Page 100 of Lumi

“What are ye doing?”

“I’m looking up, Owen… hmm… was it Murphy?”

“Don’t.” Kit stared at my phone. “There’s no need.”

“Yes, there is. I want to know if he feels the same way about you.”

“I’m a private detective, Lumi. I have his contact information. I’ve always had it. Unless he changed it since I last checked.”

“And yet you haven’t contacted him?”

Kit closed her eyes. “I did once, many years ago, and it was a woman who answered the phone. It turned out Owen had married.”

“I dare you to call him up and ask him to have a cup of coffee with you.”

“His wife wouldn’t like that.”

“Leave him to worry about his wife. I think it would be healthy for you to meet and talk. You’re not asking him to have an affair with you, but it’s been twenty years, and you never forgot him.”

Kit inhaled sharply. “I don’t know.”

“What’s holding you back? Seriously? What do you have to lose?”

“Pride.”

“Pride rhymes with loneliness,” I said with a challenging stare.

“Hmm… let me give ye a bit of advice, Lumi.”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t take up poetry. Ye might be good with numbers and all, but ye can’t rhyme for shit.”

I grinned. “My point is that I know what it’s like to let your fear of rejection limit you.”

“It’s not just that.” Kit leaned in and spoke directly into my ear. “What if Owen lost that naughty gleam in his eye? Maybe I won’t find him the least bit attractive. Do ye know how devastatin’ that would be? Owen is my go-to man when I need to relax before bedtime.”

“Oh, you mean… right.” I didn’t finish my sentence because I understood full well what she meant.

“Would Merida be afraid of calling up a man?”

Kit shook her head. “Merida is fearless.”

“Then be your own Disney princess and make shit happen. Call Owen up and ask him to have a cup of coffee with you. Tell him you would love an update even if it means suffering through him showing you family pictures of his wife and kids. I know it’s hard, but you haven’t moved on from your childhood crush, and Owen isn’t that person anymore.”

“What if he doesn’t remember me?”

“Of course he remembers you. How long were you together?”

“Almost two years. I was seventeen, and he was nineteen when we met.”

I scoffed and imitated her voice, “What if he doesn’t remember me?As if anyone ever forgets their first love.”

“You really think I should contact him?” Kit asked and scrolled through her contacts.

I nodded and took the drink that Damian handed me.

“Thank you.”