“Have a seat.” Inside the living room, I gestured to my new oversized leather couch.
“Whoa,” he said. “When did you get all the furniture and that photo?”
“Everything got delivered last night,” I said. “I bought some things a friend needed to unload. Make yourself comfortable. There’s an extra key for you on the coffee table. Your sister took off before I could give her one. Hang tight for a moment, I’ll be right back.”
Departing the living room, I entered another hall, passed the room that contained only my guitars, and ducked into the bedroom. I ditched the wet towel, throwing it on the bed. Moving to a stack of cardboard boxes in the corner, I opened the one with my clothes. Though I had furniture now and a kickass photo in the other room, thanks to Tess, I still needed a few hours of free time to unpack and put away my stuff.
Finding a pair of black Reef board shorts and a faded gray Volcom muscle tee, I put them on. On the way out the door, I spotted a pair of Oakley shades on top of the dresser and put them on my head.
When I returned to the living room, Cork glanced up. I noted he held the extra apartment key. That was an encouraging sign.
“What’d I do to piss you off this time?” I asked.
“Keeping shit from my sister. She says you have a secret. What is it?”
My eyes widened. “She told you that part?”
“We’re close. You know that. I’m all she has, and she’s all I have since Dad passed.” His eyes glistening with a sudden sheen, he swallowed. “She’s been through a lot. She deserves better than another bullshit relationship with a guy stringing her along like Saber did.”
“Cork, I’m not st—”
“Level with me, man,” he said, cutting me off. “I wanna know what you’re hiding.”
“I’m Storm.”
“Come again?” His eyes wide, Cork froze solid, like ice in the shape of a teenager on my new-to-me couch.
“Storm Hardy, your sister’s best friend growing up.” I pointed to myself. “That’s me.”
“Impossible.” Cork’s dark gold brows disappeared beneath messy bed hair. “You don’t sound like him. You don’t look like him either.”
“People change as they grow, like those plants your sister loves so much. I was younger than you when I left OB. Your body’s still changing, right? My voice change happened later than most guys. I have a lot of ink now, long hair, the beard and mustache, but underneath it all, it’s still just me.”
Cork shook his head. “I don’t believe it.”
“It’s true, whether you do or not.” My eyes narrowed. “I was here back when you first started speaking in complete sentences. I remember all the trouble your sister had trying to get you to eat vegetables. She had to mix them with sriracha sauce. When you got older, I gave you your first surf lesson. You took to the water back then like now. I think you’re more fish than man.”
“Your name is Journey,” he whispered, but I could see it, the disbelief giving way to wonder as the truth sank in.
“It’s a nickname. When I left here, I didn’t want to be Graham Hardy’s son anymore. I moved around a lot. I journeyed from place to place, doing shit job after shit job, working during the day and playing my guitar in bars at night, until I finally got lucky and a producer gave me his card.”
“But Saber and Shield don’t recognize you. Lotus either.” Cork squinted at me. “You don’t look like the same person.”
“Nine years is a long fucking time.”
Suddenly feeling every one of those long, lonely years falling like a monster wave collapsing on my shoulders, I crashed into the leather club chair next to me.
“Most of the time, I don’t feel like the same person. My brothers are different. I barely know them anymore.” I propped my elbows on my knees and leaned forward. “But I know your sister. She hasn’t changed.”
“She was thirteen when you left,” Cork said.
“I remember like it was yesterday. Not a day went by that I didn’t think about her. The best times in my life were spent here with her. She’s a woman now, more beautiful than ever, but she’s still the same person inside that I knew then.”
“You’re wrong.” His eyes flashed again. “Your leaving crushed her.”
I recoiled as if taking a blow, and swallowed hard before I could speak. “I’m sorry. I did what