Chapter 22

Bailey

I hadn’t seen Dirk in three years, and it was beyond jarring that he was standing here now.

How random was it that I would run into him the first time I came back to the area? I hadn’t visited this part of town since I’d sold my house and had to oversee the movers. It had been one of the hardest days of my life, so I’d been emotional when we’d arrived. But then Jensen put me on his back and made me laugh, reminding me how far I’d come. How much good there was in my life, despite the pain I’d endured to get to where I was.

Only to come face-to-face with the past.

“Bailey…babe. You look great.” Dirk moved toward me, and I nearly lost my footing trying to step away from him.

“Dude. I’m gonna need you to keep your distance.” Jensen angled his much bigger body between us, even as he quickly put a steadying arm around my waist.

“ Dude .” Dirk’s tone seemed to be mocking Jensen’s. “You keep your own distance. Bailey and me, we go way back. Tell him, babe.”

“I’m not your babe,” I hissed, though my voice didn’t come out nearly as strong as I would have liked.

“You look great! Where have you been hiding yourself?” Dirk either hadn’t heard me or didn’t care to take the hint that I had no interest in talking to him.

Not now.

Not ever again.

“None of your business.” I glared at him.

“Aw, come on, don’t be that way. We were together a long time… haven’t we grown up and moved on enough to have a casual conversation?”

“A casual conversation?” My voice, along with my temper, was coming back in full force. “What, exactly, did you want to talk about? How you tried to choke me that night in the limo? Or how you then subsequently tried to gaslight me into believing I was the one who caused the accident? That what you want to talk about?”

Dirk smirked. “Is that how you remember it? I guess you hit your head harder than we thought.”

“Fuck you.”

“Been there, done that.”

I felt Jensen tense, and I gently squeezed his arm, unwilling to let this escalate any further. At this point, I just wanted to get the hell out of here.

“Well, it’s been great,” I said sarcastically. “Take care of yourself, Dirk.”

I tugged at Jensen’s hand, but Dirk stepped in front of us again, preventing us from leaving.

“I’m living in our house again,” he said, a smarmy smile on his face.

“Excuse me?” I wasn’t sure what he was talking about.

“The people you sold it to rented it out, and when it became available a few months ago, some friends and I moved in. You should stop by—it’ll be just like old times.”

Pain and regret shot through me, but I was damned if I’d let him see it.

I’d come too far to let a low life like him drag me down to his level.

“Lovely,” I said, hoping my voice sounded bored. “Totally happy for you.”

Yeah, right.

All I wanted was to get out of here, but Dirk still hadn’t moved.

“Young man, why don’t you just go back to whatever you were doing and leave us alone?” Stella asked, speaking up for the first time.

“Who the hell are you?” Dirk snarled, looking her up and down with obvious disdain. “The nanny?”

“Buddy, you’re just begging for me to flatten you,” Jensen growled.

“Don’t.” I gripped his arm as he took a step forward. “Please.”

“Can’t I just hit him once?” Jensen asked, his eyes never leaving Dirk.

“He’s not worth it,” I replied with a sigh. “Let’s just go.”

Dirk laughed. “Figures you’re dating a wuss. See you around, Bailey!”

He still infuriated me, but I didn’t want to draw attention to myself.

Of course, leaving meant I would have to walk, and the idea of limping in front of Dirk nearly brought tears to my eyes. I hated my limp all the time, but never more so than in front of the man who’d been the reason I had it.

“Just lean on me,” Jensen said softly against my ear as we turned to go. “Use me for balance and it won’t be noticeable.”

This time tears stung my eyelids, but they were happy, grateful tears.

Happy I’d found such a wonderful guy and grateful that he could all but read my mind.

He was everything I’d never known I wanted, and I was falling hard and fast.

There didn’t seem to be a damn thing I could do to stop it, but why would I want to?

When we got into Jensen’s SUV, I motioned with my head. “Go that way and turn right at the stop sign.”

Jensen glanced at me curiously but did as I asked.

“Left at the next street,” I told him.

He turned down my old street and I saw my house just ahead on the left.

Memories and sadness hit me at the same time, but I needed to see it.

“Is this your old house?” Jensen asked quietly, reaching across the console for my hand.

“Yes.”

“It’s beautiful,” Stella said solemnly. “I’m sorry that asshole gets to live here and you don’t.”

“Me too,” I said.

“You want me to stop?” Jensen asked.

“No, just roll by.”

Damn, it still hurt.

I’d hoped it wouldn’t bother me anymore. It was just a house, after all, and I had a lovely home now too. It was just a physical representation of everything I’d lost. And I hated that it still bothered me.

I’d worked hard both physically and emotionally to get past it, but seeing Dirk today sent me spiraling a little. On the inside anyway. All I wanted was to go home and hide under the covers, but I couldn’t. Stella was making dinner tonight, and would be leaving on Sunday, so this was the only chance for us to do it. The last thing I’d ever do was something that might offend her, so I’d have to pull up my big girl pants and get through the evening.

“Do you still want to come to dinner?” Jensen asked, reading my mind yet again. “I understand if you’re not up for it.”

I opened my mouth to decline but then changed my mind, shaking my head. “No, that’s ridiculous. I love spending time with you and your mom. And she’s leaving soon. I can always go rock in the corner once she’s gone and you leave on your road trip.”

“I don’t want you to rock in any corners,” he said firmly. “Fuck that guy. I know you’re bummed about having to sell your house, and I can’t really help with that, but that Dirk asshole doesn’t get to live rent-free in your head another fucking minute. And if we can distract you from thinking about him tonight, that’s what we’ll do.”

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I don’t think about him at all . I don’t miss him. I don’t spare him a single thought anymore. It’s just the idea of him living in my house. Well, the house, since it’s not mine anymore. That makes me so frustrated. I didn’t do anything wrong and I had to sell it, but the guy who literally caused the accident that killed my friend gets to go on with his life like nothing happened.”

“Karma will find him,” Stella said gently. “I firmly believe that.”

“Well, my friend Sage got some good revenge.” I told them about her costing him a part in her movie.

“I love that!” Stella chuckled. “Good for Sage.”

“She single?” Jensen asked. “My friend Ivan recently went through a breakup, and he asked about double dating.”

“Oh.” I was quiet. “She’s not around much, always off shooting a movie or TV show. I only see her every three or four months, so we can try, but I can’t promise anything.”

“No problem. I just never heard you mention her before.”

“I don’t see her often anymore. We text and talk on the phone as much as we can, but she’s not in town very often, and I guess I’ve gotten a little lazy when it comes to friendships.”

“Don’t,” Stella said softly. “I lost my best friend to cancer last summer and I’d do anything to have one more phone call, one more text message, one more spa day. One day she was okay, and the next she was gone. Never take your friends for granted, Bailey. I know I sound like an old fuddy-duddy, giving advice you didn’t ask for, but trust me on this.”

“I’m sorry about your friend,” I said sincerely. “You must miss her very much.”

“More than I can say.”

I thought about all the lunch dates and shopping trips I’d turned down, all the opportunities to hang out when I’d said I was too tired, too sad, too sore. How many times had I made excuses when Sage, and several other friends in the early days after my accident, had invited me to do something? Far too many.

That needed to stop.

I wasn’t ready to be in the spotlight, but having friends was different.

There was no reason for me to be as much of a hermit as I’d become. At some point, I had to start fully living again. Not in the spotlight, that was a deal-breaker for me, but there had to be a happy medium.

“You’re right,” I said after a moment. “I should work harder at friendships, especially with Sage since she’s been there for me through thick and thin. It’s hard to listen to her stories about work, though. How much fun she’s having, or when she has a difficult director, or something. We used to commiserate on stuff like that. Now it just reminds me that I can’t do it anymore. But that’s not her fault, and she’s a good friend.”

“It happens to all of us,” Jensen said. “So don’t beat yourself up. I don’t call my siblings as often as I should either. We’re all in different time zones, with demanding careers and busy schedules. I haven’t talked to my sister in ages, but it’s not because I don’t love her. We all get caught up in our own lives, you know?”

“But you can strive to be better,” Stella said firmly. “That’s all I’m saying.”

“For sure.” I nodded. “And thank you for reminding me of that. I’ve been very self-absorbed the last couple of years. I’m trying to be better, but between the intermittent pain and my anxiety, it’s hard to remember that the world isn’t as scary of a place as I told myself it was right after the accident.”

“Your feelings are valid,” Stella said firmly. “But it’s also good to step out of your comfort zone sometimes. Like meeting Jensen. Imagine how much you would have missed out on if you hadn’t decided to give him a chance? And I say that to both of you, because he took a chance as well.”

“Oh, I know.” I glanced over at him and squeezed his hand, thinking of how he made me feel and how good things were between us. Now that I had him in my life, I couldn’t imagine my world without him in it. And I didn’t want to.

“Best risk I ever took,” he said, winking at me.

“Same.” I grinned back at him.

“You guys are so cute,” Stella gushed.

“Mo-om.”

We all laughed.