Chapter Twenty-Nine Remi
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Remi
“Babe, we just got a really good volunteer application. I think you should meet this one.”
I didn’t take my eyes off the email I was typing. “Just set it on my desk. I’ll look in a little bit.”
Ness chuckled, like she was thoroughly amused that I thought she’d disappear simply because I was busy. “No, I think you should meet them now.”
I finished the last sentence, did a quick skim, and then hit send.
Ness was lounging against the doorway to my office with a smirk on her face.
She’d been walking around on cloud nine ever since she and Christian had finally taken their relationship from theoretical to full-on Kama Sutra.
That bitch was wearing the smug grin of a woman getting off multiple times a day, and I for one was ready to smack her. Just once. Just a little.
I wasn’t jealous, per se. But I was also so jealous that it was a miracle I hadn’t turned green.
“That good, huh?”
“Oh yeah. Total winner.” She perused my outfit with a slight purse of her lips. “That’s a . . . choice.”
“What’s wrong with this?” I tugged at my Backstreet Boys T-shirt. “It’s vintage. I’ve had it since high school.”
“Yeah. I know.” She patted my shoulder as I pushed her out of the doorway. “You have time to change. Don’t worry.”
“I don’t think I should go, Ness. He hasn’t reached out, and I don’t want to distract him from something this important. I’m . . . thinking about how I want to handle this.”
“You should definitely go. God, imagine if you show up and he cries in the courtroom or something. Wouldn’t that be epic?” Ness didn’t wait for me to answer. “I made Christian cry yesterday. For different reasons, of course.”
“Yeah, you told me about seven times. Gold star for you,” I answered. “You still can’t convince me it’s a good idea to go to that courtroom,” I said, just as we cleared the hallway and walked into the lobby.
“Maybe I can convince you, then.”
At the sight of Analise Evans in the lobby, her pink sunglasses perched on top of her head, I stopped short, my mouth falling open. “What are you doing here?”
Ness snickered, then handed me the papers in her hand. “I told you. You just never listen to me.”
Analise was clasping her hands in front of her, a hopeful smile on her face. “I just filled out my application. I’d really like to help out, if that’s okay.”
I skimmed the paperwork, my eyes snagging on her home address. Archer’s address.
“Are you meddling, Analise?” I asked gently.
She shook her head. “This is an honest attempt to make amends.” Her eyes were wide and serious, her tone genuine. “My brother came for fifty hours for something he didn’t do. I don’t plan to leave when I’ve hit that number, but it’s a good start, don’t you think?”
Good Lord, these Evanses were going to be the death of me.
“Yeah,” I said slowly. “I think so. We’d love to have you, and I promise I won’t stick you on poop duty like I did your brother.”
She laughed. “That was a valuable lesson for Archer.”
Why had I brought him up? At the sound of his name, my body throbbed painfully.
“Good.” I didn’t really know what else to say. “Is he . . . is he ready for court? I’m sure he’ll do great.”
Or, you know, I could ask that. Analise’s eyes gleamed when I did, like she’d gotten exactly what she hoped for.
“He won’t call and ask you to come,” she said. “And you won’t show up because you’re thinking of him for the exact same reasons. You’re both so worried about each other that you’re still not talking yet, and I’ve decided that’s stupid.”
It wasn’t a surprise that he was worried about me. After all, it was the whole reason he’d walked away. But confirmation that I wasn’t alone in it . . . felt good. It felt really good.
It was comforting to know that the impulsive, emotionally driven behavior wasn’t just an Archer trait. Something warm settled in my chest, and I reached for Analise, giving her a brief, hard hug. She melted into me, setting her chin on my shoulder.
“Did you want to come?” she asked quietly. “Even if you’d talked yourself out of it?”
I sighed, pulling back, leaving my hands on her arms. Then I smiled. “You’re relentless, just like him.”
She grinned. “Is that a yes?”
I wanted to see his face.
I wanted to kiss him.
I wanted to tell him that we could do this, even if I didn’t know what that looked like.
I wanted this reunion to go perfectly, and maybe that had been my problem from the start.
Nothing we’d done was perfect. Nothing had gone the way I’d imagined. And maybe . . . maybe that was how it was meant to be all along. The most imperfect parts of us, laid bare. Archer never hid who he was, and neither did I.
We’d shown each other our worst, and still . . . still my heart ached to be near him.
Yes, I wanted to see him. Wanted to support him, no matter who was watching.
I sucked in a quick breath and met her eyes. “Yes. Yes, I want to go.”
“For the love of God, please go change,” Ness yelled from around the corner.
The clock on the wall showed a time that made my brows pop high. “I don’t even know if I have time, at this point.”
Analise was courtroom ready in a knee-length summer dress with cap sleeves and subtle makeup. We both looked down at my Backstreet Boys T-shirt and winced.
Ness popped her head out, a wide grin on her face. “I have a shirt you can borrow.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I’m quite done borrowing your clothes, thank you very much.”