My hands fly to my hair, patting down the bits that always stick up at weird angles. I should’ve brought my straighteners to the hall table for emergencies.
Should I have put on lipstick? No, that screams “trying too hard for a flat mate interview.”
Anita, the graphic designer, seemed lovely in her emails—normal punctuation, no weird emojis, owns a cat named Gerald,which is an excellent, solid cat name. Exactly the kind of flat mate who might prevent the house from descending into an echoey cave of doom.
But what if she thinks I’m weird? I’m terrible at first impressions. I either talk too much or go completely mute. There’s no middle ground.
Deep breath, Georgie. It’s just a flat viewing. Not an audition for Miss Perfect Human.
I yank open the door, smile plastered on, words tumbling out: “Hi! You must be Anita! So lovely to meet—”
The scent hits first, that manly cologne he always wears—something with wood, perfect for someone who moves between boardrooms and mountains. My eyes crash into a wall of navy shirt, traveling up to that triangle of exposed throat, the Adam’s apple that bobs as he swallows.
Then those Arctic blue eyes under a baseball cap.
My body betrays me instantly. Heart slamming against ribs. Stomach plummeting like I’ve missed a step. Even now, after everything, my traitorous body wants to step toward him instead of away.
“Oh,” comes out high and strangled. “You’re not Anita.”
“Not last time I checked,” he says quietly.
He looks just as exhausted as yesterday. Maybe worse.
I don’t like being petty but seeing him suffering makes something small and hurt in me whispergood. Even though it also makes me want to smooth the exhaustion from his face.
“If you’re here to see Jake,” I say, cool as I can manage, “do it somewhere else. Not my house.”
“I’m here to see you. I need to apologize. Properly. Not in front of lawyers.”
“It took five other people for you to listen, did it?”
Roy already told me everything. How they all marched into Patrick’s office. How they fought for me when I wasn’t there tofight for myself. Their loyalty undid me—I actually cried on the phone. I’m meeting Roy for a drink tonight, and I’m bringing him the new game he’s been waiting for.
In the end, it wasn’t Patrick or Craig who made me feel seen. It was my team. And I’ll never forget it.
“Look, I’m very grateful for what you did yesterday.” I grip the door frame because looking at him makes my resolve weaken. “IRIS means everything to me. It was... honorable what you did. But that doesn’t mean I want to see you.”
“I understand. I’m not expecting forgiveness. But I need to make this right. This isn’t about trying to get you back, even if that’s what I desperately want.”
He’s an asshole playing with my heart like this, after everything.
“Oh, now you want me back?” The words come out shaky instead of sharp. “Mr. Hot-and-Cold decides he’s running warm again?”
“No.” He shakes his head hard, jaw tight. “I never stopped wanting you. Not for a second.” He drags a hand through his hair, agitated. “When I learned the truth about your ex, I thought I was doing the right thing. This isn’t about me wanting you, even though I do. Losing you has been the worst part of this. This is about me trying to do better. Tobebetter. To make things right.”
“Patrick—”
“I know giving you IRIS doesn’t fix it,” he cuts in roughly. “Doesn’t undo what I did.”
“You don’t get to play rescuer now,” I say, but my voice wobbles, betraying me. “But I hope for your staff’s sake you reevaluate how you run things. You choose easy management over protecting people who trust you.”
He flinches but nods. “You’re right. I’ll fix it. The whole bloody system.” He drags both hands down his face, and whenhe drops them, he looks absolutely destroyed. “I’m not here for forgiveness. Don’t deserve it anyway.”
He looks straight at me, and something in his expression cracks open. “I love you.”
The words come out rough, almost angry, like they’ve been ripped from him against his will. His accent’s thicker, the way it gets when he’s fighting for control.
“I know I’ve got no right to say it. No right to you at all. The entire time we were together, I was drawn to you because you saw something in me that most people miss. The small part of myself that isn’t a total prick, the small part that I actually like. But I don’t know if I ever fully saw you, Georgie. I saw a junior coder. I saw Jake’s sister. I saw a woman I could lose myself in. But I missed the full picture.” He swallows hard. “And I want you to know that I see all of you. I’m just sorry it’s too late.”
