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“Actually...” Tommy stood up. “I’m not very hungry.” He grabbed his plate from the table and stalked into the kitchen. This was going wonderfully.
Jackson pushed back his chair to follow his brother, but Maverick put a hand on his arm. “Let him go, Goose. He’ll figure it out. I did.”
I couldn’t stand this. “I should...I don’t...May I please be excused?” I asked.
“Of course. You don’t have to ask.” Adele nodded.
I gathered my plate to take it into the kitchen, only to find Tommy standing there with a beer in his hand. He narrowed his eyes to glare at me, and I couldn’t get over how different he looked. He was still the giant I once knew, but exhaustion had etched lines and created shadows on his face. His eyes were sunken into his skull, and his cheeks were almost gaunt. He looked like he carried a lot more muscle around than he used. More definition. My heart thumped wildly in my chest at the sight of him.
“I’m not sure why you’re mad at me,” I hissed through clenched teeth. Tommy’s jaw flexed as he tried to keep his cool. “Oh, even better. The silent treatment. Shouldn’t I be the one who’s angry? You lied to me. You went behind my back. You didn’t tell me that you had this horrific accident. I would have been there for you, Tommy. I could have helped you. I would have—” Hot tears burned my eyes, and I tried to blink them away, but one traitorous tear slipped down my cheek.
Tommy stepped forward to catch it with his thumb, and I froze.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered as he cupped my cheek with the palm of his hand. “I never wanted it to be this way.”
I stared up into his face, into those brown eyes I had missed so much over the past couple of years, and felt like I couldn’t breathe. He seemed so different—shattered and broken—from the boy I had fallen in love with, but in those deep, dark orbs, I could still see the Tommy I loved.
“You could let me back in. Talk to me.”
“I can’t do that, Bug. I’m sorry.”
Then his touch was gone, and Tommy left me standing alone in the kitchen.
***
I’d slept terribly last night, knowing Tommy was in the house across the street without me. My mother had moved to Florida a couple of years ago, and I’d bought the house from her. I couldn’t bear the thought of someone else living here. Despite how things had ended with Tommy, I had great memories of Canfield. We’d moved here when I was fourteen, right before my freshman year of high school. I’d bonded instantly with Tom, who introduced me to his brother and Maverick, and that’s how I’d ended up in the band. Mulligan Downtown was looking for a bass player. It just happened to be a bonus that I was good at writing songs, too. Killian wrote a lot of our hits, but some of them were mine, too, and others we wrote together.
I had someone come in twice a week to clean, make sure no repairs were needed, and keep an eye on the place. During all the seasons, the house was taken care of. The leaves, the snow, the lawn, nothing was overlooked. I had always loved this house, and sure, I could have rented it out or even let someone else buy it, but I couldn’t imagine anyone else living here. Not when I had so many happy memories here.
I sat staring at the Olson house in hopes of... I didn’t know what. Pretty sure I was going to lose my mind by the end of all of this.
“I heard you roaming the halls last night,” Killian commented as he sat down next to me on the front steps. “Did you sleep at all? Like even a little?”
I cocked a brow when I turned to look at him. “Did you? I need to invest in some earplugs. I forgot how loud you two can be.”
“Jesus Christ.” He dropped his gaze to his feet, and his ears burned pink. He reached up and gripped the back of his neck.
I smirked into my coffee cup. He really hated talking about sex with his fiancé for some reason, and no one ever let him forget it.
“It’s so much fun to make you uncomfortable, Kill.”
“You’re an asshole.” Killian elbowed my side. “How was dinner?”
I sighed. “Fine, I guess. You should have seen how cute it was when Mrs. Olson told Mav how excited they were about him joining their family. I thought he was just going to die of embarrassment. How’s Helena? I miss her.”
“Engaged,” Killian growled.
“And it’s not to Dean?”
“Nope.” He popped the “p” loudly. “I’m not sure if I should be happy about that or—Wait, how did you know about Dean and Helena?”
I wiggled my brows. “Dude, everyone except you knew because you were too busy not chasing after Matty.”
“I was so fucking blind.” He shook his head and twisted his frame to look at me. “I mean, okay, I knew there was something going on between the two of them, but I never thought they were sleeping together.”
Killian’s eyes darted across the street at the same time mine did when the front door opened and Tommy stepped outside. He stopped when he saw us, but then quickly moved to the red Chevy parked out front to climb inside.
“Uh, so what’s that about?”
