Page 101 of Vegas with my Ex’s Best Friends

I let out a breath.

“I didn’t know what to tell you,” I say. “I didn’t know what it was yet. I didn’t have a version of it that made sense.”

Connor watches me. Doesn’t interrupt this time.

“And I knew what you’d ask,” I add. “I knew exactly how that conversation would go.”

“Yeah?” His voice stays level. “Walk me through it.”

“You’d ask me to choose.”

It sits there.

“Or you wouldn’t say it like that,” I go on, words coming faster now, less controlled. “But it would be there. Pick one. Or walk away from all of them. Or go back to Portland and pretend none of this happened.”

His jaw tightens.

“And I wouldn’t be able to do it,” I say. “Any of it.”

Silence again.

But this one is different.

Not empty. Tighter.

Connor leans forward, forearms braced on the counter, hands clasped together like he’s trying to hold onto something solid.

“You think that’s what I’d do,” he says.

Not angry.

Worse.

“You think I’d make you choose like that.”

“I think you’d try to fix it,” I say. “I think you’d look at it like a problem and try to make it make sense. And it doesn’t. Not in a way you’re going to like.”

“But Andrew?” His voice rises. “Really?”

He steps closer, not all the way, but enough.

“That’s him, Riley. That’s the guy who left you wrecked at twenty-one. And he’s been sitting across from me for over a year, working with me, building something with me, and neither of you thought to say a word?”

I don’t answer.

Connor’s jaw tightens.

“He knew who you were. You knew who he was. And you just… what? Let it sit there like it didn’t matter?”

“I didn’t know until he walked through the door, Connor. I had no idea he was your partner.”

“Then why didn’t you say something then?” he cuts in. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like I was the only one in the room who didn’t know what was going on.”

“And you trust him?” Connor adds, quieter now. “After that? After what he did to you?”

I hesitate.

That’s enough of an answer for him.