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“Missing you, sweetheart,” I reply, disgust in my voice.

“Are you sure he got the text you sent him?” Daisy asks, and I shrug.

“It said that he read it.”

Emma leans back in her chair, and I can see her mind working. That girl is always scheming or planning something. I swear she would make a good spy or something. “Well… maybe you should…”

I shake my head, and her voice fades as she scowls at me. “I don’t want to deal with this today. I’ll just throw the flowers out and continue ignoring him.”

“And if that doesn’t work?”

“Maybe I’ll see if the MC boys feel like having a chat with him.” I grin, imagining perfectly how that “chat” with her father in law’s motorcycle club would go down, and Emma’s jaw drops but I ignore her. I need to hurry this along so I can go get my man.

* * * *

When I walk in the door to my apartment, my heart skips a beat. There, at my kitchen table, is Trey and butterflies flap around in my belly as I think about everything I need to tell him. I beam at him and close the door before making my way over to him. I’m halfway to him when I notice the angry look on his face, and I stop short. My brow furrows, and I study him, trying to understand what’s wrong but nothing is coming to me.

“Trey,” I whisper, hating the uneasiness I’m feeling, “what’s wrong?”

His jaw ticks as he looks to the bouquet of flowers on the table, and I suck in a breath, going over to him and sitting in his lap. I grab his face in my hands and kiss him. He resists me for a second before he gives in, wrapping his arms around me, and I can taste the relief in his kiss.

“I thought you said he wasn’t going to be a problem,” he says when he pulls away, and I sigh.

“I didn’t think he would be. I hadn’t heard from him since he left here, and then these showed up here this morning. I would have thrown them out but I was rushing out the door. Daisy called this morning and demanded I meet her at the diner.”

His face morphs with concern as he looks up at me. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. Tucker proposed.”

He grins and nods. “Oh, yeah. I already knew that.”

“And built her a house?” I ask, and he laughs.

“Yep.”

“Man, that’s a lot to live up to. I mean, how do you top a house for the one-year anniversary?”

Trey laughs, a deep, rich sound that settles over me and warms my body. “I don’t think anyone’s expecting him to top that – even Daisy.”

“I guess not.” I gaze down at him and know that this is it – my make it or break it moment. It’s time to tell Trey everything and hope that he loves me enough to face my terrifying future with me. He picks up on my shift in mood almost instantly and searches my eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

I take a deep breath, ready to tell him, when my phone rings. Rolling my eyes, I pull it out to tell whoever it is to go away but when Trey sees the name on the screen, his body tenses underneath me. I dismiss the call and toss the phone onto the table next to us before turning back to him. Taking a deep breath, I open my mouth to tell him, and my phone rings again.

He growls and snatches it up, dismissing the call before throwing it back down, and standing up. He sets me on my feet and stalks over to the living room.

“Why the hell is he calling you, Addy? First, the flowers and now the phone calls. Is there more going on here?” he asks, practically spitting the words at me.

“No, of course not, Trey.”

He shakes his head. “Don’t say of course not like it’s fucking obvious, Ad. You’ve never promised me anything, and you won’t tell me what’s holding you back.”

“I was…” My voice cuts off when my phone starts ringing again, and his gaze shoots to it as it sits innocently on the table but it’s a bomb – counting down to the destruction of the best thing I’ve ever had.

“Are you leading him on, Addy?” he yells, and I shake my head.

“No.”

“I find that hard to believe. No man is going to hear you say you want nothing to do with him and keep coming around. I think you want to keep him on the side instead of going all in with me. It makes you feel safe.”

Anger bubbles up inside me, and I take a deep breath, trying my best to push it back down because I know it won’t help this situation at all. “It’s not like that at all, Trey. I don’t want anything to do with him. I’ve told him that we’re just friends but he won’t listen.”

“Ah, there it is. You gave him the friends angle, and now he thinks he has an in. You figure when you’re done using me you can run back to him to keep avoiding whatever the fuck is going on in your life?”

“Trey,” I whisper, tears in my eyes because I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this mean, and I don’t understand it. If he would just let me explain, this would all be fixed but he’s not giving me the chance. When my phone starts ringing for the fourth time, he laughs – a cold, callous sound – and shakes his head.

“You know what, Addilyn,” he sneers, moving toward the door and I panic, taking a step toward him to stop him but the look he gives me stops me dead in my tracks, “how about you come find me when you’re ready to stop running and have something real? Until then, I don’t want to see you.”

Without another word, he leaves, slamming the door behind him. I just stare at it, wishing he would turn around, come back into this apartment, and bring my heart back with him.