He’d taken a bite, so he chewed, nodding, before glancing down at his plate, pushing his food around. “Yeah, it was fun. It was nice to go, so I’m glad you talked me into it.” He paused, taking a breath before he looked up. “Something kind of happened, and I didn’t know if I should say anything, but I don’t want to keep things from you.”
Placing my fork down, I brushed my hands on the napkin and nodded. “Okay, what is it?”
“Someone showed up asking for me.”
Before he could finish, I cut him off. “Are you okay? Was it your brother?”
“No,” he smiled before it dropped off. “It was, um, Nicco.”
I gasped, my hand covering my mouth at the name. I hadn’t expected him to say that name at all. So many thoughts rushed through my head, and I didn’t want to admit it wasn’t the angry ones. I’d been worried about him and Immy, my first thoughts about their wellbeing.
“Are they, are they okay?” The sound croaked out of me, my throat tight with emotion.
“Yeah, I think so. I was kind of a jerk to Nicco, giving him the cold shoulder for how he treated you. He’d been sent by Immy to give me, um, a letter.”
“Oh?” I smiled, the cleverness of her to get her way. I was glad she’d seemed to be holding onto her strength, the months we’d missed not sending her backward.
“I didn’t want to tell you this because I think Nicco should fight his own battles, but Immy pleaded for his case as well. She told me a lot without telling me a lot, and it sounds like they didn’t have a choice. As much of a cop-out as that sounds, I think I believe him.”
Nodding, I picked up my fork to return to my food, thinking about this new development.
“You’re not mad?”
His question had me lifting my head, and I noticed the concern on his face. Shaking my head vehemently, I reached across and placed my hand on his, clutching it. “No, honey. I’m not mad. Thank you for telling me. I would’ve understood if you hadn’t, but it does feel nice to know they’re okay at least.”
“Was he the one you were dating?” Monroe asked, shocking me. I turned at his question, having forgotten Monroe was there. Nodding, he prodded no further, and we all returned to our food. After a few minutes, Monroe spoke up again, this time making us all laugh.
“You know, this isn’t half bad.”
It was so out of the blue, we couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Thank you. Yeah, I’m pretty impressed with myself as well.”
Dinner conversation returned to safer topics after that, and soon, Jude excused himself to his room, offering Monroe and me some privacy. We were washing up the dishes and putting away the leftovers when he finally broke.
“So, Wells, huh?”
Chuckling, I turned to him. “I wondered how long it would take you to ask. He, um, kind of saved me last night from this guy who I think threatened me. Wells drove me out to his place, and I got to meet the dogs. He seemed… different.”
“Someone threatened you?”
“Oh, yeah. The guy from the train, the night I picked Jude up. He was waiting outside the gym for me.”
“Are you okay? That had to be terrifying.”
“Yeah, it was. I’m okay now. Wells is going to teach me self-defense.”
“You know, that’s the second time you’ve called him that.”
“Hmm?”
“Wells. Before, you always called him Surly.”
“Huh, yeah, I guess I have been. I guess he finally earned it.”
I smiled, the thought was a nice one to think. Things had improved between him and me. “So, did you two talk? Did he give you the answer you’ve been wanting?”
Monroe sighed, his face dropping. “He did actually, and I think for once, he meant it.”