Page 35 of The Run Back Home

"And I guess they're still not sure if she's actually going to—"

"Nora."

I stare at the condensation sliding down my cup and beg it to somehow take me with it. "He looked the same."

That's not entirely true.

"And?" she presses.

"We talked."

I talked.

"And?"

I let out a deep breath, swallowing down everything I want to say and just picking what stands out most. "And… I didn't think I'd see him again."

Bridget nods, wiping her thumb down the smooth porcelain handle between her fingers. "How do you feel now that you have?"

"Like I wish I hadn't."

She studies me for a minute like she's trying to decide if she should call me on my bullshit.

She doesn't.

Instead, she purses her lips and leans back in her seat. "That bad, huh?"

I nod, wrapping my hands around my cup like the few inches of cool liquid still left in it will somehow ease the subtle burning in the pit of my stomach.

I stare out the large bay window behind her, watching as people mill around on the street.

I focus on the way a blonde woman pulls her hair up into a ponytail. The way an older gentleman laughs into his phone.

Anything except for how my chest feels too tight just talking about this.

How my pulse has barely settled since the elevator.

How his voice still echoes in the back of my mind, replaying those last two words over and over.

Bye, Lenny.

But then, I drop my gaze back into my cup and click my tongue. "Yeah, pretty terrible," I laugh.

But it doesn't sound any truer out loud than it did inside my head.

7

Jace

The music is too loud considering the number of people living below me. But as usual, no one in the building seems to care.

Someone calls my name, and I wave a hand over my head without even looking to see who it is, while someone else chants Rematch! from the dining room. A group of people dance on each other right in front of the T.V. where some of the hockey guys are playing the advanced copy of NHL 27 I got from PlayStation last week.

The boys politely strain to see over them, their thumbs moving over the controllers in their hands, and I laugh to myself as I hear my name called again.

"Yo, Holloway, get over here!" JJ repeats for the third time from across the room, his arm around a petite red-head, and his fingers wrapped around a ping pong ball.

I smile and shake my head, grabbing two empty cups from the end table before walking toward him. I detour through the kitchen to toss them in the trash, stopping to roll up an open bag of chips and grab a new beer from the fridge.