I stared at Jim, unwilling to believe it was him. My tired eyesight must have been playing tricks on me.

"It's really me. Are you lost, Loverboy?"

The dude could barely hold in the laughter, while I stood gaping at him like an idiot.

"Not lost, just confused. What the hell are you doing here? Do you live here, or something?"

O'Brien shrugged. "I could ask you the same. See that house over there? It's mine. A friend left it to me, and I'm fixing stuff little by little."

"Your friend is generous," I said.

"Was."

"I'm sorry."

Jim sighed. "Yeah, me too. I love this place. So peaceful and beautiful. So, what brings you here? And where's Blondie? By the way, would you like an apple from the garden? Zero chemicals, that shit is the best."

I laughed. "Maybe later, thanks. And as for your question, that old Victorian is mine. I inherited it from my great-grandmother whom I've never met. She died when I was six and left everything to me. Apparently, I also have a grandmother. Have never met her either. And Sky...I have to get her back. Shit happened with her family and we broke up. Well, she did, but I'm dragging her back to Paris even if it's the last thing I'll do."

O'Brien nodded, biting off a chunk of his apple. "Atta boy. So, have you seen the house well already?"

I shook my head. "No. Why?"

Jim scratched the back of his neck. "Well, you're telling me it's been empty for how many years?"

"Fifteen."

"Right. You need to check the water and electricity. Storms are frequent in this area, sometimes the power is out for days. Are you gonna stay here long?"

"I was planning to bring Sky here once I've talked to my grandmother."

O'Brien let out a deep sigh. "You've got a lot to learn, Loverboy. You can't bring her here without checking everything first. What if there are rats?"

"I suck at this." I sighed. "I've lived in apartments all my life."

Jim pretended to be shocked. "Ah, those spoiled city kids. But don't worry; it's your lucky day cause I'm here. Come on; let's take a look."

I led Jim into the house. Indeed, he was right— I couldn't risk taking my girl to a place without making sure it was in a good state. I wanted us to spend some quality time together and solve our issues. The thought made me realize I would have to stay here at least one more day to clean everything and prepare the room we would sleep in.

"Your great-grandma had a good taste, Liam." I heard Jim say. He was in the living room, inspecting the furniture he'd uncovered. "Let me see if there's water and electricity."

I was amazed by the ease with which Jim moved around the house he's never been at. In a while, he'd checked everything, and I saw him give me a thumbs up from the stairs leading to what must have been the basement. "All good."

I swept my gaze over the things surrounding me, feeling overwhelmed. A layer of dust covered pretty much everything around me. I needed to clean and didn't even think about buying some supplies.

"Let's see what's going on in the rest of the house," Jim said, whistling as he climbed the stairs.

I followed him upstairs and took a look at the bedrooms. The biggest one was the most beautiful. The wooden furniture was old, but the quality of it was undeniable. The bed looked comfortable, and I couldn't help imagining Sky in it with me.

"You'll daydream about fucking your girl on that huge bed later," said Jim, startling me. "I'm gonna help you clean everything."

"Jim, you don't have to."

O'Brien shrugged. "I've got nothing else to do today; might as well help you. Besides, I bet you don't even know what tools to use."

"I'm not that useless, O'Brien."

Jim chuckled, winking at me. "Look how fast he gets pissed. Relax, Loverboy. The country air might be good for that mood of yours. That, and sex, but it won't happen unless we clean your mansion. Come on; let's grab some stuff at my place."

Jim left the house hurriedly. I struggled to keep up with him as he crossed the lawn and unlocked the gate. Soon, we were next to his house. It was smaller than mine, but the garden was beautiful. I saw a hammock and O'Brien noticed.

"I put it there for my girl. She likes reading; I thought she'd love to do it there."

"Your girl."

Jim laughed. "Yes, my girl. Sky's safe, don't act like I'm gonna eat your favorite cookies."

"How the fuck does Aiden put up with you?"

Shrugging, O'Brien led the way into his house. "We, the O'Brien men, are like this. Either you're with us, or you get pissed and sulk in the corner. Your choice, Loverboy. Kennedy's smart. Besides, he's known me for a while."

I watched Jim grab some cleaning supplies and took them when he handed the things to me. "Let's go."

Once we were back at my Victorian, we started to work side by side, cleaning the windows first and the furniture later. Soon, it became clear we wouldn't finish doing it today.

Jim looked out of the window and frowned. "Well, it looks like it's going to rain. Rain as in lots of water."

"How do you know?"

"The scent of the storm. I grew up in a small town, know a couple of things about the weather. Have you got food?"

"I bought a sandwich for dinner."

"A sandwich?"

"I didn't even know where the stores were in town."

"We'll spend all day tomorrow scrubbing and making that jungle of your garden look pretty. Besides, you need stamina for a welcome-to-my-mansion fuck with Sky. A sandwich isn't enough, Loverboy. Let's go to my place again. We have to grab some food."

"Why are you even helping me? I was an ass to you," I muttered, following Jim outside again.

The dude laughed."I like you. You're a great guy. Grouchy sometimes, but that's cause your girl ain't here to work her magic on Liam junior. I bet you're all happy when Blondie fucks your brains out."

"What guy isn't?"

Jim sighed. "True that. My girl and I will spend some days here, just the two of us, that's why I decided to come here first and finish some works in the house."

"You could've hired someone."

Jim groaned. "And I did, but this shit grounds me and makes me feel normal. Getting physically tired makes my brain relax. Do you get that?"

I thought about all the times I went to work out to give my mind some peace. "Yeah, I get that."

O'Brien winked. "See? I knew we'd be besties."

***

Jim was way smarter than me. He called it 'country smart'. The dude had food and drinks to spare. We went back to my house and settled on the carpet in the living room. It was already clean, and we were too tired to sit at the table.

The sky darkened in a matter of minutes. The crash of thunder made the windows rattle.

"See? Told you," Jim said, rummaging in the basket with the food he'd brought.

"What are you looking for?"

"This." Jim held up a candle and a lighter.

"We have electricity."

"Not anymore."

He was right. I groaned when I took my phone out of the pocket and saw there was no network, either.

"It happens here," Jim explained. "I told my girl that if she couldn't reach me it was because of it. So, we're gonna have a romantic dinner with you."

"In your dreams." I laughed.

Jim shook his head. "Nah. In yours. Do you know how many girls would pay to have dinner with the rockstar?"

"Good thing I'm not a girl. Your girl must be thrilled about it."

"I sense sarcasm. It's not easy, especially when shit like this happens."

Jim grabbed his phone and turned it around. I saw a screenshot of an article. In the photo that accompanied it, he was with a model, getting out of the limo.

"They published it yesterday. Do you know where I was?"

"At some after-party?"

O'Brien smiled a sad smile. "No, Liam. I was in my condo with my girl, having a glass of wine sprawled on the couch and watching a movie. A normal couple night, the shit I love. And then I got a notification about this crap, and that wonderful mood went to shit."

"It sucks."

"It does. I honestly didn't think about any of it when I signed the contract with the label. I wanted to make music and do something remarkable. I couldn't care less about my face in the tabloids or all that shit they write about me, but I have to put up with it regardless."

"It sucks to be you."

Jim winked at me. "Let's drink to that."

He retrieved a bottle of Jack from the basket and twisted off the cap. I gave him two tumblers we's found in the house.

"To the rich and famous?" I asked, raising my glass.

Jim laughed. "Fuck you. To the good guys, and the important shit in life."

We drank, saying nothing, and then ate the cold meat, cheese and bread Jim brought.

"So, what's the story with Sky?" Jim asked me after a while.

"She wanted to help her parents. She's a good girl."

"Loves her momma," O'Brien sang.

I knew the song. "Pretty much." I laughed. "I love her, Jim. Really, really love her. The balls-deep, shivers down my spine kind of love."

"The best kind."

"It is. And I couldn't let her go. I cried like a motherfucker when she left. I thought my fucking world was ending. I know hers was, too. We both cried, making love for the last time. The thing is, I don't want it to be the last. Sky gets me like nobody else, and I get her."

"In bed and out of it, right?"

"Yeah."

Jim lay on the carpet with his arms folded behind his head. "Then, don't let her go. That is so rare. I thought I'd never have it until I met my girl. And suddenly none of the other ones mattered. What happened before didn't matter."

"And you feel alive. You smile like an idiot, and you hurry home cause she's there. You listen to her rambling and it's cute as fuck."

"And it feels so fucking nice to put your head on her lap and close your eyes while she's playing with your hair. You might be a superstar, but she makes you feel humble."

I looked at the guy, who was starting at the ceiling with a dreamy smile on his lips.

"We're so screwed, O'Brien."

Jim chuckled, turning his head to look at me. "Damn right. Balls deep, shivers down our spines in fucking love."