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“I’ve been meaning to ask, why don’t you swim anymore?” I ask softly.
Tony pauses before looking up at me. As much as we’ve talked over the past few days we haven’t really spoken about anything real. He mentions his family in passing but he hasn’t mentioned anything about what he’s going through. I’m simultaneously glad and sad. Because him not telling me anything means I can’t use any of the information against him. But also I hate that I’m not being of any help to my family.
“I can’t,” he mutters. “It hurts.”
My heart clenches. The urge to erase all his pain hits me like an all-consuming need.
“Are you going to keep staying here? At the hotel?”
Weirdly enough, we’ve never met up in his room. He’s never suggested it and I don’t want to. Maybe I’m scared of what will happen if we’re in a room together. Or maybe I just don’t want anything to ruin our little ritual. The both of us, sitting on top of a roof, with nothing and no one to disturb us. The world and its problems feels so far away when we’re here. Inconsequential.
“No. I’m going back home tomorrow. There’s something important I’ve got to do. I was going to tell you actually,” he says, dusting sugar crumbs from the doughnut off his shirt and he looks so cute doing it my heart aches.
“Tell me what?”
“I won’t be able to come here for some time. I’m about to get really busy.”
In the back of my mind, I realize he’s telling me something important about the upcoming fight with my family. But what’s at the forefront is disappointment that this is all about to end.
“We can still talk,” Tony quickly says when he takes in my expression. “Maybe on the phone though. I just need to be a hundred percent focused and you’re a pretty big distraction.”
I frown, not sure if I like what he’s saying. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means I’m grateful. For the past few weeks. I needed you and you have no idea how much you’ve helped me.”
Numbly I ask, “Is this about your job?”
“Yeah,” he says in confirmation. “We’ve got these huge rivals that have been stealing all our clients for a while. They recently sunk one of our ships so our fight’s about to get really ugly.”
My chest tightens. “How do you plan to fight back?”
“Probably the same thing they did to us,” Tony shrugs. “Hit them back right where it fucking hurts.”
There’s a fierce look in his eyes as he speaks.
“Oh,” I mutter. “Sounds intense.”
“Yeah. So are you going to give me your number or am I going to have to work for it?”
My fists clench. He won’t be able to use my number even if I give it to him. There’s a real chance the truth will be out by tomorrow and he’ll never want to speak to me again.
“I’ll give it to you,” I say softly.
Tony looks surprised. “Really? Since when are things ever that easy with you, blondie?”
“Not everything has to be complicated.”
“Most things usually are though.”
“Yeah,” I agree. He has no idea how complicated things are about to become.
He hands me his phone and I input my number even going so far as to add a contact name.
“My favorite blonde?” Tony reads aloud with a smirk. He looks up into my eyes. “Nah, you’re my only blondie.”
And that more than anything nearly causes my eyes to well up with tears. That would be ridiculous though. I haven’t cried in years. And I’m not going to start because of Anthony Legan. When it’s time to leave, he pulls me in for a hug and I breathe in him. He smells like lemons and aftershave. It’s nice.
“You look like I’m breaking up with you,” Tony muses taking in my expression.
