As Jacinda disappeared into the kitchen, a knock at the door interrupted the replay of the parkour-ing on the screen.
Not even thinking twice about it, I threw it open. “Parko— Canon?”
“Nah, it’s not a canon. I think Bond shoots a gas tank in the embassy compound,” Jacinda called from the kitchen. “Although, why doesn’t Bond ever use a canon? Well, aside from the one between his legs. That would have been a—” her diatribe cut off with a gasp, and then her tone changed completely. “You. What are you doing here?”
The relationship between the two was normally entertaining, but… Actually, no, no buts about it. Moving away from the door, I skirted behind the seething woman and took a seat on the couch with the bowl of popcorn we’d been sharing earlier.
“Ah, there’s my sparkling joy.”
His response just riled her up even more. “I’m not your anything, but you’re definitely a pain in my ass.”
Shoving a handful of popcorn in my mouth, I chewed slowly as he shot a truly perverse smile at her. “I thought we weren’t going to tell anyone about that? But if you want me to tell Naomi how you like me t—”
Her way of shutting him up was shocking but effective. She kicked him in the shin.
“Why are you here?”
Ooo, good question.
“To check on you both. Bond told me y’all were having a girl’s night, but I wanted to make sure Naomi was okay, too.”
It burst out of me before I even knew it was coming. “Aww, thanks, Canon. That’s such a nice thing to do.” Then, focusing on Jacinda, I sighed, “Wasn’t that nice?”
“Yeah,” she mumbled. “He can be nice when he feels like it.”
Throwing his arms out, he pulled her in for a hug. “Thanks, bestie. I knew you loved me.”
I swear he went out of his way to piss her off, and this was proof. The typical Canon was relaxed and mature, but something about her made him do shit like this just to irritate her.
“Canon Klein, if you want to keep the tiny little berries between your legs functional, I’d advise you to let go of me,” she ground out.
Dropping his arms—wisely—Canon sighed. “Why do you always have to go for the nuts? Are you that obsessed with them?”
Shoving more popcorn in my mouth, I watched my new source of entertainment play out. By the end of it, I was one hundred percent certain Jacinda loved having his attention on her—she just didn’t want to.
TWO
Carter
I’ve lived more years without my parents than I had them here for, but I still remember the things they used to teach me.
My dad’s favorite was: life has a soundtrack for every moment, but there’s also a song for the stage you’re at. Find it, absorb it, learn from it.
For a long time, the song for the stage I was at in my life was Hurt. Some people preferred the Johnny Cash version, and some liked the Trent Reznor. And then there was the Nine Inch Nails one.
Depending on the mood I was in, Johnny Cash’s was mine, but then there were moments when the Nine Inch Nails’ version covered how I was feeling because of the cursing in it.
Either way, the lyrics hit perfectly for me. Right now, I had the explicit Nine Inch Nails version playing as I drove into work. I wasn’t feeling depressed or gloomy, I was just reflecting.
I knew the hurt Naomi was feeling, the pain that festered deep inside, coming to the surface for that one day until you got control again. I couldn’t make it go away for her, I couldn’t even make it go away for myself, but I could at least help her through it. If it hadn’t been for work, I’d have stayed with her until she told me to go. Instead, I’d arranged for someone who I knew would help her.
Jacinda hadn’t come out and told us all what’d happened in her life but like attracted like, and the rawness inside of her meant she’d be able to guide Naomi through tonight.
Sometimes like attracting like was a good thing, but then it could also be a bad thing. If you’d both gone through similar shit or suffered from similar issues, you knew what the other one was feeling and could empathize and pass on the techniques you use to cope.
Unfortunately, it also meant you knew what would make them tick for some people and situations, and if you were spiraling or close to it, you could bring them down with you. I’d seen it happen in my job. People with issues living with someone who had similar ones ended up triggering them, dragging them down into the same depths of despair.
Jacinda was a lot like I was, though. She’d gotten through it—mostly—and was good at enjoying her survival.