Heather stirs beside me, blinking awake at the sudden burst of noise. “What’s going on?”
Emma looks over her shoulder, smiling wide. “They cleared the trace! We’re off the radar now.”
Relief flashes across Heather’s face, and my heart kicks just seeing it. Her brown eyes, her messy blonde hair, the way hope shows up on her face before she can even hide it. It’s fucking adorable.
She pushes herself upright. “Seriously?”
“Seriously,” Nico calls out. “Still work to do, but we’re back in business.”
Heather grins and hops off the couch, heading toward them, already peppering Rafe with questions as he rotates the laptop so she can see the screen. Their excited voices blur together after that while I stay where I am, leaning back into the cushions. The fireplace below the TV crackles softly, flames shifting in slow orange waves behind the glass. I watch them for a while, letting the warmth hit my face, trying to stay present in the moment everyone else seems to be living in.
But my mind drifts anyway.
~ A memory ~
Jude and I are stretched out at the small table by the window at our hotel, splitting the last beer left in the mini fridge while LA glows outside. Next door, I can still hear Finnick laughing through the wall, probably still recovering from dragging Kami out of the bar before she punched that bouncer. She’d been so drunk she tried to square up with the guy like she actually thought she could win. Finnick just threw her over his shoulder and walked out like it was another Tuesday. Poor bastard. She’s such a handful.
I shake my head, smirking a little at the memory before glancing over at Jude. “So what was up with that girl tonight? The brunette. She was basically climbing you like a tree.”
Jude snorts, tipping the bottle back. “Didn’t matter.”
“Didn’t look like it didn’t matter.”
He laughs softly, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. Adriana owns my ass. Been texting her half the night. She’s out with Nolan for some meeting tomorrow, and she’s already in a mood.”
I roll my eyes. “Wouldn’t stop me. Adri’s a raging cunt.”
He huffs a laugh. “Yeah. True.”
Something flickers across his face right after he says it, but it’s gone before I can place it.
I take another sip, watching him over the rim of the bottle. “What?”
He shrugs at first like it’s nothing, leaning back in the chair, eyes drifting toward the ceiling. “Just…been thinking about Emma a lot tonight, man.”
I frown slightly. I know the name. I know the story. The girl he left behind four years ago because Nolan decided to blackmail him. He walked away to keep her out of the mess and the danger.
Jude stares down at the bottle in his hands for a second, rolling it slowly between his palms. “I don’t know,” he says quietly. “Some nights I think I finally got over her, and then something random hits me and she’s just…there again.”
He exhales, shaking his head once, almost embarrassed by the confession.
“If I ever get the chance to be with her again,” he mutters, more to himself than to me, “I’m never letting her go.”
I give a small snort, nudging his foot with mine.
We finish the beer, our eyelids getting heavier with every second. When we finally crash, even though the hotel gave ustwo beds, Jude drops onto the one closest to the wall, and I end up right beside him anyway. We’re too exhausted to care.
For a while there’s only the sound of the AC and the distant noise of traffic outside. I shift onto my side, half-asleep already, when I notice the faint glow of Jude’s phone screen still lighting the dark. He’s lying on his back, wallet open in one hand, staring at something inside it. I don’t need to see it to know what it is.
It’s a photo of her.
After a moment, he lets out a quiet breath, slides the picture back into place, and shuts the wallet. The light disappears. He settles onto the mattress, staring up at the ceiling like he’s still somewhere else entirely. I close my eyes, pretending I didn’t notice, but I always do.
~*~
I didn’t think much of that night back then. Didn’t realize how much that moment mattered. The exhaustion suddenly hits me all at once, and I push myself up from the couch.
“Hey,” I murmur to Heather, brushing my fingers lightly along her arm. “I think I’m gonna crash. You coming?”