We went through the drive thru and Michael got my food. I sat quietly, picking at my nails— a nervous habit. When we pulled into my driveway, Michael put the car into park, and I hoped he wouldn’t want to come in. Thankfully, he just turned in his seat and looked at me.

“So you and Lewis are an item now, huh?”

I guess the truth was what he deserved, even though Michael and I were never really ‘together.’

“Yeah.”

He lowered his head. “Are you happy?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you love him?”

I closed my eyes tight. I hadn’t realized until this very moment that Michael had been trying to ease us into something more than just friends and sometimes sex buddies.

“Yeah.”

He nodded. “He’s a lucky man. You’ll still call … you know, if you need anything?”

“Of course, this doesn’t change anything. You’ll always be my friend.”

With nothing else to say, I got out of his car, took my suitcase out of the back, and walked inside my house. I wasn’t even hungry anymore. It was early evening and I was exhausted. I knew Ky wanted me to call as soon as I got home, but I needed a little bit of time to rest … to collect myself. I needed a freaking nap!

Leaving my suitcase at the front door, I went to the couch and collapsed. It wasn’t that I had gotten myself into a situation that I couldn’t explain, it was that I didn’t think I needed to explain myself to Ky. And I hadn’t seen the emotion from Michael coming. It looked like that’d been taken care of now, though. I closed my eyes and allowed my coiled up muscles to relax. It didn’t take long for me to drift off to sleep.

I had no idea how long I’d been asleep, but when I woke my living room was dark. I got up and turned on the lamp on one of the end tables. The clock that hung over the top of the TV read ten o’clock. Oh my God, seriously? I’d slept for over five hours! I rubbed my eyes, trying to shake off the tiredness. Then it hit me. I hadn’t called Kyler. Fuck.

I ran over to my purse and dug around until I found my phone. Christ, over twenty missed calls and fifteen text messages. I quickly dialed his number and it only rang once before he answered, sounding totally frazzled.

“Harper? Where are you?”

“I’m here, I’m at home.”

“When did you get home and why didn’t you call me? I’ve been out of my mind worrying.”

I sighed. “I know and I’m sorry. I was just so tired when I got in, that I laid down on the couch and fell asleep. Next thing I knew, I woke up and it was dark.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.” I said, confused.

I heard him curse under his breath. “Do you have any idea how close I was to jumping on a plane and coming to you? I even called Michael to see if he’d dropped you off.”

“You called Michael?”

“Yeah, I called him, and believe me, it wasn’t a call I cared to make, but I had no idea where you were. When you say that you’ll call me, I expect you to call me. Fuck, I swear you just took ten years off my life.” I could hear Ky exhale over the phone.

He needed to know that he had nothing to worry about. But I was a little angry that he was being so melodramatic.

“I’m sorry you had to call him. You shouldn’t have, but I know why you did.” And I truly did, but that didn’t change the fact that he’d overreacted. “I think I need to explain though. Yes, I was with Michael, but I want you to know that I didn’t go seeking him out. I was waiting at baggage claim when he called me. He said he was in Boise for a meeting and wanted to know when I was getting in so he could drive me home. I had planned on getting a taxi and sucking up the cost, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to have Michael drive me. Then you called.”

The other end was silent for a few short beats. “You can’t be that blind, Harper. You realize that he knew the day you were coming in, and he went to Boise to wait so he could drive you.” Ky was pissed.

“Give me a break. He had business.”

“Open your eyes!” He practically shouted. “You just spent a week with me, and now he’s trying to make sure he gets you back. He wants you, Harper. And I have to ask … do you want to be with him?”

“You asshat!” I yelled into the phone. “I told you I loved you and you’re asking me if I want to be with him? Did this week mean nothing to you?”

“This week meant everything to me. That’s why I had to ask.”

“Well, who’s blind now?” I threw back his words. “Turns out Michael did want something more from me, but I explained to him that I was in love with you. I … love … you,” I said slowly. “I’m not interested in him. I never will be.”

My chest was rising and falling and I was practically panting with anger. What the hell was his problem? Even if I had caught a ride with Michael, I was pretty sure that I’d made my feelings crystal clear. Granted, I’d left out the baggage about my dad, but I didn’t think that was something that needed to be brought up in the midst of me practically throwing myself at him. I’d talk to him about that when he was done with the tour, which I really wished was over. Not so I could throw myself in his arms, but so I could twist his nuts and tattoo ‘asshat’ on his forehead. God, men could be so dense sometimes.

I heard him breathe in through his nose. “Did anything else happen that I should be aware of?”

Was this guy for real?

“Seriously, Kyler? If there was more to this story, don’t you think I’d tell you? Jesus, you sure do know how to fire me up, don’t you? And since when do you play the ‘jealous boyfriend’ role? I’m not the one out touring every city in the fucking United States, and partying after every show.”

“Yeah, well, I also haven’t slept with any of the women that have come on to me either. Therein lies the difference between you and me.”

That was it—I’d reached my breaking point. I hung up on him and shut my phone off. Of all the times that Ky had been a douche to me, from high school up until now, that took the motherfucking cake. Frustrated and pissed off, I got up, went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of wine. I grabbed the cork with my teeth, spat it across the room, tipped the mouth of the bottle up to my lips, and chugged. After I’d swallowed about four mouthfuls of the rich merlot, I set the bottle down. I was seething.

“Fuck you, Kyler Lewis,” I screamed as loud as I could, even though nobody could hear me.

Wasn’t this just my luck? I’d kept myself closed off for years, then I go and fall for the one man that could take me from zero to pissed off in less than a second.

Awesome.

The night that Ky pissed me off, I got rip-roaring drunk, then took the next day off to sleep off the colossal hangover. It’d been two weeks since I’d spoken to him, but that didn’t mean that he hadn’t tried to talk to me. I’d thrown myself into my work and taken on more clients than I would normally would. It ended up making for an extremely overextended workday. I’d wake up at five in the morning and head to my office. Then I’d leave the office because Ky had delivery people dropping off random things throughout the day. I’d had flower deliveries, which made the place smell like a funeral home, singing telegrams, balloons, even an open-ended plane ticket. It was so ridiculous that I felt I needed to give my employees a pay raise just because they had to deal with his shit. And yet, I still couldn’t talk to him. I knew I was overreacting, but I’d let the argument get to a point where I wasn’t even sure how to end it.

Then on a Wednesday morning, I was called out to a house in the same subdivision that Finn had bought and sold his home. I had a sign in the front yard which had my name and contact number, and I guess the person wanted to see it immediately. It just so happened that I had a rare free moment, so I went out to see if I could close the sale.