Page 45 of The Rook
Westin was helping Adam with the boxes. His gaze flickered over me quickly but then flickered away. We were trying to find a way to live together. It had been okay for a couple of days with our truce, but how would things change without Jamila as a buffer?
You have to figure something out because, without Jamila here, it's going to get very, very tense.
We were going to have to find some common ground somehow, but I just was in no place mentally to deal with that. I needed to mourn the departure of my bestie, and then I would deal with the bodyguard I didn't want.
When Adam and Westin were done, Adam walked over and gave me a hug. "You're not mad, are you?"
I shrugged. "You owe me several pints. I do hold a grudge, you know."
He grinned as he let me go. "Well, how about if I have something better than several pints?"
"Jamila can stay?" I asked hopefully.
He shook his head. "No, she's mine now. But I have Larkin tickets."
My eyes went wide. "Larkin?"
Jamila bounced up and down on her tippy-toes. "I know. I've been keeping that secret for three weeks."
Larkin was a hot pop band. Their songs had dominated the charts in the UK for months. And rumor was they were excellent in concert.
"What? This is amazing. How did you get Larkin tickets?"
Adam grinned. "My old flat mate. He got an internship and had to travel, so he had to get rid of these tickets. I have four."
"I can have one?"
And then Westin rode in like the killjoy he was. "You can't go to a concert."
"What? What do you mean I can't go to a concert?" I asked lifting a brow.
"Security risk."
"Bullshit. I'm going." I turned my attention to Adam. "I'm going."
Adam looked from me back to Westin, back to me again, and then down at Jamila. "How about this, I will leave you two Larkin tickets, and you can determine what you want to do with them. If you want to give them to some mates or come with, that’s up to you. I got them for free anyway. I can’t tell you how good the seats are, but Larkin, right?"
I gave him a solid nod. "Larkin."
Over his shoulder, I could see Westin frowning and shaking his head at me.
In a few minutes, I would be left alone with him and no longer have Jamila there as a buffer. I was going to enjoy the time that I did have because I wanted to get to say goodbye properly and worry about him later.
"You know what, we'll figure it out." I wrapped my arms around Jamila, and she squeezed me so tightly.
"Love, I’m going to see you for classes tomorrow."
"I know. I'm just… I'm going to miss you."
My eyes stung with unshed tears, and I rapidly blinked them away. I wanted Jamila to enjoy her triumph. I didn't want her feeling bad about leaving me behind with my arsehole bodyguard. And well, I didn't want him to see me crying. Adam gave me another squeeze and left the tickets on the counter. "Honestly, no pressure, but I'd love to have you there. Obviously, it would make Jamila more than happy. So just let me know, yeah?"
"Yeah, I'll let you know. Thank you for this."
"Cheers." Then he shook Westin's hand. Jamila scowled at him, bestie solidarity and all that, and then they were gone. I could feel the chasm and void that she left behind. Her larger-than-life, sometimes frenetic energy was completely sucked out of the room, and I felt alone. And empty.
Westin was watching me. "It's not happening. You can forget about those tickets."
I slipped them off the counter, holding them in my fingers, and rubbing them together between my thumb and forefinger. "We'll see about that."
