“The answer is simple, my friend.”
“Well, then. Please. Enlighten me.”
“You track her down and ask her.”
I blinked, not quite sure I’d heard him correctly.
“I’m not sure that’s a great idea, Alex. Stalking is just as illegal for us as it is for our fans. If she’d wanted to reach out again, she would have.” Resting my head back against the wall, I blew out an exhausted breath. “Maybe I should just drop it.”
Even as I said it, I knew I couldn’t. Not until I figured out where I recognized her from. Why it was that I seemed to dream about her, even before I knew her name.
“It doesn’t have to be creepy, Hawk,” he replied, his tone conveying his disappointment that I had immediately gone to the worst-case scenario. “We just talk to Mick about adding a segment to our documentary where we get in touch with some super fans. Even if she says she doesn’t want to be involved with the project, you’d get a chance to talk to her. Let her know you got the letters and maybe even find out the rest of her story. It would be closure, bro, and sometimes, that’s all you can hope for.”
“Holy shit, Alex. That just might work.”
“I do have some good ideas sometimes, you know,” he drolled as he climbed to his feet. I followed, groaning a little at how much effort it took to do so.
“Thank you, man. Really.”
“Come on. Let’s hug it out.”
We did, his hand slapping my back a few times before he pulled back, face serious.
“Now, I’m glad I could do something good for you, because I have a feeling you’re not going to like what I have to say next.”
“Oh, fuck. What now?”
Alex wrinkled his nose at me before he finally spoke.
“Lewis is here.”
Chapter forty-two
Hawk
Present
Lewisstoodinmyfoyer, hands shoved in his pockets, as he looked around awkwardly. I had no idea why he’d come over, but I was glad he seemed to realize that he wasn’t welcome inside alone anymore.
Unlike Victoria, he seemed to understand basic human boundaries.
“Lewis,” I said when I entered. “Didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”
Or ever.
“Hawk,” he replied, his demeanor and tone so different from how it had been the day I’d shown up at his place. “Can we talk?”
I stared at him, taking in the face of the man I’d thought I’d known. The man I’d grown up with and had considered a friend, and for the first time, I didn’t feel anger.
I felt regret.
Because I was starting to see that I was just as much to blame for how things had ended as Tori and Lewis were.
It was time I owned my shit.
“Yeah,” I said, tilting my head to indicate the study. “Let’s go.”
“I’ll be downstairs,” Alex said, heading in that direction. He knew I’d fill him in later, but in a moment of insight that honestly surprised me, he also seemed to know that Lewis and I needed our space.
