“God,I love you too,” I said back. “Sofuckingmuch.”
Andwith a quick kiss against her neck, I let her go. I had to, even though lettinggo of Kylie felt like letting go of my courage. With a deep breath, I lookeddown at Richard. “Sorry. Okay … okay, let’s talk.”
Hesmiled, shaking his head. “That’s quite all right. Please, sit.”
PART THREE
You are not wrong, who deem,
That my days have been adream;
Yet if hope has flown away,
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore thelessgone?
Allthat we see or seem,
Is but a dream within adream.
-Edgar Allan Poe, “A DreamWithin a Dream”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Devin
Two weeks aftermeeting Richard, he had a towncar pick us up from our apartment, and he’d instructed the driver to take Kylieand me into New York City.
Now,I had been in the concrete jungle of hopes and dreams before, but never had Ifelt likesomeonein that city. Never had I been driven in a shiny,black car with tinted windows, with pedestrians attempting to catch quickglances through the glass and see who was being driven around.
Ilaughed, imagining their disappointment when they saw only me, Devin O’Leary,in his old, worn jeans and crappy t-shirt, and his purple-haired, bombshellgirlfriend.
Butthen, I remembered the time Kylie and I had spotted an enlarging crowd,surrounding some guy from an MTV reality show. We had asked a nearby fangirlwho it was, and goddamn if I could remember the dude’s name now, but there wasthis small rush of excitement. Of being that close to someone people thoughtwasnoteworthy, and I thought,would people feel that way about usright now, in this fucking car?
“Didhe tell you where we’re going?” Kylie finally asked, turning to me, herprismatic blue eyes hidden behind a pair of thrifty sunglasses.
“Nota fucking clue,” I mumbled, lacing my fingers with hers.
Theleather seat was pleasantly cool under our skin. Sensual. I thought momentarilyabout sending up the divider between the front and back seats, maybe make outwith her a little. Maybe go all the way in the backseat of that fancy car,before arriving at our destination, and I would have, if we hadn’t then pulledup in front of a building with a mirrored front.
“Allright, sir,” the driver said, casually turning to face us. “Mr. Brewer has leftme with instructions to send you to the fourth floor. You’re to wait for himthere in the lobby.”
“Doeshe pay you to be cryptic?” I asked.
“Hesaid it was a surprise, sir.”
Inodded. “Well, should I, uh … tip you?”
Hesmiled politely. “That won’t be necessary, sir.”
Christ,I was completely out of my element. “Okay, well, thanks a lot.”
“Ofcourse, sir. I’ll be picking you up later, to take you and Miss James backhome.”
Ismiled politely. “Well, then, we’ll see you later.” And with that, I ended theawkward exchange by opening the door, greeted instantly by the cacophony of carhorns and endless chatter. I got out, gently pulling Kylie along with me, andtogether we looked up at the building.
