Page 10 of Break My Heart

“You’re right.”

“Normally, I’d be thrilled to hear that.”

I rest my forehead briefly against the glass, closing my eyes. “I don’t know how to fix this. I don’t know if I can.”

“Maybe you can’t,” Dario says. I sense a hesitancy in his words, which makes me turn around and face him. “But that doesn’t mean you don’t try if you’re given the chance.”

A bitter laugh escapes me. “You think she’ll even listen?”

“I think you’re asking the wrong question.”

“What’s the right one?”

“Whether you’re ready to stop letting your past dictate your future. If you can’t do that, then stay away from her. If you can, then give her the chance to make her own decisions. She’s a grown woman, Leo!”

I let myself absorb the truth.

I didn’t push Christin away because she didn’t belong in my world.

I pushed her away because I’ve known my entire life I don’t.

5

REAR INSTABILITY: BACKEND FEELS UNPREDICTABLE

The silence in Dario’s place is somehow worse than our discussion.

I sit on the edge of his balcony overlooking the Hudson River, elbows braced against my knees, phone loose in my hand. I haven’t moved in twenty minutes.

Dario left me alone after our conversation, claiming he needed to take a call. Bollocks. He knows exactly what he’s doing by giving me space to drown in my own thoughts.

Christin is in all of them.

I stare out at the water and make the mistake of unlocking my phone again. Her photo is still my backdrop—a candid shot I took one weekend.

My thumb hovers over it before I lock the screen again and scrub a hand over my face. I spent years convincing myself I didn’t need anyone, terrified of letting someone else close enough to hurt me. Then I spotted Christin at a bar and from the first moment, everything was easy.

Being with her felt effortless.

I lean my head back against the chair and close my eyes as I recall our first meeting at the little bar in the Village.

The small bar was nearly empty. Reverberations from the metal ceiling are loud enough to discourage conversation between strangers but not so loud you couldn’t hear yourself think. Exactly why I chose it since I’m in town for sponsor meetings.

I found myself desperate to escape somewhere without people recognizing me every ten seconds.

No cameras. No VIP paddock celebrations. No expectations.

I spot her after I walk in and take a seat at the bar. She catches my eye not because she isn’t beautiful. She is. She has dark curls twisted up carelessly with a pen shoved through them. She casually pushes at her glasses sliding slightly down her nose as she jokes with the bartender about whether chips count as an acceptable dinner.

“They are potatoes,” she insists.

The bartender snorts. “That is a tragic excuse, Christin.”

“So is the fact you won’t accept my logic.”

Her rebuttal makes me snicker before I can stop myself. Her head swivels in my direction. Sharp eyes pin me in place before she demands, “What?”

At that moment, the bartender takes my order for a whisky. Once I have it, I lift my drink slightly. “You’re defending chips as a nutritional choice.”