Page 32 of Grand Love

I shrug, catching a tear on my lips as it rolls over them.

“I hate this.”

“I know you do.” He pauses, adjusting the lighting on the photo he’s working on. “I wish it could be different for you. I really do.”

* * *

“Nina. Nina.”

My eyes slowly part as Joey wakes me from a deep sleep. The room is blanketed in darkness.

“I left you as long as I could, but I thought you’d want food.”

“What time is it?” I ask.

I can see his smile even in the dark. “Just gone nine. You slept for three hours.”

“Crap.” I sit up and rub my eyes. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’ll plate up.”

I slide my phone from the nightstand and check the screen. How did I sleep for three hours? Once I’ve freshened up in the bathroom, I make my way to the kitchen.

“Mason texted and called you.”

“He did?” I frown, stopping short in the doorway.

“I didn’t answer but after the fifth message I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t to do with Ellis.” He looks at me apologetically.

“Joey, it’s fine. Was everything okay?”

“Yeah, but I’m presuming he was at your apartment tonight?” he questions.

“I told him to pick up and drop off from now on. It wasn’t fair on Ellis being passed from pillar to post.” I start to fill my plate with the Chinese food.

“I agree.” Joey nods, pulling out some cutlery for us both. “I texted him back and told him there’s a spare key here. He was worried you wouldn’t be able to get back into your place.”

“You texted him?” I panic. “Did you say it was you?”

“Yes.”

I close my eyes and begin counting to five.

“Is that a problem?” he asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

“No. But it won’t make my life any easier.”

“Why? I thought you said things were done between you two?”

“It is. We are. Things are just… Fucked. And hard. Really freaking hard.”

“Did he say something?”

I snigger. “No.” He’s barely said a word to me. “I left him, and I vowed I’d never let him back in.” I take a deep breath, not wanting to share this much with Joey. I need my girls. “I just didn’t expect to feel so much after all this time. That’s all.”

“Nina, you have a history with him. It’s okay to be confused.” He lifts his plate and goes to the sofa, sitting down and turning on the TV.

Joey has been a rock for me recently, and I’ve found myself telling him everything. But I don’t voice that he’s wrong, because I’m not confused. I know exactly what I feel when I look at Mason Lowell. It’s the same feeling I felt the first night I met him, the same feeling I felt standing on the Palais Garnier stage, the same feeling I know I will live with for the rest of my life.

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