I never took it off.
I would never take it off.
It was all I had left of him.
Luckily, I didn’t have a lot of time to dwell. Law school was demanding, intense, and competitive, and it taught me how to compartmentalize my emotions to better deal with tough situations. A few guys even caught my eye, and I went on some dates when I allowed myself a rare night off. During my last year, I dated a sweet fellow law student, Nick Martin. He wasn’t my forever guy, but we filled a need for each other until we graduated and went our separate ways.
Regardless of my hurt and pain about our relationship, Ty’s perseverance and ability to overcome adversity, despite his upbringing, resonated with me on a deep level. I wondered how many kids like Ty had been left behind. It bothered me that so many creative children had limited or no access to music and other arts programs in schools due to lack of funding.
Honoring Ty and kids like him became my passion. Maybe even my redemption. While not the sexiest type of law, focusing on non-profit corporate work meant I could spend my days giving back to the world. Once I made the decision, it felt so good to have a purpose, to thrive and excel in school, and finally get a little of my mojo back. Graduating summa cum laude meant I had my choice of law firms, and Joe Finney recruited me to join Finney Cooper in Seattle. I was bound and determined to be the best damn lawyer in town.
When I returned to my hometown, Alex and I picked up where we left off. She had curated such a cool career, visiting locations all over the globe as a travel expert and influencer. With millions of Instagram followers, sponsors sometimes paid her more for one post than I made in a year. Her success at doing something she loved was inspiring, and she was relentlessly persuading me to tag along on a trip, but I was tied to the long hours and grind of firm life.
Mostly, though, I didn’t travel with her because I couldn’t bear to run into Ty. I was pretty sure Alex had something going with Jace. She always downplayed it, but she didn’t want to hurt me. I was sick of her and my parents walking on eggshells around me, and I certainly didn’t want my own bitterness to affect my BFF’s chance at happiness. Work became my primary outlet.
After a particularly grueling week at work, I was calculating the hours I needed to bill to make partner in eight years instead of ten. I also created a target list of potential clients to recruit into Finney Cooper, knowing that being a rainmaker would speed up my partnership track even more. When my office phone rang, no one was more surprised than me when Carter Pope was on the line to invite me out for lunch. The timing couldn’t have been better. In Seattle, aside from the LTZ guys—who were clearly out of contention—clients didn’t get bigger than Carter. Landing such a big fish for the firm would catapult my career above all of the other associates I was in competition with.
I’d never gone down the rabbit hole and blamed Carter for wrecking my relationship with Ty. Sure, I was upset that he had so much influence over my eighteen-year-old self, but I’d realized it wasn’t personal. He loved Ty and wanted the best for him. I had to own up to my own responsibility in our breakup and how poorly I’d handled it.
Intrigued to have a chance to catch up with Carter, I met him in a small coffee shop close to his home in the Madrona neighborhood. Wearing black jeans, a white, fitted T-shirt, and a black-and-purple brocade jacket, I always tried to push the boundaries of business attire. It was my own personal act of rebellion. Carter wore his uniform of jeans, an LTZ T-shirt, and a baseball cap. He looked older but still very handsome.
“Zoey, you look lovely.” He grasped my hands. “You’re so grown up.”
“Thank you, Carter. It was so good to hear from you after all these years.” I kissed his cheek.
“I was afraid you wouldn’t come. It’s been so long. I was actually surprised you took my call.” He rested his chin on his hand and looked at me pensively.
“Well, I nearly didn’t, Carter. But, when you mentioned you wanted to set up a non-profit to fund music programs in schools, I couldn’t say no. It’s something I’m personally very interested in.” I smiled. “Tell me more about what you’re thinking.”
To his credit, he never brought up Ty or LTZ. Instead, for over an hour, we discussed his idea for a non-profit program. He asked if I would set up and represent the company personally. As a young associate, I couldn’t make that call because we had a protocol at the firm, but I knew it was a done deal. Everyone, including Joe Finney, was a Limelight fan.
Overjoyed at landing my first big client, I was equally excited about working on Carter’s project. Which is why I set up the meeting with Joe. I spent nearly a week preparing and fine-tuning my presentation about Finney Cooper and the services we would provide.
At the kick-off meeting where my structure and plans would be presented to Carter and his team, never in a million years did I expect to see Ty standing there, hot as fuck, in a business suit. When I heard him speak my name in his deep, melodic voice, goosebumps broke out all over, and I was acutely aware of parts of my body that I’d forgotten even functioned. Remembering where I was, I tried to
