Page 80 of Only Ever You

“Do you need a hand carrying your things?” Lucas appears in the doorway, and I breathe a sigh of relief. I’d almost forgotten he was with me. Deacon’s friends are one thing but having my brother here with me is everything.

“I’ll be fine. I don’t have much.”

“I didn’t realise you were here, Lucas.” Mallory’s smile lights up the room, and I meet Garrett’s bemused gaze as she beams that smile right at my brother.

“Uh, yeah. I’m helping Pippa get her stuff moved home.”

“We should go for a drink before you go.” She shifts her gaze to me, and I swallow down a laugh.

I turn my head toward Lucas. He’s fighting a smile.

“We’re only here for a couple of nights, but that’d be great,” Lucas says. “I’ll call you?”

“I’ll wait for your call.”

Grinning, I pick up my box of belongings and make my way toward the door.

“Come on, Romeo,” I murmur. “Let’s get out of here.”

He shoots me a side-eye before reaching for the box. “What? I like Mallory.”

“Pretty sure she likes you too.”

As we reach the elevator, I press the button and he turns toward me. “You think?”

“She just asked you out.”

He scrunches his nose. “I thought that was an invitation for both of us.”

The doors open and we step in. “She didn’t ask me out for a drink before you arrived.”

He’s quiet on the way down, and once we reach the car, my mood falls. “There’s a photo of Deacon on Instagram in Paris with another woman.”

“What the hell?” He slides the box onto the back seat. Since he got here, he’s commandeered my car. I don’t have the heart to force the issue.

I climb into the passenger seat, and once he’s seated, he grabs my hand and gives it a quick squeeze. “He’s an idiot. But you already know my opinion on it.”

“He didn’t post it. She did. And she tagged me in it.”

Lucas frowns. “That’s plain weird.”

“Is it? Or is it a message that he’s ignoring me because he’s with her?”

He lets out a sigh. “I don’t know. If things weren’t so messed up between us, I might have a better insight into Deacon’s thoughts. But I don’t. He never would have acted like this when we were younger—I was the flaky one.”

After starting the car, he drives out into the traffic.

It’s a quiet ride back to my flat. I resist the urge to keep looking at that picture for clues. I’m not sure what I’ll think I’ll find, but I’m after anything to put my mind at rest.

At least I know he’s still alive and in one piece.

It might be small, but when we get home, Lucas carries my box of things into the living room before placing it on the coffee table. We’re surrounded by boxes—all that’s left is the furniture.

Tomorrow the moving company will come and pick up everything before taking it to storage in Gisborne.

“You should text Mallory and see if she wants to go for drinks with you tonight,” I say.

“Tonight?” Lucas’s brows knit. “You trying to get rid of me?”

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