Chapter 18 - Dean
For the next two nights, all three of us sleep in my bed.
In all honesty, not much sleeping really happens. More like exhaustion claims us intermittently.
It’s funny how they both let me take control, yet she’s clearly the one calling the shots.
She even convinced me to fuck Reece once while he was buried in her.
Neither of us knew we’d like it.
Although, he isn’t nearly as soft and supple as she is.
Now her car is idling in the driveway as we help her load the last of her luggage.
I’m tempted to drive one of these kitchen knives through the walls of her tires, anything to keep her here a little longer.
But we’re leaving too.
“This is worse than when I got divorced,” Reece grumbles, setting her bag into the back seat. “Are you sure we can’t exchange information?” He looks at me imploringly.
I shake my head. “Her rules, buddy.” The metal is cold when I shut the door.
There’s almost a finality to this.
Putting out the fire. Tucking the last stray piece of clothing into the pocket of a suitcase.
One final fill up on my to-go cup for the road.
“What if we both sold our penthouses? We could buy a place together, and bring her to live with us?” Desperation tinges his voice.
Pain has held my heart in a gridlock all morning.
When she appears, tears stain her cheeks. “This is so much harder than I thought it would be,” she chokes.
Fighting to put a smile on, she wraps her arms around Reece. “I never knew anything like this could happen.” Rising onto her tiptoes, she pulls his head down for a long kiss.
Watching them makes my cock stiffen.
That’s enough. Playtime is through.
“Please? Can I give you my number at least?” Reece whines, refusing to let her go.
But she shakes her head. “You’d get bored with me, everyone does.” Her upside down smile trembles. “This is for the best. You gave me the best memories.” She takes a shaky breath and turns to me.
When she dives against my chest, her stifled sobs let loose.
I want to hold her forever.
She turns her chin up, pulling me into our own heated goodbye.
Her salty tears linger on my lips when she pulls away.
Reece holds her door until she’s safely in, then closes it snugly.
He looks like he’s going to be sick.
I watch her wipe her cheeks through the glass and put her Audi in reverse until she’s in the street.
Except, instead of pulling away, her window rolls down.
“I just wanted you to know, I love you both.”
And then she’s gone in a flurry of snow, flying behind her.
Reece and I watch her until she disappears.
Stepping closer, his arm drapes my shoulders. “I should have written down her license plate. Why didn’t I think about it until it’s too late?” he groans.
I can’t stop myself from turning into him, hugging him close. “She’s fucking gone, and I hate it.”
Blinking through the burn of my own tears, I go inside for one more pass through.
There’s the chair she huddled in that first day.
The sheepskin we all fell in love on.
And the Christmas tree, complete with the hand drawn decorations.
No, I’m not leaving that behind. Pulling down the cocoa mug and the candy canes, I tuck them into my wallet.
Those are mine.
My rusty Land Rover door creaks as I swing it shut.
Reece is slumped in the seat next to me, staring out at the cabin as it fades from view.
“What do we do now?” he finally asks, nearly an hour later.
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I guess we make a movie, and walk away like we talked about. We still have each other.” I try to give him a smile.
But it feels flat.
His hand covers mine. “I love you, Dean. And shit happened this week that I’ll be thinking about for the rest of my life.” He shifts so his amber eyes meet mine. “I want you, but with her. Is that weird?”
“She makes everything better.” I squeeze his fingers, then focus on the drive.
***
“This is all worse.” I groan. “I hate it all.” Scattering the pictures across the conference table, I throw myself back into my chair in frustration.
“You just say because you’re grumpy as fuck.” Reece raises one eyebrow and flattens his lips.
“Thanks for that.” I hate that he’s right.
We’ve been searching for months for Stacy.
It didn’t take long after we got back to New York when we decided to say “fuck it” to her rule about parting ways.
Except we haven’t had any luck finding her in Akron.
Reece even bribed the damn bed and breakfast owners to show him the credit card receipt for her cabin.
Come to find out, it was booked under a guy named Bryan’s name. And he was far from helpful when Reece called asking about Stacy.
I’m pretty sure that not only has Reece been blocked, I’d bet the guy was on the verge of getting a restraining order considering how many times Reece called him.
We even went to Akron, twice, hoping that by some pure luck we’d find her.
It’s stupid how lovesick we both are.
So we did the only thing we knew how to do, pour ourselves into work.
I’m convinced this holiday romantic comedy we wrote after we got home is going to be a hit, if only I can nail the marketing.
“What about this one?” He tosses me sketch done in an art-deco style.
“Hate it.” As if to make the point, I crumple it into a ball and throw it into the growing pile next to the overflowing garbage can.
“Whatever.” He tosses up his hands. “Let’s get some food.”
“What if we open up submissions?” I scratch my jaw, staring at the daunting piles.
He jabs his finger towards an entire stack we haven’t even touched yet. “We still have all of those to sort through.”
I turn to him and launch another paper ball in the general direction of his head. “They’re all studio artists. Paid for by the same movie houses we always work with. I want something new, something fresh—”
“You won’t find her that way,” he says quietly.
That sits me back into my padded seat. “I’m never gonna stop looking.”
“I know.” His arms cross on the table, then he drops his chin to rest on them. “I won’t either. I love her.”
“Me too, buddy. Me too.”