Page 39 of All In
“You don't like to talk much about yourself,” Kacey said, a smile lifting her sad expression to something warm. “In fact, I recall you hardly said two words to me when I first started seeing Jonah.” Now the smile stretched to a grin. “Strong, silent type.”
“I talk when I have something to say.”
She rested her chin on her shoulder. “I like that. I’m the exact opposite. I’ll miss talking to you when I go back to New Orleans.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
My heart sank into my guts. “So soon?”
She nodded. “Already bought the flight. I'm glad I came back, but I have responsibilities back there.” She smiled ruefully. “I’m trying really hard not to be a giant fuck-up anymore.”
I toyed with a chipped piece of wood on the armoire. “Think you’ll ever move back here?”
She sighed as her legs swung back and forth like two pendulums. “I honestly don't know, Teddy. I want to. I miss you and Beverly and everyone. But being here is really fucking hard.” Her shoulders rose and fell, a pained, sad shrug. “I’ll miss the hell out of you, but I think it’ll be easier to heal in a place where I don’t see him everywhere I turn.”
I nodded. “I get it.”
“You guys are so brave. You live with the memories—a lifetime of memories—surrounding you. I’m not strong enough for that. Not right now.”
I tried not to let the crushing disappointment show on my face. “I get it, Kace. We all do.”
She smiled a little brighter then.
“You need a lift back to the hotel?” I asked.
“I have an Uber picking me up.”
“Mom wants dinner again tonight. With all of us.”
She nodded. “I'll tell them I’m not staying.”
“You sure you don’t want your tattoo while you’re here?”
She grinned. “I'm not going to get one in New Orleans, if that’s what you’re so worried about.” She reached around and tapped her right shoulder blade. “This spot is reserved for a Theo Fletcher original.”
A fierce desire rose to see that plot of her body she was saving for me, and I had to kill it quickly.
Kacey slid off the chair. “I should wait out front.”
We started walking toward the entry, every bone in my body screaming,Stay.Please stay.
“I’ll make you a deal,” she said.
“What’s that?”
“When you buy your own place, I’m the first customer.”
“That might be awhile.”
She stopped by the reception desk and stretched up to kiss my cheek. “I can wait.”
Her perfume filled my nose, and the whispered words sank into my skin and dropped straight into my groin. I stood there watching as she left the shop. Then my eyes noticed Gus, his arms crossed over his narrow chest, his expression 100% I-told-you-so.
“Uh huh,” he said. “By the balls, Fletcher. She has you by the balls.”
I wish,I thought.
