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"What do you know about heartbreak?"
"I loved your mom. It killed me that I hurt her. That I lost her." He downs his glass in one swig. "If I could do it over, I'd do it different."
"We're the same then."
He looks at me funny.
"If I could do it over, I wouldn't hurt Val again."
Chapter Forty-Four
VAL
For a few days, the move steals my attention. Sure, when I climb into bed and close my eyes, I imagine Dare with me. I taste his lips; I feel his touch; I smell his shampoo.
Then I wake up cold and alone, and I bury myself in work again.
I text his friend Luna to ask if he's okay.
After a few days, she replies.
Luna Locke: He's not. But I don't know how to help. He says he ended things with you. Is that true?
Val: Yeah.
Luna Locke: You're sweet to check on him.
Val: I love him.
Luna Locke: My condolences.
But she's wrong. I don't feel any grief over my love. I wouldn't trade it for anything.
I'm the Humphrey Bogart character in Sabrina.
I finally learned to love and it broke my fucking heart.
And now, to prove it, I have to let him go.
Only he's not going to come back.
Not as my lover and not as my friend.
Val: Keep an eye on him for me. Please.
Luna Locke: I'll do what I can
Chapter Forty-Five
DARE
Even though Brian insists I'm being an idiot, he agrees to keep an eye on Val.
He checks her socials.
He texts her to ask if she's okay.
He keeps me completely in the dark, only responding to the most simple yes or no questions.
The same thing, again and again.
She's not okay, Dare.
I'm not going to lie to you and say she is.
If you want her to be okay, you know what to do.
For another week, I throw myself into sessions at Inked Love. I hit the gym for hours. I fill my time with busy work.
Anything to avoid thinking about Val.
She survives her first week of school; that's all Brian will tell me. Then her second.
That Saturday, he meets me at the shop at the end of my shift. The energy in the room shifts as he steps inside.
Which is weird. He fits right in—sure, he's not as heavily adorned in ink, but he volunteered as a canvas plenty of times—and no one here knows him well. No one but Patrick.
Right on cue, Patrick emerges from his suite. He wipes the sweat from his brow and nods hey to Brian. "Here to talk some sense into your brother?"
"Is that possible?" Brian greets Patrick with a hug.
"You look good."
"You too," he says. "Darren says you're in love."
Patrick smiles. "I am."
"I see it," he says.
"You're a romantic now?"
"I'm a romantic always," he says.
"How'd you end up that way? Dare eschewing love and you running to it?"
"He takes after Dad."
"You take after Mom?" Patrick asks.
My brother nods and looks to me. "He's going to punch me for saying he takes after Dad."
"He hasn't punched anyone since high school," Patrick says.
Brian raises a brow is that the story he's selling?
I clear my throat. "I'm right here."
"Yeah, I know, but this is a three-man mission." He checks his phone. "Well, two men and a woman." He looks to the window and waves at Luna.
The bell rings as she walks into the shop. She's in one of her typical trendy outfits—cropped sweater, wool skirt, ankle boots—but she's not wearing her usual ease.
She's concerned.
"Should we tie him up?" She taps her chin. "Force him to listen to reason?"
"You're not supposed to lead with that," Brian says.
"We all know it's your thing," she says.
He blushes.
Which is adorable and all—my little brother, embracing his sexual preferences with shyness, good for him—but I don't have the energy.
"On three?" Luna asks.
Brian nods. "Three—"
"What the fuck?" I step backward.
But Tricky grabs me first. He holds me by the shoulders—when did he get so strong—while Brian wraps a belt around my wrists.
"This is kidnapping," I say.
"So press charges." Brian motions follow me and leads us outside.
I don't fight the fuckers on this. I let them guide me to Brian's car. Patrick helps me into the back seat and sits next to me on the other side.
Luna takes shotgun.
And Brian drives.
They wait for me to say something, but I keep my mouth shut as they take the side streets to the 10, take the 10 to the 405, drive south.
I wait until we're well into Long Beach, and I say, "I don't want to see her."
"Bullshit. You do want to see her," Brian says. "You think you shouldn't. But you want to."
"Okay. I shouldn't," I say.
"She's miserable, you idiot," he says.
"That's a temporary pain," I say.
"No, it's not. She loves you. She's loved you for a long time," he says. "She's always going to love you. Luna, explain some shit to him."
She turns toward me as much as she can. "Val asked me to keep an eye on you."
