Page 12 of Freefall

Shit, I completely forgot to answer her text last night, so now she’s sending Luke in. “Fine.”

“Fine? Just fine, or was there anything else…did you ask the questions?”

I can now hear my sister's muffled voice in the background, clearly feeding him lines.

“Does Emory want to ask me herself?”

“She’s, uh, busy with Rowan.”

I sigh. Now my sister is avoiding me again for who knows what reason. It might have something to do with what she calls being an “overbearing uncle.”

“It was fine, like I said. She’s nice.”

She’s breathtaking.

“Her portfolio was professional.”

Her work is brilliant.

“She said she’ll get back to you with a quote soon.”

Don’t hire her. Please don’t hire her.

“Great, well, thanks again for stepping in. You saved the day, Wells.”

“I don’t think I had much of a choice,” I reply.

He lets out a hearty laugh. “Yeah, I get tha—ow, fuck.”

I guess Emory is still listening in.

“Listen, I have some work to do, but give my nephew a kiss for me.”

“I will.” There’s a pause. “Hey, Nate?”

“Yeah?

“Is everything okay?”

Luke is one of the few people I’ve confided in about the things I struggle with. I first told him years ago. He’s the reason I was at that therapy clinic. The reason I met her. And even though I never actually went in, I’m grateful he cared enough to help me take that first step. It’s not that no one else cared. It’s that I got really good at hiding it. I didn’t want to worry my sister or burden my grandparents, but Luke saw right through me. Like Harper did.

“I’m good,” I lie. I know he knows I’m lying, but I also know he’ll wait until we see each other in person to call me out on it.

“Okay, brother,” he says, his voice laced with hesitation. “Let’s meet up soon, yeah?”

“Yeah,” I confirm, doing my best to stave off the emotion threatening to clog my throat.

It’s not until long after I’ve ended the call…

Not until I’ve worked for most of the day, stopping only to eat a quick lunch and make myself a protein shake.

Not until I’ve ordered dinner and contemplated going to my favorite club in Manhattan to take the edge off, only to fuck my fist to the thought of her instead.

It’s only then that I know what I have to do.

5

HARPER