“Can I come in?” Murphy asked, his breath still fogging in the cold.
She stepped back, opening the door wider. He stomped the snow from his shoes before crossing the threshold, the small courtesy somehow making her chest ache.
Her eyes flicked over him as he shrugged out of his coat. He wore jeans and a dark sweater that clung in all the right places. She was so used to him in perfectly tailored game-day suits or the constant athletic gear of his job. But here, in her living room, he just looked like a guy. A guy far too handsome for his own good.
Murphy’s gaze drifted around the room, to the modest tree, the laptop still glowing on the couch, the quiet hum ofWhite Christmasfrom the TV. His expression softened into something almost sad.
“This is how you spend Christmas?”
She folded her arms, defensive before she even realized it. “No. Sydney was here this morning.”
He nodded at that, like it was something he needed to hear, relief flickering across his features.
Silence stretched between them, the glow of the tree throwing shadows across his face.
“What are you doing here, Murphy?” she asked finally, her voice softer than she meant it to be.
He didn’t answer right away. He just looked at her, eyes steady, like there was too much to say and none of it simple. The weight of everything unsaid filled the room, pressing in tight.
Her heart thudded hard against her ribs.
“How was your Christmas?” she asked, her voice carefully even.
Murphy’s shoulders lifted in a small shrug. “It was good. Quiet. Just family stuff.” His tone was light, but she caught the way he held back, smoothing over the edges. She knew him well enough to tell there was more he wasn’t saying. He was leaving out stories about his brother, or his mom, or the kind of holiday warmth she’d never grown up with.
But he didn’t share them. Not with her.
And that hurt in a way she didn’t expect.
The silence between them stretched again, heavy with everything they weren’t saying.
Finally, Murphy looked at her, his eyes shining as he blinked back the emotion gathering there. “What happened, Hillary? Why are you pushing me away?”
The words hit her like a punch, stealing her breath.
“I’m not pushing you away,” she said quickly, her voice sharper than she intended. “I told you from the beginning that this was nothing serious.”
Murphy’s jaw clenched, but his eyes stayed soft, steady on hers. “You don’t believe that. You know it changed.” He stepped closer, just enough to make her chest tighten. “We both felt it, Hillary. Last time . . . you can’t tell me it didn’t mean anything.”
Her lips parted, ready with a protest, but her traitorous eyes blurred with tears. She turned her face away, trying to blink them back. “It’s too hard,” she whispered, barely audible.
The words seemed to stop him cold. His breath hitched, his hand twitching at his side like he wanted to reach for her but didn’t dare. “What do you mean?” he asked softly.
And then, the dam broke.
“I mean this,” she said, her voice shaking. “You and me. We want different things. We’re in different places, from differentworlds. You grew up in warmth and laughter, and I—” She swallowed hard. “I didn’t. We don’t fit. We can’t fit. It would never work, and it’s better to stop it now before it gets worse.”
Murphy shook his head immediately, desperation in his eyes. “Hillary, none of that matters. Age, where we come from, or what we’ve been through, doesn’t change how I feel about you.”
She pressed a trembling hand to her chest, as if she could hold her heart in place. “Itdoesmatter. You think it doesn’t, but it does. It matters more than anything. And I can’t let you throw your life away on something doomed from the start.”
Her words hung heavy between them, final and cruel only because they came from a place of truth she couldn’t ignore.
Murphy shook his head, confusion etched into every line of his face. “I don’t get it. Okay, maybe I wasn’t raised with the money you were, but I have it now. I can take care of you, Hillary.”
Her stomach dropped. “Oh, God. No, Murphy.” She pressed a hand to her temple, voice breaking. “That’s not what I’m saying.”
His eyes searched hers, desperate.
