Page 117 of Nothing to You
“It doesn’t have to be me or you.Stay home.Alone.Please.I’ll come home.”
“Good.I expect you on a plane within the hour.”
Usually, being held to ransom would fire her fury, now it aroused her hope.“And you won’t see her?”
“I’ll see her, but it’ll be done by the time you’re back.”
“No.You don’t go from her to me.Never.I won’t be able to do it.You know I can see through the bullshit, right?You’ll smile and talk about it like it’s no big deal, but I know your voice.I don’t even have to see you to know that it will take a toll on you.And you already know that.You don’t need me to tell you.Don’t do this, Rourke.”
“It’s done.We made plans.”
“Cancel them.Cancel on her.”
“Because that will help the situation,” he said with sarcasm.“Canceling now will make things worse.”
“Things can’t get any worse.”If she wasn’t on the phone, she’d throw up her arms.“This is worse.The worst.”
“Trust me, Radley.I know what I’m doing.I know how to handle her.”
“Handling her comes with a cost, financial and personal.”
“We can argue about this all night, it won’t change anything.”
“Your mind’s made up?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay,” she said, swallowing to moisten her throat.“Then you won’t need me to come home.I’ll stay here in New York.”
“Permanently?”
“Permanently.”
“There’s no need to be so damn dramatic, Rad.I’ll call you tonight after—”
“Not after anything, I don’t want to hear it.”Squeezing her eyes closed, she fought to silence her mental narration on how that conversation would go.“There’s nothing you can say that will change my mind either.I can’t listen to you talk about her again.I can’t.”
“Okay.”
“You want to give this up for her?If our friendship is over, there’s no need for you to go through with this dinner.It won’t be your place to protect me anymore.”
“Then I guess there’s nothing stopping me from fucking her.”
“I guess not.”
“Is that where we’re at?An ultimatum?”
She hadn’t thought of it that way, but it seemed accurate.“Her or me?”
If he needed it in simple terms, it couldn’t get plainer.
“We don’t do ultimatums.”
“Apparently we do now,” she said.“You put the language to it, not me.”
“To show you how crazy this is!Shit, baby, nothing has changed since—”
“It has.I misjudged this.”She’d thought she held sway with him.Apparently, that was an illusion.“Have your dinner with her, but if you do, we’re done.”
