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The patient one.

The one I used to mistake for kindness.

“You don’t have to do this.”

My spine stiffens. “Do what?”

“Prove something.”

“I’m not proving anything.”

“Ryder Hale, Clara? Really?”

There it is.

I set down my glass. “What exactly is wrong with Ryder?”

“You know his history.”

“I know more about his history than you do.”

“He disappeared for eighteen years.”

“He moved away.”

“After his brother died.”

My anger rises. “You don’t know anything about that.”

“I know what everyone knows.”

“Exactly.”

Evan exhales. “Look, I was hoping you were doing okay.”

I almost laugh. “You dumped me.”

“I know.”

“You brought your new girlfriend to a wedding you knew I’d be attending.”

His face tightens. “Sienna isn’t about you.”

“And Ryder isn’t about you.”

“Then why him?”

I stare at him.

Because he’s funny.

Because he looks at me like he wants to eat me alive and still stops the second I ask.

Because he lets me decide.

Because somehow, in four days, Ryder Hale has made me feel more wanted without demanding anything from me than Evan did in two years.

“You don’t get to ask me that.”