“Ace, no,” Wes replies, his tone harsher than I’ve ever heard.

“Yeah, no. Stay, Ace,” Landon adds.

“I’ll still see you guys. It won’t be a big deal. This way you guys get your living room back, and he gets to be in his house. I can’t ask him to leave and go back to …” I hold out my arm because I have no idea where he’s been staying, and the question hurts my chest. “This is his home.”

“If you stay with Mindi and Kyle, we’ll barely see you,” Wes interjects.

“This decision can’t just be about me. I’m not leaving this time because I’m uncomfortable. I’m leaving because it’s the right thing to do.”

“If you leave, Kendall’s going to hate him, and you know what that will do.” Landon’s words are calculated; he knows what he’s just thrown at my feet. Do I want my relationship with Max to interfere with her relationship with him and chance how that will then affect Max and Jameson’s friendship? I promised her that if anything happened we would all be civil adults, and although moving houses seems like the appropriate thing to do, I know Landon’s right. I know Kendall will blame Max even though it wouldn’t be his fault.

Zeus pushes his head against me once more, sensing my unease. Max’s bedroom door opens. All of us turn to the balcony and see the light from Max’s room escape into the dark hallway.

“Landon,” Max barks before his feet hit the stairs.

Panic stirs in me, knotting my stomach so tight I feel as though I’ve just run a mile on a full stomach. I don’t know if he just knows that Landon heard him because Landon is such a light sleeper—he hears everything—or if our quiet voices had travelled up the stairs.

“Why don’t you take Zeus outside?” Landon says, turning to Wes. Wes looks at him defiantly, his chin sharp. I stand up, bringing Zeus with me like a shadow.

“Come on,” I say, waiting for Wes to stand up.

Wes collapses at the patio table with a mumble of curses. Zeus wanders into the yard, and I sit across from Wes, folding my arms across my chest as the slightly cool breeze touches my skin.

“Did you know you talk in your sleep?” The agitation on his face begins to break as he fights a smile, and I nod. “You talk a lot. Like Jameson, when he’s awake.”

“No one talks as much as J,” he says with a sheepish smile, turning his focus to the table between us.

“You’re wrong. You do. At least when you’re asleep you do.”

His eyes meet mine and the amusement that started to break through is replaced with a stoic expression. He’s hiding emotions, making my mind race to know if I want to know any of them or if I should be working to distract him again. “Ace, please don’t leave.”

I’ve hurt him. I’ve hurt all of them in some variance. Each of them have been affected from what I thought was my own internal battle—but it never was. Each day that I’m here, I see more of the scars from the shrapnel that flew the day my world exploded.

“Is he happy?”

Wes shakes his head a few times somberly and then looks up at the night sky. “He hasn’t been happy in a long time. You know that.”

“I met her.”

“You met who?” His face betrays the fact that he already knows the answer to his question.

“She’s really pretty.”

Wes breathes out a curse and rubs his hand across his forehead. “When in the hell did she show up?”

“Monday.”

“Monday?”

I nod in confirmation and he releases another groan mixed with an expletive.

“I’m not going to run, Wes. I know you guys are all walking on egg shells, waiting for me to freak out, but I’m okay. I don’t need to be protected.”

“I’m sorry we didn’t tell you about her.”

“It’s okay.” I try to make my words sound strong, but they come out warbled and quiet.

“I didn’t know how to … I mean, I didn’t want you to…”

“It’s okay,” I interrupt him, meeting his light blue eyes in the glow of the patio lights. “I’m ok—”

“Wes, can you give us a minute?” Max’s words arrive before he does looking rigid and defensive. It’s clear that although he phrased his words as a question, it’s not as he steps closer.

I take the opportunity to look over him with the added light. His hair’s longer and his face is just starting to get the hint of stubble on it, revealing that he shaved this morning. His hands and arms look warm and familiar, but his expression is anything but.

My fingers grip the lip of the chair as I work to interpret every detail of his expression. Anger’s still evident, but I swear there’s more—unless my own hope is just clouding my senses.

He slowly walks to the chair Wes had occupied seconds ago and takes a seat. His red T-shirt is as unfamiliar as the vibes that are rolling at me like waves, crashing against my already weakened hope.

His arms cross against his chest in a defensive posture, revealing the hint of a new tattoo under his bicep, in the same location as Landon’s. My eyes quickly travel to his left hand where I briefly see his version of our matching tattoos we had gotten last February in Vegas and wonder if the brunette ever asks what it means.

Silent questions and blaring accusations fill the space between us as we stare at one another.

Zeus trots over to us, the tags on his collar jangling, breaking the silence. “I can go stay with Mindi.”

“That’s your choice.”

“I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

“Since when did you start giving a shit about my feelings?”

“I’ll lie and tell Kendall that Mindi asked me to stay there, and that I want to spend more time with the girls. She’ll be pissed at me, not you.”

“Go ahead, keep another secret.” His words are like ice, leaving me feeling stung.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know what it means.”

They’re giving me far too much credit. I had no idea that Max hasn’t been happy, and I have no idea what he’s alluding to. I swallow my irritations and sit up further in my chair. “I’m giving you the option. This is your house and I’m trying to—”

“I’ve moved on,” Max says, interrupting my words with malice.

My lungs expel the rest of my air and my eyes avoid him as I blink back the pain his words inflict upon me.

“Yeah, I saw.”

Zeus sighs, laying his head beside my feet. I think even he’s realizing that things are done.

“I can stay somewhere else. I just need to get more clothes.”

“You don’t have to leave, Max. This is your house and I promised Kendall that regardless of what happened, it wouldn’t affect the friendship between all of us.”

Max laughs sardonically a few times and my eyes finally turn back to him. “I don’t want to be your friend, Harper.”

I’ve never heard him call me Harper, not once. It hurts more than him telling me that he’s moved on because it somehow seems to confirm the fact.

“I don’t want you to hate me, Max.”

“This would be a lot easier if I did.”

“We started off as friends. We were good at being friends.”

“We were never friends!” His voice rises with each word.

“We were never only friends,” I amend. He doesn’t argue, but he doesn’t agree either.

I turn my attention to a hangnail on my right thumb and bite the inside of my cheek to prevent the monsoon of words and questions I fear knowing the answer to from even forming in my head. I don’t even want to think about them and possible answers.

“If shit gets too weird, I’ll leave.”

I hadn’t realized he was intending to stay, but I keep that to myself and move my gaze up to his face. God, he’s handsome. Our eyes meet, exchanging so many things that neither of us are brave enough to say, and then he abruptly stands from the table and heads back toward the house with Zeus and me watching him.

I let out a long breath and feel a warm tear trace down my cheek. I start gulping the air, working relentlessly to tire the emotions that are on the cusp of taking over.