Chapter 39
RORY ARRIVED AS BEN AND ZO? WERE EATING LATE-NIGHT VIETNAMESE food at our kitchen table. I was pretending to sleep but was really watching them through my open bedroom door.
“Where is she?” Rory asked before I could even hear the front door close.
Zoe answered. “She’s sleeping. If you wake her, I’ll kill you.”
Rory nodded and then wiped his hand down his face before hugging Ben as if they were old friends. “Jesus, Ben, are you gonna get arrested for assault?”
“I don’t care, but also probably not. He assaulted her first.” Ben sat back in the chair, already comfortable in my house.
“Is she okay? I know that’s a stupid question, but I’m asking it.” Rory placed his hands on his hips.
“She’s upset, obviously, but she’ll be okay,” Zoe said. “By the end of the night, she seemed like herself, but she was still quiet, and a little distant. I think it’s the weight of everything that goes along with quitting her job, and not just Craig.”
“She’s quitting her job?” Rory asked, surprised by this new piece of information.
“She said so on her way out, and again to us tonight,” Ben confirmed. “What do you think she’s going to do?”
“I don’t know. Ken and Marie Street sponsor her visa, but she’s been in this position before.
So she’s either gonna have to get scrappy, which we all know she’s good at, or .
. . I don’t know.” Rory rubbed his chin.
“It’s not like she wouldn’t get another job.
She’s had two production companies approach her in the last couple of months. ”
“Maybe this is the moment for her to go back to Vancouver,” Zoe said, more to herself than to anyone else.
“I don’t want that, though.” Rory pressed his fingers into his eyes, frustrated.
“That’s bullshit, Rory,” Zoe huffed. “I know you want to be in Vancouver, and you want her to be there with you.”
“Not like this.” Rory gripped his hair.
Ben instinctively jumped in on my behalf. “Why not?”
“I don’t want that choice forced on her. She’ll never have closure if it is. If she ever wants Vancouver again, she needs to come to that decision herself.”
“Then why aren’t you here yet?!” Zoe was unable to control her anger, and directed it at the wrong person.
“I’m working on it, Zoe! I was ready to move here straight from Vegas last year.
When we were twenty, I got in to USC for her.
I went to New York on her twenty-first birthday to propose!
” Rory threw his arm out to Ben without looking at him and shook his head.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to make this uncomfortable for you. ”
Ben bit his bottom lip. He nodded, letting whatever discomfort he had slide.
“Where she lives and what she does is wrapped up in her identity. I don’t want what the rest of our life looks like to be decided for her.
You can’t tell Ellie what to do. She has to find it.
And I wouldn’t want to, anyway. I love that she’s a wild fucking bird!
It’s always been the scariest thing about her, and it’s always been my favorite thing about her.
She doesn’t know where she’s landing yet, but when she does, wherever she does, I’m gonna fucking be there! ”
Rory tipped his head back, then brushed his hands forward through his hair, landing them on the back of an empty kitchen chair. He nodded at the Vietnamese food. “Can I have some of that?”
Ben pulled out the chair next to him so Rory could sit. “Go nuts.”
Rory didn’t look at Ben as he sat down, but he tilted his head slightly. “I’m glad that Ellie can still count on you.” He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before continuing. “I hate that I wasn’t here. It kills me.”
“Don’t do that to yourself,” Zoe said quietly.
Rory sighed heavily and kept his attention on Ben. “But I’m glad it was you with her, because I don’t think anyone else would have punched his face in. So thank you.”
Ben leaned forward to take a moment. He placed his elbows on the table and lifted his fist for a bump, which Rory reciprocated before diving into the leftovers.
I woke up the next morning with Rory’s hard, warm body pressed against mine.
He was shirtless and wearing only his boxer briefs, his hand limp on my stomach.
I turned toward him and pushed my face into his neck, kissing him.
He stirred. I moved my mouth to just below his jaw and kissed him again.
Instead of opening his eyes, he tilted his head down to meet my lips and kissed me back.
“I quit my job,” I whispered.
“I heard.” He kept his eyes closed.
“I squeezed his dick so hard, I think I broke it.”
Rory’s eyes flicked open, and the tiniest smile reached the edge of his lips. “That’s my girl.”
“What a nightmare.” I burrowed my face into his chest.
“Do you want to press charges?”
I didn’t want to admit that I feared an earthquake would tear my life apart if I did anything.
I recalled an old boss, sitting at the head of a conference table, laughing with other executives over lunch that it wouldn’t be difficult to ruin one’s life.
All it would take was six phone calls, and they’d never work again.
What if that was the end of my career? Every sacrifice I’d made, every person I’d loved and lost .
. . would it have been worth it? What would “one of the good ones” do?
What would a precocious little girl nicknamed “Hollywood” do?
What would the girl on the plane do, leaving her love and life behind, determined to figure out what she was made of ?
What would fourteen-year-old Ellie do, driving through the Airport Tunnel, dreaming of her future?
“I just need to think,” I answered, not moving.
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.” Rory sat up and pressed his back into the headboard.
“Don’t be sorry. I just don’t know what I’m going to do.” I traced my fingers along the indentations of his abs.
“It’s whatever you decide. You want to rebuild, I’ll get the bricks. You want to burn it all down, I’ll bring the lighter. You want to run, I’ll lace up our shoes.” Rory pulled me onto his lap.
I adjusted myself to straddle his body and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Only you, Rory. I love you. I’m sorry I didn’t get to say it yesterday. I forgot how to talk.” I kissed him, and our tongues folded together.
Rory’s hands moved up my sides beneath my shirt. His mouth trailed along my neck and jawline with a series of kisses until he pulled me into him for a tight, warm hug.
“Yesterday was pretty shitty . . .” I murmured.
Rory pressed his face into my neck and inhaled deeply. “Yeah . . . Have you thought about talking to Ken?”
“I don’t know. You should have seen it. I think Ben knocked Craig out. Then we were out of there like we were Bonnie and Clyde.”
“Remind me to buy Ben all the alcohol that’s left in the world,” Rory said.
I laughed softly as Rory placed his head against the headboard.
“Hearing you go through that over the phone and not being able to do anything about it . . . was difficult.” Rory squeezed his eyes shut.
I pressed my fingers into his twisted brow, smoothing it as best as I could.
He let out a deep breath and opened his eyes, then pulled my hand down and kissed my palm.
“It took me ten hours to get to you. That was the longest ten hours of my life.”
“You’re here now.” I leaned forward and kissed his forehead.
“Yeah . . .” He swallowed, and his face crunched together again.
“What?”
“Blair and Cameron both reached out separately to ask for help while I was on the plane. My mom put the house up for sale without telling anyone. I don’t think she’s doing well right now.
They plan to talk to her tomorrow, and I need to be there for that.
” Rory rubbed his palm into his eye, clearly frustrated.
“Oh no. I hope she’s okay. So are you leaving today?”
“Yeah, but I’m coming right back after we see her.
I didn’t tell my brothers what happened, but I said I needed to be here to sort through some things.
They didn’t ask questions, so I’m assuming they realized shit was hitting the fan.
I saw Zoe texting Cameron last night. I think he’s worried about you. ”
“You should stay in Vancouver. I don’t want you to not be there for your mom or your brothers.”
“Ellie, I’m showing my face and will be there for them, but I’m coming back tomorrow night.
You are my priority.” Rory brought his hands to the outside of my thighs and gently rubbed my legs.
He let out a giant sigh before continuing.
“You should know that Ben’s still here. He slept on the couch, and he’s making breakfast this morning. ”
The surrealness of having Ben in my kitchen and Rory in my bed was overwhelming. “Did you guys stay up late?”
“Yeah. After Zoe went to bed, we talked and had some drinks. It was good.” Rory stretched his body beneath mine. “I like him. I liked him when we met in New York, too, but it was impossible for me to say back then.”
“Is it weird for you that he’s in the other room right now?” I hadn’t decided if it was weird for me yet.
“No. You and me are getting married soon, so I’m pretty sure I’ve got nothing to worry about.” Rory smirked impishly. His brown eyes bounced between mine.
“Have you already proposed, and I didn’t know it?” I let my tired smile reach my eyes. I could feel myself coming back together again, piece by piece.
“When I do, you’ll know it’s happening.”
I became grounded again in Rory’s presence, with his love surrounding me and centering me.
He brought his hands to my cheeks and pulled me in for a soft kiss before saying, “Come on, baby. Let’s go eat.”