Page 136 of Sinclair Duet

“I was wondering if I could come to you.”

“Yes. Of course. Have you been drinking?”

“No, but if you have bourbon, get it out.”

After disconnecting the call, I shone the light from my phone on the license. Everything within me wanted to rip it—to tear it in half. However, if I did, I also feared I’d fatally damage my position at Sinclair.

If I didn’t tear the paper, maybe Amber and I could work out a truce.

Instead of ripping the license, I crumpled it, and finding another piece of paper, I wrote a note. Yes, it was probably the coward’s way, but at least I wasn’t ending our relationship via a text or a tweet.

Amber,

The license was too much. Too fast.

It’s not you. It’s me.

Okay, that was fucking bullshit.

It is me. I need time, more than sixty days.

Have a good life.

D~

I leftthe note with the crumpled license and my key to her apartment on her kitchen counter.

Once outside, I lifted my face to the sky with the sensation that I’d shed a tremendous load. My steps were lighter. The night noises were louder. My inner buzz was stiller.

Amber wasn’t my future.

There was no denying that.

Repercussions would undoubtedly come, but no matter what they were, they were better than marrying the wrong person. Fuck, I had the right person. My thoughts went to the diamond ring in my dresser at home. The idea of putting it on Amber’s finger made me physically ill. She deserved to marry someone who loved her.

That wasn’t me.

The mostly empty streets allowed me to speed from downtown to the north side. By the time I reached Dani’s condo,I felt hundreds of pounds lighter. It was closer to one hundred and forty pounds lighter, but lighter, nonetheless.

Dani answered the door wearing pajama shorts and a soft top. “I have bourbon. Talk to me.”

“Good news or bad news first.”

She closed the door and led me to her kitchen table where she had a bottle of Four Roses and two shot glasses. “Bad.” She poured two shots.

As I lifted the glass to my lips, I laughed. It was a full-blown, out-of-control moment, and I was sharing it with one of the only people in my life who I fully trusted.

“You’re losing it, Damien,” Dani said with a grin.

Pulling out chairs, we both sat, me wearing yesterday’s suit minus the jacket and tie, and my sister in her pajamas with her hair piled on her head.

“I don’t know which one is the good and which one is the bad.”

“How about chronological?” she asked.

“Today, Amber and I went to the county clerk’s office.”

“What the fuck?” Dani’s eyes opened wide. “You’re going to marry her?”

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