“Oh. Hi.” I turn back around.
“You doing okay?” I hear him shuffling closer, but I refuse to look. The pity radiating off him makes me want to scream.
I laugh miserably. “Would you be?”
“It was just a fight,” he suggests as he slinks into the room. “His dad is in town. And he had to deal with Ilya today. That always puts him in a dark place.”
I wring my hands in my lap like I can rinse away the memory of ever taking that phone from Katerina. “Did he send you in here to make his case? Because you and I both know Samuil is more than capable of fighting his own battles.”
Myles runs a hand through his hair and exhales. He makes kissing noises at Ruby, but she stays planted firmly at my feet. Neither she nor Rufus have wandered more than a few steps away from me for hours.
“Fine,” he concedes at last. “I won’t defend him. But I can listen.”
“Thanks, but no thanks.” I snort. “I’m not interested in spilling my guts to Sam’s closest friend.”
“You and I are friends, too,” he says softly. “At least, I thought so.”
Guilt churns in my stomach, but isn’t this exactly what Sam was mad at me about? Trusting the wrong person, being naive about the way his world works?
“I thought so, too. But I was wrong.”
Myles winces. “Ouch.”
“You should probably count yourself lucky. I mean, do you wanna know how I treat my real friends?” A bitter laugh tears out of me. “Hope is my best friend in the world, and she doesn’t even know half of what has gone on in the last few weeks. I didn’t tell her at first because I was trying to protect her. But later, I didn’t tell her what was happening because I was trying to protecthim. How’s that for loyalty?”
“Sam’s a good man, Nova.”
“Depends on who you ask.”
“If you’re talking about Katerina?—”
“I want to go home,” I interrupt before he can start unloading that brain dump on me. The last thing I need is a fucking lecture from the second-most biased source in the world.
Myles looks around the bedroom. “Aren’t you?—”
“Myhome,” I clarify. “Just for a few days. I need a breather.”
“Okay. Fair. Have you asked Sam?”
I once again let loose a miserable laugh. “He and I aren’t exactly on ‘travel plan discussion’ terms right now, Myles. To be frank, I don’t think he gives a fuck where I am.”
Myles shifts uncomfortably. “I mean…”
“Unless you’re trying to tell me I’m stuck here again?”
“No! No.” He passes a hand over the back of his neck, and I think I hear a muttered curse under his breath. “Pack a bag, and I’ll drive you when you’re ready.”
“Good.” I point to the duffel I packed a few hours ago—fresh out of the fight, with tears still in my eyes. “I’m ready now.”
I wasright about forgetting to take out the trash before I left. My apartment smells like rotten milk and decay.
It takes two trips out to the dumpster and half a can of air freshener to right my wrongs. Even then, my apartment still smells musty.
But the progress feels good.One foot in front of the other.
When I get back upstairs, I pry open all the windows and take in the night noises. The muffled shouting from across the street, a distant car alarm, two yowling cats in the alleyway.
I didn’t get to hear any of that at Samuil’s penthouse. It was too high in the sky. Too removed from the world. Like a dream I stayed in until it went sour.