One Real Thing Read Online Free PDF Page A

can’t stop either. I never could.”
    Way to not answer the question. Holly turned around to look at Nick; for a moment, Nick looked young and afraid. Maybe that was answer enough. “What the hell are you thinking?” Holly leaned against the bathroom door frame, arms crossed over his chest to hide the way his hands kept shaking. “Don’t tell me Caroline knows you’re here. I mean…here, here.”
    “She thinks I’m on a story. My editor thinks I’m on a story. The only person who knows what I’m doing is Rich. So if you fuck up again, you’re fucking up my life too.” Nick looked up and said, calm as you please, “So don’t fuck up again.”
    “Christ. No pressure, Nick.” Holly was so tired, and he was so angry. “So, when you feel better about things, what happens to me?”
    “I’m not leaving you alone again.” Nick got up, towel slipping, and pulled clothes out of his suitcase.
    “You’re out of your fucking mind if you think you’re going to babysit me for the rest of my life.” Holly turned away so he wouldn’t watch Nick dress. “Actually, you’re just out of your fucking mind. You shouldn’t have come.”
    He escaped into the bathroom and closed the door. His chest hurt like he wanted to cry. It had been years, but Holly still remembered how Nick smelled, the feel of the sharp ridge of his collarbone through his wool sweater when Holly rested his cheek there, the way he looked so confounded and irritated when Holly touched him. It had been years, but Holly still couldn’t shake the overwhelming feeling that if he could just crawl into Nick’s arms, the world would fall into place around them.
    “But I did.” Nick’s voice came through the closed door as clearly as if he were standing right next to him.
    “I wish you hadn’t.” Holly let his head fall back against the door. Everything hurt. He needed a drink so badly, needed something to take to make everything make sense. How the hell was he going to survive the flight without losing it in midair? “Go find me some fucking Xanax.” There was no way he was getting on the plane without it. He had this vision of himself laughing hysterically, capering, singing, mad as a fucking hatter, going all the way crazy until someone shut him down.
    “No.” The answer was flat and uncompromising. “I’ll drive us back to New York if you can’t handle flying.”
    “Jesus, Nick.” Holly lifted his head and let it thud against the door again. “It’s not like I’m asking for a bottle of whiskey.” His skin squeaked against the metal as he slowly slipped down until his knees wouldn’t let him go any farther.
    “It’s going to be fine. I’ll get you a window seat.”
    “Why are you doing this to me?” And why couldn’t Holly just throw him out or get out, just leave? Fuck’s sake, Holly, just leave.
    “Because I can’t not. Not anymore.” Something thudded over Holly’s head. “I used up all my ‘don’t give a damn’ already.”
    “Should have gone into another line of work.” Holly tried to get to his feet and nearly fell over. The counter was there to hold him up, or he’d have gone down with a crash. “Just get me something for the plane. Dramamine. I’ll settle for that. Benadryl’s good too.” He made it over to grab a couple of towels. Clean towels. They felt so good.
    “Dramamine. I’ll pick some up for you on the way through the airport.”
    “You’re a fucking saint.” Holly cranked the shower to hot. “If you loved me, it’d be the fucking Xanax, though,” he called. Not like that was going to happen, on any front.
    Holly tugged the frosted glass door closed behind him as he stepped into the spray rushing out from every angle. Not that he was surprised. Wasn’t a lot to love about him these days, less than usual, and Nick wasn’t the type anyway. Holly couldn’t even be offended about it. If he were going to get offended about that, he’d’ve done it ten years ago.
    ***
    Nick checked the