I study him.
“Maybe you’re finally ready to admit you like her.”
His head snaps toward me. “I can’t. It’s too complicated after everything we went through. You know that.”
“This isn’t about Claire,” I say. “Or about me. It’s about you.”
His throat works. His eyes drift past me, landing on nothing, seeing something I can feel but can’t name. “Can you tell me what exactly happened last night?”
I look around to make sure Maisie is still too far away to hear.
He waits for me to explain everything to him, then finally says. “She’s into Dorian.”
I nod. “Yeah.”
“What do you mean, yeah?”
I rub the edge of my thumb against my palm. “There’s something I haven’t told you yet.”
“Ryker!” He growls. “Just tell me, for fuck’s sake.”
I swallow the lump in my throat, my cock thickening at the reminder of the very lewd comments she was making last night. “Well, she talked about you. And him. And me. Together. In detail, Jude.”
His brows draw together.
“I’m not even sure if it’s just fantasy, but at least there’s proof that she’s at least thought of it, of us like that,” I add. “She didn’t hold back.”
He stares at the half-torn wall behind me, not seeing it. “Fuck.”
“Yeah.”
He drags a hand down his face. “This is so complicated.”
“It is.”
“I can’t believe we have to see her tonight after you told me that.”
That makes me pause. “Why are we seeing her tonight?”
“’Cause Maisie roped her into watching Harry Potter tonight. She’s excited. You know how she gets when it’s someone she likes. Maisie really likes her. I can’t do anything to jeopardize that when Maisie has only been close to one other person in this entire town.”
“So what I’m hearing,” I say, “are excuses.”
He lifts his chin at that. “Excuses?”
“Norah might actually like you. You like her. Fuck! This is the first time you’ve admitted to liking someone in a really long time, and you won’t tell her because…”
His jaw flexes hard enough that I hear a faint click.
“Jude,” I say more gently, “Claire’s gone. But you’re still here. I’m still here. And Norah… she’s not some random woman. She got Maisie to laugh and smile and be herself again. Do you know how impossible that is? If you want her, do something about it. I know that when I get a chance, I will.”
He drops his gaze to the floor for a few seconds, the fight draining out of him. Then he mutters, “Where’s Dorian?”
“I don’t know,” I say. “Figured he’d stop by later.”
He nods in a slow, thoughtful way. Something is shifting in him; I can feel it. A door cracked open. A truth he can’t shove down anymore.
We stand there for a moment, the noise of demolition filling the space between us—metal clattering, wood breaking, Maisie’s delighted squeals as one of Chase’s guys shows her how to properly swing a hammer into drywall.
