“It is. But plenty of people have said no to great opportunities because they weren’t right for them.”
“Well, I’m not one of them.” Draining the last of my tea, I forced a yawn. “You okay if I crash a bit early? I’m tired as hell.”
“Yeah. Let me pull out the air mattress.”
That night, I twisted and turned on Piper’s floor as moonlight streamed through her small window. It reminded me of the last time I’d studied the moon with Kaz and Mason wrapped around me. Tears choked my throat.
I’d made the right decision. For all of us.
You keep telling yourself that.
27
KAZ
Maseand I paced the living room. It’d been nearly an hour since Molly left, and my jaw was clenched so tightly I was probably moments away from snapping my teeth.
I didn’t give a fuck. I wanted to tear this room apart. Everything here reminded me of the woman who had walked out on us.
Her sweater was on the couch. I wanted to stick my nose in it and burn it at the same time.
Mason pivoted on his heel and stalked to the back of the house, letting the door to the patio slam shut behind him.
I took a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Then I followed after him.
He was sitting on the bench, staring out to the overgrown backyard.
“She has to come back,” I said with more confidence than I really felt. After what had just happened, I didn’t feel very confident about anything. I’d thought she wanted to be with us, but how could that be true if it was this easy for her to walk away? “I still don’t get it. Why wouldn’t she at least consider quitting Hyperion to come with us?”
Mason parked his elbows on his knees. “Because she doesn’t want to hold us back. She thinks that’s what she did with her sister, that Adeline had to put her life on hold to take care of her. She’s always worried about being a burden.”
“That’s nonsense.” I moved to stand before him. “We wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for her.”
“She probably doesn’t see it that way.”
Molly texted us that she was staying with a friend tonight. I wanted to demand she give us the name and address of this friend so that I could go and collect her from there. But even I knew that would only make matters worse. “So what, you agree with her?”
“Of course not. I’m just trying to figure out what we should do here.”
“By staring out into the backyard?”
He became irritated. “You have a better idea?”
“No, but I can’t sit still like you. I’m going for a drive.”
“Suit yourself,” Mason said tiredly.
I didn’t fucking like how defeated he sounded. Walking through the house, I grabbed my car keys from the hook by the front door and got into my Nissan. I started driving along my usual Wednesday morning route, even though it was Friday. For the past few weeks, I’d missed my usual stakeout. I’d been too consumed with work and…Molly. Having her in my life made reaching out to my father seem less urgent. I still didn’t even know what I wanted from him. Maybe it was better to leave my ghosts alone instead of inviting them back into my life.
I needed a beer. I drove, searching for a low-key dive bar where I could polish off a bottle of Stella without anyone talking to me.
Five minutes later, my eyes landed on a flickering neon sign.Hops & Barley.
I pulled into the parking lot of the bar and got out of the car. There were three other vehicles parked out front, which meant the place was probably pretty empty.
Inside, the scene was as expected. Sticky floors, a dartboard in the far corner, and a single bearded bartender pouring a pint of Guinness. He nodded at me when I walked through the door before serving the pint to a patron sitting at the polished wood bar. The patron had the hood of his athletic jacket pulled up, signaling he wasn’t here for conversation.
Leaving an empty stool between us, I took a seat and placed my order. The bartender cracked open a bottle of Stella for me and charged me five bucks.
