My phone buzzes on my bedside table. I ignore it. Again. I have a good idea of who it is and I don’t care.

Because it’s not Phoebe.

She wouldn’t answer my calls last night — or Thad’s — and I doubt she’d be calling us back right now. I wouldn’t blame her if she never did again, to be honest.

My bedroom door launches open and slams against the wall. Thad steps in dressed in a suit, showered, and shaved, with that red checkerboard tie hanging around his neck.

“Get up,” he says, quickly flipping a Windsor knot. “Let’s go get our woman.”

I don’t move. “Not a good idea, Thad.”

He walks to my closet and throws it open. “Suit. Tie. Shoes. Underwear recommended, but ultimately, optional.”

“Thad…”

“I figure we can corner her in her office,” he says, ignoring me. “You tell her what you told me after the reunion. That you thought she’d changed and that you liked how the kiss meant something to her. She’ll like that. Then, I’ll come in with how my fingers turned numb after our first kiss.”

“Thad.”

“That really happened, by the way. Thought I was having a stroke.”

I force myself to sit up. “What are you doing?”

He yanks out the first suit he sees and drops it on my bed. “Get up,” he says.

I look at him and the hard crease of his brow. “She’s gone, man,” I say.

“No, she’s not. She’s a few miles down the road. Let’s go.”

“You heard her last night.”

“She was angry. It’s been…” he checks his watch, “about fifteen hours. That’s plenty of time to cool off and think things over and I told her I loved her yesterday.”

I blink. “Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

He rolls his eyes. “It’s not a competition, man. And, also, because I do. I looked at her and I saw how happy she was with me — and with you — and I loved us.” He sits down on the bed with his eyes on the floor. “She didn’t say it back but that didn’t matter. I just had to say it to get to where I am right now.”

I nod slowly. “And where’s that?”

He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a small notepad. “We only get one life, Maximillian. One shot to get it right. By some miracle, we both got a chance at redemption and we blew it. For fifteen hours. I won’t go another one without her in my arms and neither should you.”

He tears out a page and lays it down on the bed between us.

“Now, get up,” he says again.

He stands and walks out without another word. I stop and stare at the piece of paper a foot away from me as I listen to his feet move through my condo.

Redemption. That’s what this was always about, wasn’t it? I’ve tried for a long time to earn that in many ways but it always slips free of my grasp at the last possible second. I keep trying, working a little harder to outrun the shadows looming above. Maybe that’s the problem. Do you hide from the shadow or do you turn around and face the wall? Earning redemption might not be enough. I should reach out and take it.

I pick up the paper and turn it over, finding a few handwritten lines on it.

A knock hits my front door. I hop off the bed as fast as I can and rush into the living room. Thad looks at me as hopeful as I feel.

Phoebe?

I throw the door open. My father stands there, tall and angry as usual.

“What the hell are you doing here, Max?”

“I—”

He pushes past me into the room and I cringe as David follows him inside. I close the door and turn to see him leering at Thad.

Thad flashes him a classic no-fucks-given smile. “What’s up, Keith?” he greets.

Dad ignores him but David offers a friendly head nod.

“You’ve missed two meetings this morning, one of which required a presentation from you directly. What the hell is wrong with you?” he asks again.

“I took a sick day,” I say.

“Are you violently ill?”

I bite my inner cheek as Thad looks to the floor. “No,” I answer.

“Physically incapacitated?”

“No. I had a personal matter I needed to take care of.”

“So, not a sick day, then?”

“Dad…” I glance around from his irate eyes to David’s smug smirk and Thad’s confidence. “I don’t have time for this right now.”

“I’m not going to bother asking what’s more important than doing your job because, quite frankly, I don’t care. You haven’t earned any sick days, Max. You’re slacking off. You completely blew a deposition. And now I come in here at noon on a Thursday and find you dicking around with this little shit.”

Thad raises a finger. “I’m actually not a little shit anymore. I’m a full-grown man shit. Kind of like how you’re not a little asshole anymore. You’re a giant, gaping asshole. Funny how that works out.”

I hold back my grin. “Thad…”

“Just sayin’. Ten years makes a difference.”

Dad takes a step toward me, somehow ignoring Thad, but he can’t hide the red in his face. “Get to the office. Now,” he growls.

I stand a little taller, feeling the breaking point snap in my head. We only get one life. One shot to get it right.

I’m not hiding behind tomorrow anymore.

“No,” I say.

Dad pauses his stride to the door and spins back around to face me. “No?”

“No.” I shrug. “I quit.”

“You quit?”

I glance at Thad’s proud face. “Yeah, I quit.”

“You can’t quit, Max.”

“I just did, Dad.”

“Without me, you’re nothing.”

I squint. “No, I’m pretty sure without you, I’m exactly who I want to be. I’ll send Erica my letter of resignation later today.”

“Like hell, you will.” He takes a step closer. “This is unacceptable.”

“Officially not my problem anymore.”

“You can’t speak to me like this. I am your father and as long as you bear my name, you will do as I tell you to do!”

I feel the weight of his words build on my shoulders… and promptly slide right back off again.

I laugh. It starts low in my gut, churning slowly until it finally explodes from my throat. I laugh until my chest aches and my face burns. Thad manages better than I, softly shaking with one hand latched over his mouth.

My father stares at me with wide eyes. “What about this is funny to you?” he seethes.

I wipe my eyes and take a smooth, calming breath. “Fuck off, Dad,” I say.

I shock myself as much as him but I’ve never felt freer in my whole life.

His jaw drops and I smile, listening to Thad’s low chuckle across the room. He twists to the door and marches out into the hallway, leaving David and his shocked, pale face behind.

I step toward him and sigh the last bit of laughter from my chest. “He’s all yours now, asshole.” I roll my fist. “Also…”

I punch him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. He bends forward onto his knees and I take a step back.

“I’ve always wanted to do that,” I say, flexing my fingers.

He wheezes, trying to speak, but it all comes out a continuous, jolting cough.

Thad walks over and helps him up with a wide, devious smile. “Come on, buddy…”

“Screw you, Max.”

“It’s all right…” Thad pats his back and opens the door. “Walk it off.”

“And that fat cunt, too.”

Thad drops his grin. “Okay, then.”

He grabs David’s arm, spins him back around, and punches him in the nose. Hard. David stumbles back into the hall and slides down the wall with both hands covering his nose as blood gushes out.

Thad kicks the door closed and turns back to me.

I nod. “Let’s go get our woman.”