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My eyes fly open. My best friend looks genuinely worried. I heave a sigh. “You’re probably right. I’m so fucked. I can’t stop thinking about her.”
“Callie?”
Miles’s eyes are sympathetic.
“Didn’t Lane and you break up? How did you handle that?” I remember when Miles was a mopey mess around the office.
“Lots of alcohol and self-recrimination.”
“So you get it,” I say bitterly. “This is it for me. She doesn’t want me. She’s not going to take me back. I said I was sorry and she accepted my apology and told me she would never forgive me.” My chest aches at the memory.
“I’m sorry,” Miles says. “But is this all you’ve got? One apology and a bar fight? You’re the man who once told me that failure to achieve your goals was simply a lack of effort.” He raises a challenging brow.
“I don’t know. I need to respect her wishes. I’m not going to stalk her.”
“Has she told you to leave her alone?”
“No. And I can’t help but feel like she wanted me to chase her after the event. I should have chased her. I should never have let her go.” My voice is fierce, certain.
“So don’t.”
58
Callie
The next morning, Jonah is there again, looking sinfully handsome in a dark wool coat and cashmere scarf. His eye is swollen shut, but even that can’t dim his beauty. Don’t notice him.
He silently passes me a coffee, and I sigh as I accept it.
“We ran out of beans this morning, otherwise I would throw this in your face,” I say.
“I know. I wouldn’t mind.” He smiles faintly. “Can I drive you?”
“Aren’t you going to work?”
He looks sheepishly away. “I’m on leave. I, uh, can’t be trusted in this mental state. You know, with the eye and all.” He gestures at his face.
I turn toward Amsterdam Avenue, and he keeps pace, walking a few steps behind me.
I stop and cross my arms. “Are you going to trail me every morning?”
“It’s not safe for you to be out this early. Think of me like your bodyguard.”
I narrow my eyes at him.
“You should have seen the other guy,” he says flippantly. Eric.
“What happened?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he says tightly. “He won’t harass you anymore. He offered to move out of that apartment. If you want it back.” His voice makes it clear the offer was coerced. My pulse speeds. Jonah got into a very public altercation to avenge me, when he hates notoriety. Something flutters inside me at the thought. No one has ever done that for me before.
“Why?” I whisper. My heart feels like it’s somewhere in the vicinity of my throat. “I told you I wouldn’t forgive you.”
He steps forward. “Because you’re mine. Even if you don’t want me. I’ll spend forever clearing the path for you. It’s what you deserve.”
He turns and walks away, leaving me stunned on the sidewalk.
* * *
