Page 296 of Come Back to Me

Callan: You’ll have tried. That’s more than anyone else did for him.

Me: Appreciate that, Cal

Me: Rocket settling in?

Callan: Rocket’s fine. Everybody loves the little shit. I’m glad but also pissed about how many times I was bitten, and Rocket hasn’t bitten a single damn person since we got here!

Me: Be glad about that. There are kill orders for dogs who bite.

Callan: Forgot about that part. Oops.

Callan: Anyway, I gtg. But call Colt soon? I just know he’s freaking out.

Before I can answer him, Tee shrieks, “Oh, my god,” behind me.

Concerned, I twist to face her and the sight I come across isn’t reassuring.

Her eyes are big and pink and wet—so wet. Tears drench her cheeks as she stares at me, mouth quivering, the phone clutched to her chest.

Did she hear about Marcy?

“What the fuck’s wrong?”

“I need you to pinch me.”

I frown but gently rub my thumb along her cheek. “What is it? Is Nonna okay?”

She sniffles. “That was Jerry Majors.”

When she starts sobbing, I know why.

Sundance made no promises when I sent him the samples, and I’d given up on hoping we’d hear from his father back in the summer.

“My ditty,” she weeps. “He wants to use it in this period film he’s making about some Viking dude.” Her sobs turn into wails. “Cody, my music is going to be featured in a movie! And he wants to listen to more of my work!”

Her arms are flung wide before they trap me in a hug. She clings to me so fiercely that I know she’ll never let go.

And that’s the only thing I’ll ever ask of her—that she doesn’t give up on me.

That when I fuck up or when my family situation gets even messier, she never stops turning to me because that’s the one thing I couldn’t live without.

Her.

As I hug her back, the phantom of my father’s shady history tomorrow’s problem, in her ear, I whisper, “I’m so fucking proud of you.”

“Y-You believed in me, you sent it to Sundance, and now it’s happening! I’m going to write a movie scoreandI’m marrying someone who belongs in the cast ofTop Gun!”

Smirking, I cup the back of her head. “Wanna be my Iceman?”

“You’re right. The chemistry between those two was effervescent.” Despite her teasing, the wet cheeks smushing against my throat tell their own tale.

“I’ll always believe in you, baby,” I whisper in her ear, tossing the jokes aside. “You’re magic, Tee. Don’t you know that?”

She sniffles. “I know what Ihavefound, Butch.”

“What?”

“My favorite place.” She tucks herself deeper into my embrace. “Your arms.”

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