obvious she was unhappy. I’d just been so focused on my own plans that I didn’t ask.
So stupid.
“Five months and twelve days.”
“Yeah, you’re in love with him.” I laughed and rounded the island to drag her into a hug. “Call him. Right now.”
“Oh, no way.” Robin held up a hand. “I’m in no shape for that.”
“Sometimes drunk is the only way to do it.” I looked around the kitchen and into the living room and beyond. I spotted her purse on the edge of the table near the door. I hurried over to it and found her phone and opened her contacts.
“How do you know my password?”
“It’s the same password for everything. Birthday plus thirteen.”
She crossed her arms. “I don’t like being predictable.”
“Of course you do. You like your lines and boxes. Why you’re so good at the insurance stuff. Love doesn’t have neat boxes though.” I opened a text to Todd.
“What are you doing?”
“Texting him.” I stuck out my tongue and laughed. “Sexting.”
“No. Oh my God, Fee.” She lunged for the phone.
I held it out of her reach and turned my back on her. “I can’t stop thinking about that kiss. I miss you. Meet me tomorrow for lunch?” I read aloud as I texted. Thank God for autocorrect in this instance. The buttons were very small for my drunk fingers.
“No! You can’t.”
“Oh, I can and I did. Hey, there’s text bubbles already.”
“Felicity Marie!”
I ran into the living room.
“Give me that phone.”
“Nope. Not until I see what he says.” I closed one eye so the screen came back into focus. “Thank God. I can’t stop thinking about you. And that perfume you wear. Every time you walk by my office, I can smell it. It’s driving me crazy.” My eyes widened. “Damn, Todd.”
“Give me that.” She snatched away the phone and read the screen for herself. “What do I do?”
“You meet him for lunch tomorrow. And you get fucked,” I said with an emphasis on the u sound until it was obnoxious to even my drunk ears.
“You are gross.”
“I got fucked today. Like wow. Eyes-roll-back-in-your-head fucked. I recommend it.” Suddenly, I teared up. The breaking up part I didn’t though. Not at all.
But that wasn’t my sister and her Todd dude. No, he was definitely a nice guy. And I remembered the big ol’ hearts in his eyes for her when I’d crashed their little post-sex snack time with all the handsy stuff.
The way Myles had been with me.
The doorbell rang. I blinked back tears before I turned into a blubbering mess then I hurried over to fling open the door. “You saved the day, kind sir.”
The pizza guy stared at me. “It’s just pizza.”
“Sometimes that’s all you need.” I signed his slip and gave him a ridiculous tip before taking the box and shutting the door.
Pizza wouldn’t make everything better, but at least the tears had stopped. Fixing my sister’s love life would have to do.
Even if I couldn’t fix my own.
I set down the pizza on the counter. “Now, tell me more about Todd.”
Thirteen
After I dropped off Felicity, I had nowhere to go. I’d cut ties with Turnbull when I left. A shitbox apartment I’d been sharing with our drummer Bryan wasn’t worth paying to keep up. Especially since neither of us had any designs to come back to Turnbull.
All I had was the house. And it wasn’t even officially mine.
The paperwork was done, just in the hands of banks and lawyers. I had more than enough to buy it outright, but banks actually tended to steer you clear of that. Investment, blah, blah, credit, blah.
So, I had a mortgage.
Insurance.
Paperwork out my ass and phone calls to make.
What was I doing?
Sitting in the middle of my empty living room with my battered keyboard case sitting in front of me on the carpeting. Stickers and decals from dozens of different cities were layered over each other on the pebbly black surface. The handle had two chips on it from falling out of our bus numerous times.
I traced my thumb over the faded sticker in the corner. Shady’s. The first gig I’d ever played with my band. Felicity had been front and center the whole time. Always right there for me and my music.
Leaving her behind had nearly killed me, but the road and music had beckoned in a way I still couldn’t define. When had that gone silent?
Both of my first loves were tied up in a yin-yang of silence and passion. No matter how much I’d loved