Page 74 of Only You
‘There’s no winning battles like that,’ he replied. ‘Why waste the time?’
Selene opened her mouth before something over his shoulder caught her eye. ‘Fuck.’
He followed her gaze to see Jack rushing down the street. ‘Well, there goes my freedom.’
Demir wanted to ask what she meant, but she stepped around him to meet Jack halfway. ‘Jack, what are you doing here?’
‘I left early. I wanted to talk to you,’ he said, rubbing his neck nervously before his eyes flickered to Demir. ‘What are you guys doing outside?’
‘Everything’s fine,’ she said. ‘It—’
‘I knocked Zac out,’ Demir stepped in. ‘The guy got cocky. He said something, and I gave him a quick reminder of who the champ is. Manager’s not too happy about it, though.’
Jack stayed silent, which was unnerving; he always had something to say. Now, he looked torn between laughing and ripping his hair out. He seemed to go back and forth, and nearly a minute passed before he spoke. ‘Well… I’m glad your head’s back in the fight,’ he replied before pinching the bridge of his nose. ‘I’ll, uh, I’ll talk to the manager. See if he’s willing to let us back in.’
‘Or we could go to the gym by Mackie’s club,’ Demir said. Everyone froze, even Demir. Why the hell would he say that? His eyes flickered to Selene’s, seeing the apprehension in them, and continued. ‘I think you got a point. What’s a couple more fights? It’ll get us to New York quicker, so…’
Jack’s face broke out with a smile.
‘That’s what I’m fucking talking about, D!’ He embraced him, thumping him on the back heavily. He was beaming when he stepped back. ‘I’ll call Mackie tomorrow and set up a fight.’
‘I only have one condition,’ Demir cut in. ‘Make sure the fights are worth it. Have to remind everyone who’s the best.’
‘Hey, couldn’t agree more. We need to make you look good – so good Nora’s gonna have to fight broads off you,’ he teased, punching him lightly in the arm.
Selene furrowed her brows in disbelief but said nothing.
Demir shrugged off the punch. ‘It’s nothing,’ he said, climbing into the car. ‘Let’s get the fuck outta here.’
Chapter Twenty-Six
Washington, D.C.
September 2013
Dani and Jones were friends.
That was a reality that was easy to swallow as she sent him memes and videos throughout the weeks following their run-in at the library. They talked about the random shows they caught on TV. Sometimes, she just called him to say a quick ‘hi’ or with a random story. It was an escape – which made it not romantic.
Jones had read enough books to know that escapism is not a good way to start a relationship and, considering that she had stopped talking about their shared past, he was pretty sure she was on a similar wavelength. After all, he understood that they couldn’t avoid each other – the universe had other plans – so therefore, they had to settle for friendship.
At least, that’s what he chose to believe despite the satisfaction that he felt every time she laughed at one of his bad jokes or any time she mentioned something cool she discovered through her research unrelated to them. If he were lucky, she would play a bit of cello, showing him a glimpse of what she was practising. He had only seen her play a few times, but he hoped one day she would invite him to a concert to fully experience her skill.
Today was not one of those days but he still listened attentively to her explain the solo she had been practising for weeks.
‘So, what’s the plan now?’ Jones asked.
‘Panic while running in a circle, SpongeBob style,’ she said. ‘This isthecello solo of a lifetime. There’s no way I can actually learn to play Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante, Op. 125 in four months. To call the piece a solo is somewhat a disservice. It’s basically me featuring everyone else. Professional cellists can barely pull it off and they literally have nothing else to do. The only favour Dr Carver is granting me is that we’re only playing theallegro giusto.’
‘You can do it,’ Jones said without missing a beat.
‘How do you know?’ Dani asked. ‘You’ve never seen me play.’
‘Funny you say that considering your fifteen minutes of fame a while back,’ he mentioned with a smirk.
‘Oh, God no.’ He could practically see her covering her face in embarrassment.
While intended only for her friend’s class, the video spread like wildfire across the internet. The video was fun at first, inspiring quite a few re-creations but after a while they wore out the song and the videos became less funny. While he did get a lovely royalty cheque from the song’s brief boost in popularity, he and Dani were more than happy when everyone moved on.
