Page 99 of Pin My Alpha
For once, she doesn’t have a smart comment.
Rhys sent me the number for the university legal clinic days ago. It’s been sitting in my phone like a dare. Tomorrow I use it—for the partnership papers, and for a counteroffer on the lease.The landlord wants an answer by the end of the month. He can have two. We’re not selling, and we’re not paying that number, either.
The bar door opens. My head jerks up. Not Shay.
The disappointment stings. But it doesn’t flatten me this time. Because I’m not just waiting anymore.
Tessa’s mouth curves into a slow smile. “You’re serious.”
“I’ve never been more serious.”
“He might say no.”
“Yeah.”
“And you’re doing it anyway.”
“I should have done it before he ever had to ask.”
She nods, a little hard. “Close up early.”
“We’ve got customers.”
“We’ve got six customers, and I can handle them.” She points toward the back stairs. “Go write the damn thing before you talk yourself out of it.”
“I need to close out.”
“I can close out.”
“It’s my bar.” The words catch in my throat.
No. Not if I mean what I’m about to put on paper.
I take a breath.
“It’s our bar,” I say quietly.
Tessa’s face changes. She looks away fast, pretending the register needs her full attention. “Go,” she says. “Before I get emotional at work and ruin my reputation.”
“You have a reputation?”
“Get upstairs, Byrne.”
I do.
The third stair creaks. I’ve been meaning to fix it.
Upstairs, the apartment is dark except for the light over the stove. It still smells like him. Sandalwood, dark chocolate, rain. The ache under my skin pulls toward it so hard I have to bracea hand on the kitchen counter. His toothbrush is still in the cup by the sink. His hoodie is still hooked over the kitchen chair. The nest is still on my bed.
I stand in the doorway for a second, looking at it. The blankets, my shirts. The green bar towel is missing.
I go back downstairs for it.
I don’t know why. It just belongs here. Because Shay put it there.
When I come back up, I set the towel on the bed, right where I found it. Then I pull my laptop from a drawer, sit at the kitchen table, and open a blank document.
The cursor blinks.
