“Fair.”
“Mason’s been keeping a low profile, but he’s helped.”
“Mason’s good people.”
Regan nodded. “He is.”
The night moved around us. Waves. Ice shifting in Regan’s glass. Distant music from farther down the beach. Somewhere nearby, a group of tourists cheered over a round of shots. The bar lights flickered gold across Regan’s face, making her look younger and older at the same time.
“Destiny got in,” she said.
“To Pepperdine.”
“Yes.”
“That fast?”
“JD didn’t even really have to pull strings. Not the way he usually does. They had space in the program. Hacker submitted all her paperwork, transcripts, recommendations, financial information, support documents. I don’t pretend to understand how college applications work these days, but apparently when enough people want something done, it gets done.”
“You’re sending her in the fall.”
“Yes.”
“She knows that was her dream?”
Regan smiled faintly. “She doesn’t know we know. But yes. Nursing. Ocean. A fresh start somewhere beautiful. She used to talk about California like it was a place where girls could become new people.”
The tequila sat heavy in my stomach.
“She deserves that,” I said.
“She does.”
We both heard the rest of it.
She deserves that more than she deserves you.
Regan didn’t say it.
She didn’t have to.
“A bad love like yours shouldn’t stop her,” she said.
There it was.
Sharp.
Clean.
True enough to draw blood.
I looked at her. “Bad love?”
“You know what I mean.”
“Do I?”
“You’re intense. Loyal. Dangerous. You look at her like you’d burn down a city if she asked nicely, and that might feel romantic to a girl who has never had anyone stand between her and the world before. But she needs a start, Dylan. Not another fire.”
