Re: Great Gatsby: Jude/Clem/Shane/Graham
There was a hiccup when she mentioned Lorelei, a brief spark of something, there and gone too quick to pin down. Graham shook his head. "Have some of my own. Keep yours." And she was right in thinking he didn't need them anyway. Memory was better than any picture, and he could replay moments over and over in his mind much as he liked. No, he didn't need pictures. Had some, but didn't need them.
So Jude knew. Made this all a little easier, now he knew he could get straight to the point. He didn't give a damn if the man thought he wasn't good enough. He didn't give a damn what the man thought, period. His opinion wasn't of real importance to him and probably never would be, because hell if he'd ever care what some rich boy thought. "Is he?" It was a slow drawl; oh, was he inclined to have him stay? Graham just bet he was. He fixed his gaze on the man, away from Clem all drawn up in the doorway, and there was nothing skittish about him then, not even a little. Dark eyes and mouth in a firm line, he didn't look the sort to back down easy. "If she wanted me to stay," he said, with more care for full sentences and pronunciation than usual, to make sure he was being real clear, "I'd stay. Wouldn't make her leave. But she wants to go." Plain and simple.
He didn't think they were arguing. Not yet, anyway. "No arguing," he assured her. "Just having a conversation." Last thing they needed was to get her all upset, after what she'd been through. Graham wasn't all that good at reassurance but he tried. Still, he nearly snorted in derision when she asked if they could all be friends; that man would never be his friend, and he didn't want him to be. He said nothing. Silence.