweler. Thought maybe you might want to join me.”
He blinks at me while crushing the bottle and twisting the cap back on. “You replacing her ring, finally?
I dip my chin. “While she’s with Raven.”
“And you want me to come with you?”
“I’m not sure if she told you that she filed… paperwork so we could all be married legally. I think if we both choose a ring for her… it would mean more. To her.”
The muscles in his jaw tic as he contemplates my words. He slowly nods once and sighs. “Yeah, let me go get showered and dressed. I’ll meet you out front in thirty.” Parker begins to stride toward me but pauses when he gets to me. He looks like he wants to say something but doesn’t. He keeps going, out of the threshold and then down the hall to go take the back stairs up to the second floor, where his room is located.
I need to change that.
Just as he said, Parker shows up to the Escalade in thirty minutes. When he climbs into the passenger side, he grimaces. “What?” I ask.
