Lib Novel Page 82
“What makes you say that?”
“I was reading his journal again.”
“Well, if he’d met you…” He paused. “He would’ve confirmed that.”
“Thanks a lot, asshole.” I chuckled.
“I’m kidding.” Atticus pulled a chair out and sat backwards. “But try to stop torturing yourself with things you can’t change.”
“Easier said than done.”
“I know this whole trip is about connecting with him, and that’s not easy when he isn’t here. But I hate seeing you so damn down like this. You need to cheer up, man. You should come with us to crash this karaoke bar tonight. The locals will shit their pants if you show up.”
“I’m not sure how I’ll feel after today. I’m supposed to meet Jacob’s parents this afternoon.”
“I didn’t know you were doing that today.”
“Yeah. I’m meeting Emily at their house later.”
Atticus rested his chin on his hands. “How’s it been—hanging out with her?”
“It’s a little tense, but that’s to be expected.”
“You still like her?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“I get that. But feelings don’t just get erased because of circumstances.”
“I can’t like her. How about that?” I shrugged. “She’s got a boyfriend now anyway.”
“And you have a girlfriend.”
“Yes. Thanks for the reminder.”
He scratched his chin. “You know, I find it kind of weird how you haven’t had a girlfriend all these years. And when that whole thing went down with Emily, you jumped right into a relationship.”
“What are you insinuating?”
“Not saying it’s a bad thing, but just that you might’ve jumped into something with Nazarene to forget about Emily.”
“You’re a friggin’ genius,” I said.
“Nothing wrong with that. Nazarene is a smokeshow. Can’t go wrong there. But I feel like you connected with Emily on a deeper level.”
I inhaled a deep breath. “I can definitely see why my son loved her so much.”
Atticus raised a brow. “Just him who loved her, huh?”
Fuck. I couldn’t even begin to ponder whether what I’d felt for Emily was love. I shook my head. “Like I said, doesn’t matter.”
“You seem to think Jacob would be mad at you for unknowingly messing around with his girl. How do you know he wouldn’t understand?”
“He hated me enough as it was. Pretty sure that would only make things worse.”
“He didn’t hate you. He didn’t even know you.”
“What gets me is, he wasn’t wrong with some of the shit he wrote about our music. But he was definitely wrong in thinking I wouldn’t have wanted to know him.”