Page 89 of Worlds Collide

“Airport?” Lee asks, with emotion painting his voice once Rich is in the car too and the door is closed.

“Yes,” I whisper. “I’m gonna miss you, Lee.”

“I’ll miss you too, but you’ll be back soon enough,” he says, and I see him nod as if to himself from the back seat.

“You need to put up a tree,”Tassie tells me excitedly and I can only groan. I already bought so much shit because of her, I really don’t want a tree.

“I have stockings already pinned to the fireplace and Rich decorated a lot. I don’t want a tree.”

“Who knew you were such a Grinch,” she mumbles as she knee walks her way through my living room to another bag full of useless antiques that I don’t even like. I’m gonna make sure her car is full of those when she leaves my new place later.

It’s the day before Christmas Eve and for the first time ever I’m not spending it with Hawk, so yeah, I might be a little grumpy.

My aunt invited me over to her place though, where her husbandand stepson always have a big party for people who are alone over the holidays. It grates a little bit to be added to that group of people, but since I took Rich away from Tate—his only family—I feel like I owe it to him to go. Since my aunt and her husband are richer than God, they’ll have a whole hell of a lot of security there, so he can take a break for the night too—he’s more than earned it.

Hawk is spending it with Derek’s family at the ranch, and despite everything, I left presents at Hawk’s house when I went to say goodbye—ones I chose by myself for every person.

Because of the limit Hawk set, we’ll be seeing each other in just a few days for our December monthly hangout. I’m flying down to Charleston to watch the Warriors game with him at the stadium. Then I’m getting on a plane right after and coming back here before I have to see or talk to Derek.

He hasn’t spoken to me, and honestly I don’t want to talk to him either. I really thought our friendship meant more to him and now I’m past the sadness and firmly in the anger zone when it comes to him.

Hawk is worried about that, I can tell, but he hasn’t said a peep about it, and that alone shows me how hard he’s working on his controlling tendencies. It means more than he will ever know that he’s just letting me be when I know how desperate it must make him that his husband and his brother aren’t on speaking terms.

All in all, I have plans to get out of the apartment, I have an appointment for the twenty-seventh with my new therapist, and I feel like I’m on the right path to where I want to be.

Happy, healthy, confident, and able to be a true partner to CJ.

It would be a big fat lie to say I’m not doing this in part for my relationship with him. It’s not only for myself, nothing ever is. But I do feel like there’s less pressure inside my chest, and I feel hope, which is new and amazing.

TWENTY-SIX

WOLF

February

“I guessyou liked the cookies then,” I say, with as much snark as I’m capable of infusing into every word.

“Be careful, Wolf. I have two brains inside my body and I’m prepared to use them to inflict indescribable emotional pain with just a few words.” Josie stares me down without blinking.

I snarl at her, and drag the plate of cookies we just made in Theo’s kitchen away, so I can eat at least one of them.

I like Josie, she understands my humor and my dislike of polite chit-chat or small talk. She always gets right to business, and doesn’t mind my lack of polite lies.

I haven’t hung out with her much in the past, but in the last two months that I’ve been here—and she has as well since she’s pregnant with Sebas and Adam’s baby—we’ve built a solid friendship that no one but us understands.

There are only seven cookies left after Sebas and Theo grab oneeach to sample, so I take my phone out to text Rich who’s chatting with Theo’s bodyguard somewhere else in the brownstone.

Less than five seconds later, Rich and Connor are practically sprinting to the kitchen and grabbing cookies.

“These are awesome,” Rich moans around his bite.

I hear the front door open and then... “Are those cookies?” comes the deep loud voice of Mike, and then his thumping steps on the hardwood floors. “Oh, good, there are still some left.” He throws Josie a sly, sideways smirk and dives in for two.

I can’t blame him, but luckily I now know how to make these myself after today’s baking lesson.

Another set of steps come from the front door and I can’t help but feel annoyance, knowing damn well who’s coming.

“Isn’t this a nice party,” Adam says, casual and charming as alway. I don’t like it.

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