Page 109 of Resurrection
Then I look at Naomi again and think maybe not. Maybe playing a few covers on a cheap guitar with three teens was worth it because it made her happy.
"How’s he doing?" I ask.
"Adri?" She slows and meets my gaze.
"Yeah. Is he behaving?"
"He’s trying."
Her face softens, that tender way I remember that I hardly see these days, and my heart trips over itself like it can't find the right beat. I’ll never know what it’s like to have a sibling, but that’s another reason I haven’t told her why exactly I left. I can’t become someone who drives them apart. Especially not now, not after Jose’s gone and all they have is each other, no matter how dysfunctional their relationship gets sometimes.
The silence grows between us, but it isn't awkward like I expect. It's warm and comforting and makes me want to take her hand and keep walking. So I do.
I expect her to pull away.
She doesn’t.
The hallway stretches ahead, a line of lockers leading further into the building filled with more memories. My pulse hammers, a frantic rhythm.
Somehow these emotions I’ve been trying to suppress, these feelings I’ve kept contained all these years… I’m drowning in them, and I’m done pretending, done hiding what’s on my mind.
"Hey, Nomes… You ever think about this?" I blurt out, my voice bouncing off the walls. "Like, about us? All of this? About the past and the future and all the variables?"
"You’ve asked me that before, Ty."
We're walking faster now, almost jogging, like we'll outrun the years if we move quick enough. "Sometimes I want to undo it all," I confess.
"Really?" Her eyebrows go up, the skeptical look I know so well.
"Not your achievements. Just mine. Just be Ty. Your neighbor. Not Ty, the famous guitarist. We're still kids, you and me."
"Old kids," she corrects. "You’ve got the gray hairs to prove it."
I grin. "Two rogue strands, Nomes. Nothing more."
Her smile wavers, just for a moment. "So what's your plan? Show up at my door like you never left? Oh wait. You already did that, and you definitely can’t undo it. You’re Tyler Brady. You’ve got the awards and the fans and the career to prove it."
"You’ve got it too. Your career. Your restaurant. We tried what we wanted separately. Why can’t we try again but together?"
I halt in the middle of the hallway, my grasp on her hand tightening. I’m afraid if I don’t hold on hard enough this time, she’ll disappear. Only, for good.
"If you still have to ask why, you're an idiot," she says, and it's playful but not really.
"You're right," I admit. "I am an idiot for leaving you seventeen years ago."
The shadows on the walls change as she removes her hand from mine and leans against the wall. Tonight, she's stunning in this long blue dress that hugs her hourglass figure in all the right places. Her eyes linger on my face for a heartbeat, before our gazes lock.
My words trip over themselves, clumsy in my throat, but I let them come. "Wecouldtry, Nomes," I say. "For real."
She studies me. "You're serious?"
"Never stopped thinking about you."
The silence that follows is charged. There’s static in the air, waiting for a spark.
"Say something," I whisper, feeling too naked in this half-light.
Naomi tilts her head to the side, and I can't read her expression. Is she mad? Is she about to walk away? I can't tell. She holds my eyes a second longer, and I feel my heart just about to give up. Is this what it feels like—to finally be able to let your emotions rule you?
