NO MATTER HOW pissed off he was at the world, John couldn’t leave Boston without talking to Theo. He paced the small space of the elevator, and when the doors opened, he nodded to Ava.
“Hey, thanks for everything.” He stopped at her desk. He hadn’t had a chance to order her a gift as planned, so instead, he handed her a business card to Amy’s tattoo parlor.
“What’s this?” She looked at it quizzically.
“I’ve heard you talking about wanting your first tattoo.” He pointed at the card. “That’s Meg—I mean, Jo’s sister. Go there and get what you want. Tell her to bill it to me.”
“Wow. Thank you. Really.” She grinned up at him, clearly delighted. “Now I can get that tattoo of your name on my ass.”
He snorted. “Just make sure you spell it right.”
“Theo’s in his office,” she continued, tucking the card under her keyboard. “And I hate to break it to you, but I think he knows about you and Meg.”
“Yeah.” John winced, then moved down the hall. “Thanks.”
Theo. Meg.
Damn.
How could he walk away from Meg?
How could he not when she’d made it clear that they were done?
Heart in his shoes, he stopped outside Theo’s office. The door was open, but Theo had his head bent over his laptop.
John’s heart squeezed as he looked at his friend. Did this mean the end of them, too?
He thought of that night, just a week ago, at Grapes of Wrath. He’d been on top of the world.
How had he managed to screw things up so spectacularly?
“Hey,” he said, and Theo glanced up. His features hardened when his gaze landed on John.
“Are you still here?” he asked.
John stepped into the office. “Did you expect me to leave without saying goodbye?”
“I guess I don’t know what to expect from you anymore.”
“Fair enough,” John said. “But I just want to say thanks for a great couple of months.”
Theo snorted, and John stiffened. “I’m sorry for going behind your back. I never meant to do that.”
“But you did it anyway.”
“And I’m apologizing for that.”
“Just for that, huh?” Theo pushed back in his chair and stared out the window for a second. “Not for screwing Meg over?”
“I didn’t screw her over.” John’s voice was full of frustration. “I...care about her.”
His gaze slowly moved back to John’s. “Then why are you leaving?”
“Hi, pot, kettle calling.” Frustration building inside him, he crossed the room and plunked himself down into the chair across from Theo’s desk. “Didn’t you leave Jo for years?”
“That was different.” Theo was indignant. “I loved her.”
John eyed him from across the desk. Theo’s mouth fell open. And then he laughed.
“Hey,” John protested, irritation closing in. “This isn’t funny. I love her, and I have to go. It sucks.”
“You’re an idiot,” Theo informed him, settling his elbows on his desk and pinning John with a stare.
“I thought the name-calling portion of the evening was done last night.” John glared. “What am I an idiot about? Please enlighten me.”
“Look. I lost years with Jo because we were both so stubborn.” Theo leaned forward in his seat. “You don’t have to. Go, finish your contract, then come back. There’s enough work here in Boston to take you into retirement.”
“What?” John blinked at his friend. This was so simple. This was brilliant. How had he not thought of this? “Do you... Do you think she’d wait? This contract is for three months.”
“FaceTime sex,” Theo told him gravely. “Jo’s working on a post about it right now.”
“Won that one, did she?” John grinned at his friend as his thoughts circled, faster and faster.
“Lesson to a happy life with one of the Marchande girls, my friend. Pick your battles.”
Sound advice.
And this... Asking Meg to wait... This battle was worth picking.
John pushed from his chair, his heart thumping against his rib cage. “Are we...okay?”
“Yeah, we’re okay,” Theo said. “Now, go do what you need to do.”