Page 283 of Darling Venom
In Tate’s new house.
In my house, in a lot of ways.
Not officially, though.
It was more of a natural progression. The way a spider weaves what starts as an unassuming web that takes over an entire garage wall after a few months.
I’m not sure who the spider is in our scenario. I just know that one sleepover a week turned into four.
And before I knew it, I needed my own toothbrush, and toothpaste, and hairbrush, and deodorant, and body lotion, because going to my apartment before work became too much of a hassle.
And then Jonah asked Leah to buy a home with him. Not before checking if I was okay with it (of course, I was).
And she said yes.
It came at a good time, because Reagan had just promoted me, and that promotion came with a serious raise.
But now I’m paying for a studio apartment I don’t sleep in. Tate’s place is closer to my office, and the only time I venture back to my studio is to collect the mail.
I take the train to St. Paul, people-watching as I do.
New York is shedding itself from the leftovers of winter.
You can see it on the naked trees that are not so naked anymore. In the way the onion effect makes people peel their clothes on the subway. In the fact that city workers have a bit more spring in their step.
I get off at the station.
My heart lodges in my throat.
I don’t know why I’m nervous.
The last time I came, something good happened.
But… I hate that roof.
The ugliness of the life it took.
That gut-punch of memories that hits me when I pass the same spot where Kellan plummeted.
And now Tate wants us to meet there.
A part of me resents him for that because he is about to take another Kellan thing and taint it with Tate.
That roof belongs to Kellan and me.
But saying no seems too big.
Too dramatic.
Especially after we chipped away a piece of Kellan that Valentine’s Day and replaced it with us.
I race up the emergency steps, wondering what it will take for St. Paul to restrict access to these stairs.
I’m fifteen minutes early.
This was planned.
I need time to gather myself before Tate shows.
