Page 27 of Rebooting Conor Flynn

“My cat.”

“Who’s going to take care of Jane when you go on the road?”

“My bestie is allergic, so she’s out.” I drummed my fingertips on my chin. “Maybe I’ll ask my neighbor. He’s kind of a flake, but Jane seems to like him for some reason, or she likes his apartment. Maybe she thinks all the weed there is catnip.”

“Uh-oh. Sounds like Jane’s going on a trip when mom does.” Conor laughed his machine-gun laugh—a sound I absolutely loved.

A smile tugged at my lips. “Even better, my weed-loving neighbor is the brother of Ivy Chase, Ian’s fiancée.”

“What?” Conor shook his head. “How did that happen?”

“Ian’s my landlord. Turns out a corporation of his owns my apartment building in West Hollywood, and Ivy’s brother manages it for him. I think that’s how I landed the apartment. I got it through 92 West connections.”

“Well, it all makes sense. Figures Ian would do something to help out Ivy’s brother...and you, if he knew about it.”

“None of you has changed much. You’re all the same as you were on that first tour bus.”

“I don’t know. I changed. I gave up on the things I wanted too easily back then.” Conor pushed out the door. “I don’t give up that easily anymore.”

***

My tea on the kitchen counter growing tepid, I paced through my apartment as Jane jumped from couch to chair to bookshelf to keep up with me. I turned on her suddenly. “Why’d he say that, Jane? What did he mean by that comment?”

Jane had no answer and abandoned me when she heard Matt’s door across the quad. What was it with that guy?

Before the tour bus roared to life, I was just about to set Conor straight about Noelle Martine’s burning ambition. I can’t believe he accused me of dumping him for my job when I texted him several times that I was leaving Baker Street and joining him down under.

He ignored those texts. That’s not just giving up easily, that’s taking a blow torch to the entire relationship...and then kicking the ashes into the air for fun.

Reminiscing with him had scraped back a corner of the tape I’d slapped over those memories years ago. Maybe I should just rip it off and wallow in my misery for a while. Then each time Conor dug up another memory to dangle in front of my face, I’d be ready for it. I could swat it away instead of allowing it to take me by surprise and niggle its way beneath my skin, awakening all those feelings I’d stuffed away.

Feel the feels in the privacy of my own space first—for practice.

The knock on my door stopped me in my tracks, and I spun around to answer it, peering through the peephole first. As if he knew I had him under scrutiny, Matt waved and held up a cat toy.

I opened the door. “Hey, Matt.”

He jiggled the mouse on a string. “I went to visit a friend today, and he lives around the corner from Tailwaggers, that pet store on Fairfax. Thought I’d pick up something for Jane.”

My mouth gaped open for a second. If Matt treated the women in his life half as well as he treated Jane, he might actually nail down a relationship. “Thanks. She must’ve known you had a treat for her because she went crazy when she heard your door.”

“That’s my main Jane.” He wiggled the mouse again, and I knew I’d have to invite him in to give it to her in person...in cat.

I widened the door. “She’s by the window.”

When Matt walked in, Jane jumped from her perch and wound her body around his bare ankles. He pinched the end of the string in his fingers and hung the mouse in front of Jane’s face. She leaped in the air and batted it.

“It’s a hit. Thanks, Matt.” Dropping to the arm of my couch, I asked, “Hey, are you going to be around for the next six weeks?”

“I should be, yeah.” He made kissy noises at Jane.

“I’m going on tour...I mean I’ll be away for work for a couple of months, and I need someone to take care of Jane. She really likes you, and you’re close. I’ll pay you.”

“Yeah, yeah. I can do that. You don’t even have to pay me. I’m not hard up for money anymore. It’s dope living in these boujee digs. You shoulda seen my dump before...”

“Before your sister got engaged to Ian Pope.”

“Yeah, well. I’m sure you know how that is.” He slid me a glance out of the corner of his eye.