Page 114 of This Changes Everything

“Where is she?” Rory asked before I could even hear the front door close.

Zoë answered. “She’s sleeping. If you wake her, I’ll kill you.”

Rory nodded and then wiped his hand down his face before hugging Ben as if they were old friends. “Jesus, Ben, are you gonna get arrested for assault?”

“I don’t care, but also probably not. He assaulted her first.” Ben sat back in the chair, already comfortable in my house.

“Is she okay? I know that’s a stupid question, but I’m asking it.” Rory placed his hands on his hips.

“She’s upset, obviously, but she’ll be okay,” Zoë said. “By the end of the night, she seemed like herself, but she was still quiet, and a little distant. I think it’s the weight of everything that goes along with quitting her job, and not just Craig.”

“She’s quitting her job?” Rory asked, surprised by this new piece of information.

“She said so on her way out, and again to us tonight,” Ben confirmed. “What do you think she’s going to do?”

“I don’t know. Ken and Marie Street sponsor her visa, but she’s been in this position before. So she’s either gonna have to get scrappy, which we all know she’s good at, or . . . I don’t know.” Rory rubbed his chin. “It’s not like she wouldn’t get another job. She’s had two production companies approach her in the last couple of months.”

“Maybe this is the moment for her to go back to Vancouver,” Zoë said, more to herself than to anyone else.

“I don’t want that, though.” Rory pressed his fingers into his eyes, frustrated.

“That’s bullshit, Rory,” Zoë huffed. “I know you want to be in Vancouver, and you want her to be there with you.”

“Not like this.” Rory gripped his hair.

Ben instinctively jumped in on my behalf. “Why not?”

“I don’t want that choice forced on her. She’ll never have closure if it is. If she ever wants Vancouver again, she needs to come to that decision herself.”

“Then why aren’t you here yet?!” Zoë was unable to control her anger, and directed it at the wrong person.

“I’m working on it, Zoë! I was ready to move here straight from Vegas last year. When we were twenty, I got in to USC for her. I went to New York on her twenty-first birthday to propose!” Rory threw his arm out to Ben without looking at him and shook his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to make this uncomfortable for you.”

Ben bit his bottom lip. He nodded, letting whatever discomfort he had slide.

“Where she lives and what she does is wrapped up in her identity. I don’t want what the rest of our life looks like to be decided for her. You can’t tell Ellie what to do. She has to find it. And I wouldn’t want to, anyway. I love that she’s a wild fucking bird! It’s always been the scariest thing about her, and it’s always been my favorite thing about her. She doesn’t know where she’s landing yet, but when she does, wherever she does, I’m gonna fucking be there!”

Rory tipped his head back, then brushed his hands forward through his hair, landing them on the back of an empty kitchen chair. He nodded at the Vietnamese food. “Can I have some of that?”

Ben pulled out the chair next to him so Rory could sit. “Go nuts.”

Rory didn’t look at Ben as he sat down, but he tilted his head slightly. “I’m glad that Ellie can still count on you.” He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before continuing. “I hate that I wasn’t here. It kills me.”

“Don’t do that to yourself,” Zoë said quietly.

Rory sighed heavily and kept his attention on Ben. “But I’m glad it was you with her, because I don’t think anyone else would have punched his face in. So thank you.”

Ben leaned forward to take a moment. He placed his elbows on the table and lifted his fist for a bump, which Rory reciprocated before diving into the leftovers.

I woke up the next morning with Rory’s hard, warm body pressed against mine. He was shirtless and wearing only his boxer briefs, his hand limp on my stomach. I turned toward him and pushed my face into his neck, kissing him. He stirred. I moved my mouth to just below his jaw and kissed him again. Instead of opening his eyes, he tilted his head down to meet my lips and kissed me back.

“I quit my job,” I whispered.

“I heard.” He kept his eyes closed.

“I squeezed his dick so hard, I think I broke it.”

Rory’s eyes flicked open, and the tiniest smile reached the edge of his lips. “That’s my girl.”