Page 166 of Slumming It

In my Chicago office, Slade was asking, "You know what you're like?"

From the look on his face, I didn't want to hear it. But hey, I'd play along. "What?"

He leaned back in my visitor's chair. "A broken train."

The fuck I was."I’m not broke."

Slade looked annoyed. "I didn't say broke. I said broken." These days, he was looking annoyed a lot, and I had a pretty good idea why.

But as far as the details, he wasn't talking. AndIwasn't asking. This made his observation more irritating than it might've been otherwise. "Yeah, well I'm not brokeorbroken."And I sure as hell wasn't a train.

"The hell you're not," Slade said. "I mean, yeah, you're still chugging along, but it's only a matter of time before you go off the rails."

Couldn't he tell?I wasalreadyoff the rails, and pushing me didn't help.

But Slade being Slade, he didn't let it go. "You should just tell her the truth."

I stared across my desk. "And what truth is that?"

He shrugged. "That you fucked up."

"I didn't fuck up," I told him. "Iamfucked up." I let out a hard scoff. "She deserves better."

"Oh, so now you're a martyr?"

Slade should've known better.I wasn't the martyr type. "No. I just don't want to be an asshole."

"Yeah, well, that's a first."

Fair point."Alright. Maybe I don't want to be an asshole toher."

For some reason, this made him chuckle. "Why shouldshebe special?"

Because shewasspecial, that's why.

It had been two weeks since Emily had walked out of my hotel suite, and I had been sleepwalking ever since – going through the daily motions of living while feeling half-dead.

I knew exactly why.

I'd left the best part of me in Driftwood Cove.That fucking town.

Twice in my life, I'd felt something like happiness, and both times, it had been there. And because I was no idiot, I knew damn well that it wasn't because of the place.It was because of the people, a few in particular.

Or in this case, it was because ofoneperson – one incredible girl who had managed to wheedle her way into my stone-cold heart.

Emily Ann Quinn.Wherever she was, that place would feel like home.

I was still lost in my thoughts when Slade said, "Hey, I've got an idea."

My mind was still on Emily. "What?"

"What you should do is waitanothertwenty years and go back a second time."

What the fuck?"Why would I do that?"

"Oh, I dunno," he said. "Maybe you could meet her husband, have some drinks, maybe a few laughs."

Husband?I stiffened in my seat. "Is she dating someone? What have you heard?"