Page 129 of Hold Me Instead
Zachary groaned. “Yes. And that she should date around.”Why the fuck did I say that?
Jordan whistled, and Maple popped her head up. “You can hear that tone, huh, girl?”
Maple realized all was normal and rested her head down. Zachary petted it clumsily. “Softest head in all the land,” he mumbled.
Jordan nudged Zachary’s foot with his own. “So what happened after you said that?”
“She left.”
Jordan nodded. “And then?”
“She didn’t respond to my texts. Barely said a word to me at work all week. She has to actively avoid me. You’ve been there, that place isn’t that big. We share an office!”
“I don’t blame her. She said she loved you, and you told her it wasn’t real.”
“I never said that.”
“You practically did. Telling her it’s temporary? It’s like…the adult form of make-believe.”
“Fuck!” Zachary shoved himself to sit with his back to the couch, and Maple repositioned her head in his lap.
“What are you gonna do?”
“I don’t know! I didn’t ask for the practice, but now it’s in my hands. That sounds shitty, but I’d been telling myself it wouldn’t be mine for years now, you know? Then she mentioned owning it together, and that was actually appealing to me. Which scared the fuck out of me.”
“She wanted to buy in with you?”
Zachary nodded. “Dad didn’t want to pass on the debt. Felt too horrible, I don’t know. I haven’t heard all the details yet.”
“Sounds like that would be good.”
Zachary shot him a glare. “I hate when you’re right.”
Jordan laughed. “You’ll get over it. Especially because we’ve found the way to fix this.”
“I don’t remember that part of the conversation.”
“The practice is yours. You can do what you want with it.”
He groaned. “I know this.”
“Stop whining. Jesus. Here.” Jordan took the bottle away from Zachary. “That means you can sign anyone on that you choose, Z. If you want a partner, you can have a partner.”
“You’re saying I should offer her what she had suggested,” Zachary said slowly, thinking through the decision.
“Why not? If it’s something that sounded good to you before, what’s changed?”
“She loves me.”
“I think she already knew that when she offered.”
“No, I mean…what does that say to share the practice when I know how she feels?”
“Well. How doyoufeel?”
“I don’t know.”
Jordan sank into the couch. “So you’ll own the practice, but return to Chicago? Or will you sell it?”
