Her expression shifts.
“I don’t either.”
I take that in slowly. It doesn’t fix everything. It doesn’t erase what I did. But it gives me enough to breathe.
“So what happens with the studio?” she asks.
“I’ll handle it. If I can break the lease, I’ll break it. If I can sublease it, I’ll sublease it. If there’s a cost, that’s on me. You don’t have to make one decision about that place unless you want to.”
“And if I decide later that I do want to see it again?”
“Then we’ll go see it.”
Her eyes stay on mine. “Okay.”
That one word does more for me than I want to admit. I stand before I ask this moment for too much.
“I’m going to go.”
“Thank you for coming over.”
“Thank you for letting me.”
She follows me to the door. When I turn back, she’s close enough for me to touch, but I don’t reach for her.
She reaches for my hand.
For a second, we stand there in the quiet. Then she pulls me closer and hugs me. I close my arms around her slowly. She rests her face against my chest, and I hold her with my eyes closed.
It isn’t everything.
But it’s enough for tonight.
Chapter 38 Lily
Zea shows up thirty minutes early wearing a bright pink T-shirt, gold hoops, lip gloss, and a laminated badge clipped to her jeans.
I stare at the badge.
She stares back at me like she’s daring me to say something.
“What is that?” I ask.
“My badge.”
“I can see that.” I take a step closer and read it. “Lit with Lily Assistant Director of Vibes.”
She smiles. “Professional, right?”
“It’s cute!”
I look at Javonte, who is standing behind her with two folding tables tucked under one arm and a stack of canvases under the other. He raises his eyebrows and shakes his head slightly, making it very clear he had nothing to do with this.
Smart man.
“I told her to wait until you approve it,” he says.
Zea turns on him. “You told me a lot of things. I heard some of them.”
