Perry chuckles. “Maybe not that big, though. You must be traumatized.”
I roll my eyes. “I guess you win by default then.”
My words came off harsher than intended and he’s quiet for a moment. Perry takes the seat across from me and reaches for my cup. I pull it back immediately. “Ew, I saw what came out of you last night.”
Perry smirks. “Don’t worry, I found your drawer of toothbrushes you steal from the dentist’s office. That’s weird by the way.”
“Is not. Dental hygiene is very important and the only true way to wear red lipstick is to have perfectly white teeth.”
He steals my cup and holds it up to me in a toast. “I’ll drink to that.”
I cross my arms and lean back in my chair. “So, what are you going to do about your little problem?”
Perry arches an eyebrow. “Bishop, I think we already established I have a large cock.”
I grit my teeth. “No, dumbass. Sloan. Your ex-girlfriend whose engagement ring is sitting at your parent’s house.”
He shakes his head. “It’s not.” He reaches into his pocket and then looks up at me. “Where’s my wallet?”
“Oh my, God. You took it to the bar with you? What if you would’ve lost it? You should have seen yourself last night.”
He ignores me and tilts his head in annoyance. “Where is it?”
With a sigh, I walk over to the dryer in the small walkway beside the kitchen. I reach under a towel and then toss it to his chest.
Perry grins. “Don’t worry. I kept it in a safe place.”
I watch as he pulls out a tattered photo and unfolds it on the table. He points down to the shiny diamond in triumph. “Safe.”
My eyes begin to well up when I see the photo. I reach for it and he pulls it back.
I raise an eyebrow. “What? I can’t see it?”
He holds it against his chest and takes a breath. “Bishop, this is the only one I have. It’s been with me through some pretty fucked up shit. Be gentle with it.”
I take the photo carefully from his hand and my eyes burn. “This is that day.”
He nods. “Yeah, it’s not the only picture I have, but it’s the last one with us all together. I keep it with me at all times. To remember how it used to be—how it should be now.”
I reach my hand over and place it on top of his. “I’ve been down that road, Perry. I know you want to blame yourself for what happened to Jeremy, but it was an accident.”
He drops his head into his hands and lets out a sigh. “Maybe if we wouldn’t have been celebrating so much after winning that damn race.” He looks up at me, his gaze burning with intensity. “I should have been able to grab him. I shouldn’t have been that fucked up…”
“Hey, we all were. We were dumb kids doing reckless things. Something bad was bound to happen.”
His expression darkens. “Not to him. He was a good person. He was going to make something with his life. Not have it taken away at seventeen before it had even begun.”
I continue to hold his hand in silence. There’s nothing we can say to make what happened to my brother okay. We both know that. At least after the accident we still had each other. I had Walker, and he had Sloan—and me. Regardless of how much I love Walker, Perry always had me stuck in a place of doubt. I always wondered what it would be like if there was no Walker or Sloan. Would he feel the same?
I push that feeling aside as the bell rings, signaling a customer downstairs.
“Shit,” I say, pulling my hair into a ponytail. “My appointment must be early. Can you go down and stall so I can get dressed?”
“Sure,” he says, reaching for the picture and tucking it back in his wallet.
I hurry into my bedroom as Perry takes the stairs down to the shop. Quickly throwing on a pair of torn jeans and a black tank, I run mascara over my lashes and dust on some blush for color. Five minutes later, I run down and am faced with something I didn’t expect. Sloan is leaning against the counter, batting her eyes at Perry.
“Well, isn’t this a nice surprise,” I say with heavy sarcasm. I lean into her ear on my way past. “Missing something?”
She glares at me and turns to Perry. “You told her?”
Before he can open his mouth, I answer for him. “I peeled him off the bar at The Watering Hole last night. Just like old times. He spends one day with you and he’s already spiraling.”
Sloan crosses her arms. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, I think I do,” I sneer, stepping closer. “You think you can just show up two years later and act like everything is fucking peachy? You can’t throw people away like that and expect them to accept it.” I shoot a look to Perry. “Even if they’re dumb enough to fall for it.”
Perry clears his throat. “Okay, that’s enough you two.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out her ring. “I think this is what you came for.”
Her eyes light up when she sees the over-sized sparkler. “Oh, I was so worried. Johnny would flip his shit if he noticed it was missing.”
She slides it back onto her perfectly manicured finger and sighs.
I can’t hold back a bitter laugh. “So that’s it then? Thanks for the bang, but now I need to get back to my husband?”
“Bishop,” Perry warns.
I shrug. “What? Can’t we just cut out all the bullshit? This is exactly what this is. She’s bored and you’re some dangerous felon now that she can live out her deepest bad girl fantasies with.”
Sloan scoffs. “That’s not what this is at all. We love each other.”
My face scrunches up in disgust as I turn to Perry. “You still love her?”
He nods. Sloan smiles at me like its something she should be proud of.
“And you love him, too?”
“Of course I do. I’ll always love him.”
“But you’re not going to leave Johnny for him.”
Perry grips the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable with the line of questioning.
“I—I don’t know. This all happened so fast.”
I roll my eyes. “That’s what I thought.” I turn away from them and start to flick on the lights. “I don’t know about you two but I have work to do. Take your drama somewhere else.”
Perry steps over and grabs my arm. “I’d still like to talk to you. This morning was, well it was nice.”
I glance over at Sloan and then back to him. “You can come by later if you want. But don’t bring her with you.”
I say the last part overly loud and she glares at me.
“Okay,” he says in a small voice. “I can do that.”
Perry walks over and places his hand on the small of Sloan’s back and leads her out the front door. I can see them through the large glass window, clearly arguing on the sidewalk. Not a good idea. We live in a small town and the chances of them being seen together and it getting back to Johnny is great.
I’m not surprised she picked him in the first place. He was always trying to come in between her and Perry and the many times that they broke up, he sometimes did. Sloan was always looking for a way out of this town. A better life that only Johnny could give. He’s currently in his second year of med school and is away a lot.