A/N: Hi everyone! Happy New Year! 

Cheers to 2015—may it bring us many more love stories, may it be in books and our lives!

Thanks for patiently waiting for the next chapter. This may not make you think that Max and Luke are coming along but they are. What's that saying—you don't realize what you're missing until it's gone? Something to that effect. 

Hope you enjoy!

BTW, I want to dedicate this chapter to treblehearts. Check out her work! She's currently responsible for a couple million people falling in love with Wattpad characters. LOL!

***

Maybe it was too soon but sometimes, after a really bad burn, the most you could do is submerge yourself in ice until the pain went away and a frigid numbness took over.

I’ve said this before. I wasn’t going to sit in a dark room and cry my eyes out.

It was a pointless exercise—and a dangerous one if you let the darkness in instead of pushing it out. Sometime in the many hours that my mother spent secluded from the world, nursing her broken heart, she faded away and a black void took her place. Maybe she knew what she was doing but most days, I’d like to think that she wasn’t there, in the shell of the woman she’d once been, when she walked out on the street to meet death head on in a wash of headlights.

I took a proper shower and stared at the woman in front of my mirror for a long time, making sure that despite the band-aids that held pieces of me together, I could still recognize myself.

The old Max was resilient.

When she didn’t have much else, she had that for herself at the very least.

I took my time neatening up my hair and making myself presentable until my cheeks were flushed with some color again and my eyes didn’t look like empty windows of an abandoned building.

The afternoon I’d planned out with Alex was really just furniture shopping and some pizza. I didn’t want to contemplate the possibilities of more because we all know how well speculation worked for me the last time. Even then, I put on a pretty new blouse and my best dark jeans. It wasn’t because I wanted a new romantic interest to solve my current dilemma. It was simply just because at times like this, when I felt small enough to be kicked to the curb, I wanted to love myself just a little bit more than usual.

“You look really nice, Max,” Alex said when I stepped out of the apartment and found him waiting by the front steps, his car parked down the road. He leaned in to brush a kiss on my cheek before smiling and scratching his ear. “I feel a little bad now that I’m just taking you out to help me pick out chairs and tables instead of a fancy dinner.”

I smiled and followed him to the car. “Are you telling me, Alex Rizzo, that you would only take a girl out to a nice dinner if she’s all dressed up and pretty?”

His brows pulled in as he held the door open for me. “No, of course not. I guess I’m just wondering if my plans are too ordinary now to do you any justice.”

I paused from getting into the car and angled him a curious look. “It seems to me that you’re just a tad bit nervous, Alex. You’re a hockey hotshot. Aren’t you used to being surrounded by beautiful, glamorous women that furniture shopping with little old me should be a piece of cake?”

Alex’s smile was a bit pained. “I’m just a simple farm boy who likes to play hockey, Max. Part of that life is the glitz and glamour but it doesn’t meant it’s what I’m looking for.”

Piqued because that wasn’t an answer I was expecting from him at all—not after all these years of having lived the high life—I kept going. “And what is it that you’re looking for then?”

“I want a big farm house with an ice rink in the back, just like we did back home. I want to be married to  the pretty girl-next-door who likes it simple, just like I do. I want a few children—boys, girls, doesn’t matter as long they don’t mind playing some hockey with me. I want a quiet, laid-back kind of life away from the spotlight.”

Alex must’ve really given this some serious thought because his expression was pensive and intent as he was speaking. When he noticed me staring, probably with some mild surprise obvious on my face, he laughed sheepishly and blushed.

“I should probably shut up now before I terrify you away with all this talk of marriage and kids,” he said with a shake of his head. “That’s just the dream, Max. Right now, I’ve got other things I still have to do.”

Not so long ago, I may have had a very similar dream as Alex—a life that was slow and quiet and simple. Nothing in my life had been simple recently and that made me appreciate the idea more.

I gave his arm a light squeeze. “It’s a good dream, Alex. And it’s nice to know that you have plans with your life when it’s so easy for someone in your line of work to get lost in the fast lane and the bright lights.”

Alex nodded. “I’ve been incredibly lucky with the opportunities that came my way but I always try not to lose sight of what I’ve always wanted. It’s definitely not easy but I’m going to try my damnedest.”

I grinned because he looked pretty adorable with that fiercely serious expression on his face. Alex was a nice guy but he was a very by-the-books kind of person. Always walked a straight line. Always did the right thing. Didn’t fool around. 

Not like someone else I know.

“If the furniture shopping turns out well this afternoon, then at least you can count on me to help furnish your farm house when the time comes. I grew up in one so I have lots of ideas,” I said with a wink and slipped into the passenger seat after he broke out into grin as well.

Alex might like it laid-back but he liked quality so we hit up the most prominent home furnishing store in the city. He was wearing a baseball cap and a plain shirt and jeans but some of the staff easily recognized him and caused a small fuss. Cities loved their sports and their local teams were always superstars in their eyes. Alex signed a few autographs and had a few pictures taken (which I happily took) but I thought that if the attention heightened, he was probably going to bolt. Thankfully, after some of the staff were able to pull themselves together, they left us alone except for the sales associate (who really seemed more like the store manager) who was guiding us through the floor models.

“I thought it was going to be a little weird with you being famous and all but it’s not bad, Alex. Not bad at all,” I teased him as we stretched out on a California king bed to test the sheer size of it.

The sales associate wandered off somewhere to check their stock in the back for other mattress options that he would happily haul out for Alex’s convenient viewing.

Alex smiled and flung his arms out to the side to try to encompass the width of the bed, his right one extending just past the top of my head. His hand dipped and ruffled my hair slightly. “I’m only famous to the sports fans, Max. But I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself. The attention’s mostly on me but they’ll be curious as to who you are.”

I wrinkled my nose. “I’m just an old friend you knew from back home. I’m not very interesting so I don’t think they’ll care about me.”

Alex rolled to his stomach which brought him several inches closer to me. “They might already care about who you are and why you’re seen hanging out with me.”

I matched his position so that our faces were level with each other. “What are you talking about?”

Alex studied me for a moment, probably waiting to see if I was going to say more, and when I didn’t, he took out his cellphone from his pocket. I waited while he fussed with it before finally turning it my way.

It was a post on the website of one of the local tabloids from yesterday morning. It was like their Sightings section for whichever famous person who happened to have wandered into the city. Among the list was a senatorial candidate, a reality show celebrity and country artist. And apparently Luke. On the one-shot for him were two photos. One was of the two of us when we were walking down the hotel lobby to get to his car that night of the fundraiser, me in my lovely dress and him in his tux. The shot was made more intimate with his hand pressed on the small of my back. My face was angled away slightly and the photo was taken from a good distance away that the quality wasn’t great but I could easily recognize myself in it. The second photo was another one of us at the bus stop in front of Hedenby Towers that day when I first went to visit Alex at practice. Luke’s hand was on my elbow, his face intense and serious, mine just about as moody. The photo was better lit than the first but still at a great distance. We were still both fully captured in it though. The caption title said: Luke Hedenby’s Latest Squeeze An Unknown.

Sure, because I wouldn’t be very unknown anymore now that they’d written about it.

They didn’t know much about me—not my name, at the very least—but they speculated that I worked for the company and had been spotted with him before in other places. There was a little teaser that I may have been caused the recent break-up of Luke’s very brief reunion with Lola Lincoln.

“Motherfudger,” I muttered under my breath as I handed Alex his phone back. “Where did you find that?”

Alex slid his phone back into his pocket. “Zoe sent me the link to it this morning, asking if I knew what I was getting into. Hedenby’s company is currently one of the team’s biggest partners and she wanted me to make sure I wasn’t stepping on any important toes.”

I understood Zoe’s concern, being in the position she was in. I would’ve just preferred to have been directly asked about it.

Although, if things had turned out differently this morning, I would’ve had a very different answer to give.

But it didn’t, did it, Max? Now, you and Luke are really just friends. Hell, it’s even hard to tell if you’re still that.

“Luke Hedenby and I are just friends,” I answered as casually as I could—without meeting his eye, of course—because that would be difficult. Despite everything, Luke and I would most likely still be friends, even after the smoke cleared, because we’d at least been that before all this. But at the same time, there was no denying we were so much more—even if nothing came of it but the pain of wanting something that would never be.

Alex didn’t respond right away and since I couldn’t help it, I finally peeked up at him and found him staring at me with knowing eyes. He sighed and shook his head.

“That’s such a bald-faced lie, Max,” he said. “I’ve seen the guy gnash his teeth when he saw you with me at the penthouse. If that’s him not wanting you more than as a friend, I’ll eat my shoes.”

I burst out laughing. “Would you like ketchup with that?”

He grinned. "No, because I'm not eating my shoes because it's true." He grew serious. "It doesn't take a genius to see it, Max."

My own humor fled and I picked at an imaginary lint on the mattress top. "Does it really matter, Alex?"

"Not to me," he answered instantly. "We're friends no matter what. And I don't really care if he feels that way about you because it doesn't mean anything until you feel the same way he does."

Funny that because I think we both feel the same way. Doesn't mean both of us are going to do something about it. And it’s not the kind of thing you can do alone. 

I sighed out loud. "Let's just say it didn't work out for complicated reasons."

To my surprise, Alex reached for my hand and covered it in both of his. "You're a great girl, Max, and if Hedenby's idiot enough not to realize that, then that's his loss."

I think Luke's realized more than he's ready for and that's the problem, isn't it?

My cheeks warmed but I smiled. "Thank you, Alex. I don't know if my company's going to cause you any trouble with Zoe but—“

"Zoe likes you," Alex interrupted gently with a shake of his head. "She keeps telling me to bring you to practice. She doesn't have an issue with you. She just didn't want me dancing the tango with someone else's girl—her own words, by the way.”

I blew out a breath and rolled my eyes. "She thinks I'm your type."

Alex didn't seem fazed about that. "You are my type."

The warmth in my cheeks now felt like a hot blaze as I inspected Alex's expression for any tells of his bluff. "And what exactly is your type, Alex, because I don't recall you being very interested in me years ago?”

To his credit, he looked slightly abashed. "Well, you were too young then so no, I never looked at you that way. Your grandfather would've thrashed me if I'd messed with you like that. That old man's tough as nails."

I grinned fondly at the face Alex made with that comment about my grandfather. "He is that."

Seeing my expression, he grinned back, just slightly sheepish. He scooted closer to me so that his low voice sounded conspiratorial. "I definitely wouldn't mind a girl with pretty dark brown eyes and a sweet smile like you. A girl who's simple and natural and easy-going and doesn't mind that she's got a hair out of place or that she's eating with her hands because she's enjoying herself too much to care about that. I like a girl who could sit in my old truck with me in a dirt road somewhere and spend the afternoon talking away—or more.”

The combination of his very specific image-inducing words and his bold gaze made the heat on my cheeks blaze all the way down to my toes. Luke was right. Alex had been looking at me and he seemed to have liked what he’d seen so far. 

I wasn’t sure yet how I felt about that.

Alex, for the most part, had always been the kind of guy I pictured myself ending up with in the distant future—well, maybe except for the pro-athlete part of it. That guy would be the cute, laid-back, down-to-earth, get-your-hands-dirty type. I definitely didn’t dream of devilish and domineering yet dreamy CEOs with a penchant for inflicting infuriatingly wild kisses and tender touches on me. 

It was ironic how we sometimes end up wanting what we never imagined having for ourselves before, even when what we thought we always wanted was right in front of us.

I bit my lip, searching for what I hoped were the right words. “I’ll be honest with you, Alex. I’m not sure that I’m ready for anything like that right now.”

I wasn’t ready because it wasn’t with the right person. 

I had no built-in switch that could just transfer all those emotions from one person to another. Didn’t work that way, more’s the pity.

Alex smiled and gave my hand a squeeze. “And I’m not asking you for anything—not right now anyway. It’ll go where it’ll go but for now, I’m just glad to have you around. Does that work for you?”

I should’ve been cautious because the whole friends-first-lovers-later kind of thing was something I still haven’t quite sorted myself out of yet. But with Alex, the idea didn’t perturb me. The distant possibility seemed vivid and true to theory in my head—almost like a movie I could plug into a player and it would unfold exactly the way I imagined it. It felt nothing like the tumultuous tidal wave I was swept under with Luke. 

It felt like a math equation, actually—Max plus Alex minus the drama plus similar backgrounds minus opposite personalities plus similar ideas of the future equal to a stable, happy relationship.

Unromantic, I know, but the last time I got romantic, I ended up with a pile of shards for a heart that I still clutched together with a bleeding hand.

“It works,” I said softly just before the sales associate walking back our way. I tugged my hand out of Alex’s grasp and winked at him. “Guess it’s time to get our butts off this bed or we’ll have to check in.”

Alex laughed as he rolled off the mattress. “Interesting idea, Max, but I think I’m a little too old-fashioned to do that in a furniture store.”

“Not what you’re thinking,” I said as I smacked him on the arm. But before I could inflict any more damage, the sales associate was back. We spent another hour there before Alex ordered nearly a full catalogue of furniture and accessories. There had been no other mention of a possible romance until Alex dropped me off at home after a casual dinner.

He walked me to my door this time, taking my hand just as I’d turned to step inside.

“Max?”

“Yes?”

My heart started slowly pounding in my chest when Alex closed the small distance between us. I wondered if he was about to kiss me and if I should stand there and let him. 

Part of me didn’t want to but another part felt eager to destroy the hold Luke had over me—to let a brand new fire scorch through me until it replaced him in my bloodstream.

But to expose your scars to a new burn didn’t make them go away—it just gave you new ones you wouldn’t be able to tell from the old. 

I tensed as Alex’s hand cupped the side of my face, his palm rough against my skin. His eyes trailed from my own and down my face until they lingered on my mouth, his gaze searching as if his next move was somehow written in my expression.

A faint smile ghosted over his lips as he gazed back into my eyes. “I’m not going to hurt you like he did, Max. I want you to know that.”

I did know that, even without him saying it.

Why?

Because the only person who can reach in and break your heart is the one you keep closest to it. 

In time, I’d be back to being an island again. It would be lonely for a bit but it was preferable to the nonstop ache inside of me where it felt like I had a shrapnel lodged in my heart that I couldn’t find. 

“Thanks, Alex.” I said. I smiled at him despite the pounding rhythm that had filled my ears it felt like I was listening to my heartbeat under water.  

He brushed a light kiss on my cheek and stepped back, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

I waited until he got back into his car before I gave him a little wave and slipped inside the apartment, forcing my pulse to slow down to normal speed. 

I could stand there and wonder if it was because Alex nearly kissed me but that would be a useless exercise when I knew why I was out of breath. 

I was running—from Luke, from emotions I hadn’t even wanted in the first place, from the insistent pain I couldn’t purge from my system.

I had no idea how long I would have to run but even if it took forever to exorcise Luke Hedenby from my heart and soul, I’d keep going. 

***

The world moved in fast forward motion—never pausing, never slowing down—in the two weeks that followed.

Except for us.

It was like Luke and I sat there everyday, at our desks or in the boardroom, acutely aware of each other and nothing else as the world flew past us in a blur of motions.

It was how it had to be though because anything else would hurt.

Luke took me seriously this time and kept his distance even as we continued to spend several days in the week working together. The project was coming along and it was easy to let ourselves dissolve in the hustle and bustle of the people around us and the work that drained what it could of our time and attention. 

I didn’t hate Luke—in fact, I felt just the opposite which was the most unfortunate fact of all. 

It was an affliction we both suffered from and while there was pain and frustration brewing just beneath the surface, we weren’t hostile to each other by any means. There was definitely a wall between us and if people noticed, they didn’t say. When two people couldn’t be trusted not to cross the lines, the wall needed to be there.

I thought it was getting easier, seeing him almost every day and keeping it together, but I quickly realized how wrong I was the day Jillian and I were walking back into the office after a mid-afternoon coffee run. A few feet ahead of us, heading toward the elevator, was Luke with a tall, slender woman in a billowy pair of dark gray trousers and a bright coral blouse. She had wavy, light brown hair cut in a stylish, choppy bob that grazed her elegant shoulders. Even without high heels, she had that innate natural grace the beauty world had tried to sell us in every bottle and tube.

The two of them were all smiles and even from where I stood I could hear the light tinkle of her laugh.

“He’s not worth it, Max,” Jillian muttered under her breath, staying with me when I casually sauntered to a stop a good distance away so that I wouldn’t be forced to get into the same damned elevator as the lovebirds. 

I gave Jillian a grateful smile. 

When she saw me on Monday morning two weeks ago, her eyes had narrowed ever so slightly in a slow, silent perusal before she declared that “Mr. H is a freaking jackass”. 

I felt relieved that I didn’t have to vocalize the kind of hell I was in but on the other hand, it didn’t comfort me that I was wearing my broken heart so plainly on my sleeve for the world to see—well, at least to people who cared about me and looked closely enough. She’d repeated this pronouncement at the lunch table later that day when Ryan sat down with us. The guy took one long stare at me and opened his mouth to say something but Jillian stopped him short with a withering glare. 

“I know what you’re going to say, Ry—that this kind of mess takes two people to make—but Max is my friend with no trail of broken hearts behind her so I’m going to take her side on this, okay?” she told him and Ryan just sighed and shook his head, whatever defense he had ready for Luke pushed back down his throat.

“I have a feeling the two of you have been having a pretty serious debate about my relationship—or lack thereof—with Luke,” was my only reply to which Jillian just snorted and mumbled, “Us and the rest of the city.”

She was angry on my behalf and I had wanted to reassure her then that she didn’t have to be. Luke was free to choose who he wanted—or didn’t want—to be with just as much as I was. 

Right now though, seeing his sunny smile directed to this beautiful mystery woman, I couldn’t remember why I wasn’t supposed to be angry.

I felt it even more acridly in my gut when I realized, as I watched him steer her toward the waiting elevator, that he had a steady arm behind her waist this whole time. 

“You going to be okay?” Jillian said after the pair disappeared behind the stainless steel doors. 

I nodded. “Nothing like a shot of something strong and terrible to knock you back sober.”

Since I couldn’t stand just about anything that afternoon, the usual chatter of people around my cubicle sounding like fingernails on a chalkboard, I holed up in the empty boardroom and worked on an enterprise profile I was making final adjustments on. It needed to go in the draft proposal Bryce was going to test-run tomorrow once Luke had a chance to review it tonight.

When I was finally satisfied with it, I searched out Sal who was putting the report together.

“Oh,” Sal said, scratching his head. “Bryce didn’t mention that you were making revisions. I just dropped off the report with Mr. Hedenby’s assistant half an hour ago. I did a quick round to see if everyone else got their stuff in but you weren’t here. I thought you went home.”

“I just needed to concentrate,” I told Sal before borrowing the hole-puncher on his desk for the few sheets in my hand. I glanced at my watch. “It’s only a little after four. I might still catch Peggy. I’ll run up and switch this with the old version, okay?”

I didn’t like going up to Luke’s office since disaster hit us a couple weeks ago. Peggy didn’t act differently toward me—except maybe for not teasing me or hinting about Luke like she used to—but it was getting too close to the line again. I’d been up there a few times when I came in with Bryce and a small group for a quick meeting with Luke or when I dropped off something related to the project. 

Today just might be the worst day for it because the last thing I wanted was to walk in on Luke and his flavor of the week.

Peggy wasn’t at her desk when I got there. With her purse gone and her desk all straightened out, it looked like she’d already gone for the day. There were a few folders laid out on the side of her desk and I craned my neck to see if one of them was the one I wanted but I didn’t find a match.

I glanced at Luke’s door. 

He was probably gone too. He usually came in much later than Peggy did and often left long after she had. Since he started spending time with me though, he’d adjusted his hours slightly to match mine.

Yes, that’s true love for you.

I was about to leave when I heard a woman’s muffled laugh coming through the door. 

Good news was that Luke was definitely still here and probably had the report.

Bad news was that he was still here probably with the woman I saw him with earlier.

I hedged because I didn’t really want to confront the situation. But there was a rebellious streak in me that wanted to prove that I could do it—that I needed to do it. That I could pull the knife out of a nasty wound and throw it away.

So I sat down in the waiting area outside of Luke’s office, just across from Peggy’s desk, and took my cellphone out.

[Me: Hi. Do you have the draft proposal for tomorrow?]

I decided I could give it five minutes. That if Luke was too busy entertaining his lady friend to answer me, I was just going to go.

My phone buzzed thirty seconds later.

[Luke: Yes. Do you need it?]

Obviously, two could play this all-business game. 

[Me: I need to update the enterprise profile in it with the one I revised after our meeting this morning.]

Before he could reply, I fired him another message. 

[Me: I know you’re busy but this will be super quick. I’m outside your office if you have a couple minutes to spare.]

It was a bold move, considering Luke and I were mostly just boss and employee these days, but it was too late to back away now. 

A few seconds later, his door swung open and Luke stepped out. He’d discarded his suit jacket, his hair tousled, his jaw a bit rough with a day-old beard. He looked like everything I wanted and couldn’t have and I felt it hit me right in the gut as usual. 

“Max.” His brows knitted when he saw me sitting on the couch as if it somehow confused him to find me there. What? Did he think I was just going to waltz in?

“Hey,” I said as I pulled myself up to my feet. He didn’t move from the door so I had to walk over to him even though I wanted to remain out of sight from his guest. “Can I borrow the report real quick? I just need to swap some pages because we printed the old version.”

I had to remind him because he’d stepped out empty-handed even though he knew what I came for. 

This was the first time in a long while that we’d been alone together and I could already feel the panic pricking under my skin. 

I wanted this to take as long as a blink of an eye and he wasn’t cooperating.

“I have it at my desk,” he said, stepping to the side to clear a path for me through the door. “Come in.”

I just stared at him in disbelief. 

He was inviting me into the same room with his lady friend. What world did Luke think this was?

He saw my expression and sighed, whatever face he wore around me in the last two weeks dissolving to show just how weary he actually seemed. “Max, it’s not—“

“Hi!”

Luke and I both turned to the woman who suddenly poked her head out from behind him, her hand clutching the sleeve of his shirt. She was smiling brightly at me and I blinked just to clear my vision in case I was seeing things.

“Max?” she asked, stepping around Luke and extending a hand to me. “Like Maxine?”

I glanced at Luke before taking the woman’s hand in a quick shake. “Yes. Maxine Moss. Nice to meet you…”

My sentence trailed off in the tone of a question and the woman just chuckled softly. “Sorry, my manners are atrocious. Of course, you don’t know me. I’m Elise Howell—an old friend of Luke’s.”

I gave Luke a quick sidelong glance because no one needed a census report to know just how many old friends Luke had in the female population. His face was grim, his lips pressed into a tight line, his eyes a darker but flatter shade of blue.

Whatever was eating at him like an acid wash, Elise neither noticed nor paid attention to.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Max,” the woman said just as pleasantly as she did when she was leaving Luke a message that Saturday morning a couple weeks ago. “I’ve only been back in the country for less than twenty-four hours so I’m just happy to meet new people.”

“Elise has been living in Italy for a couple years now and she’s back in the city to open her own restaurant,” Luke put in, his face softening when he glanced at Elise who beamed. I bristled inwardly, of course, but I kept a lid on it.

“It’s the most chaotic thing I’ve ever done in my life but I’m thrilled,” Elise gushed, her gray eyes sparkling. She turned to Luke and gently bumped him on the arm. “Of course, Luke helped negotiate a beautiful spot for me just along the marina. It used to be an old hardware store which closed a year ago after the owner retired. I’m stripping the whole thing down and renovating it in six months which is a tight timeline but I’m hoping it will all work out in the end.”

I smiled because one couldn’t help it in the face of such overflowing enthusiasm. “Congratulations. I’m sure it’ll be an epic project but it sounds like it’ll be a lot of fun for you.”

She nodded. “Nothing’s too epic if you’ve got lots of friends. Luke’s promised to help me out a lot which I will definitely hold him to.” She then turned to Luke. “Since Max is here and can bear witness, do you promise to help me?”

These two were obviously very comfortable with each other because Luke just sighed and smiled. “Yes, I promise. Do I need to sign anywhere?”

I could feel my smile strain in place because I didn’t want to be here and bear witness to all this affection. “I think the verbal promise is sufficient.” I angled Luke what I hoped was a meaningful look. “I don’t want to take up more of your time because you obviously have a lot of things to plan for. I just need to correct the report for tomorrow, that’s all.”

That sobered him up.

Good. Because as nice as Elise is, I can’t be Chatty Cathy when I feel like I’m turning as green as kryptonite.

Luke gave a brusque nod before walking back into his office, my eyes trailing after him.

When I remembered that Elise was standing right there in front of me, I averted my gaze back to her. She was watching me keenly even though the smile had never left her face. Her expression was kind and warm and I felt a little uneasy realizing that she was seeing more than she let on.

To my surprise, she reached out and squeezed my arm gently. “You really don’t have anything to worry about, Max.”

She didn’t have much time to expound on that statement because Luke walked back to us with the report in his hand. He didn’t look like he’d heard what Elise had said seconds ago.

“I think I’m going to quickly touch up while you two work for a little bit. God knows I have to be off to another meeting in twenty minutes,” Elise piped up before slipping behind Luke and heading for his private bathroom. She left about as quickly as she came.

I didn’t meet Luke’s eyes.

I just ripped the report from his hand and went back to my spot on the couch to flip through the pages. 

I ignored him when he plopped down next to me, his arm stretched out on the back of the couch, his entire body radiating that familiar warmth I remembered blanketing me when he’d pulled me in for a hug or when we’d sort of snuggled a few times. 

You’re under attack! I repeat, under attack! Keep it together, Moss!

I might have exploded a little inside when I felt him touch my hair which I’d left cascading down my back in a wavy waterfall (because that sounded sexy, right?). No, seriously, my hair was probably a staticky mess and the boring, old baby blue button-down shirt I had on felt a bit ill-fitting. If Elise looked like the classy, fashionably-dressed store mannequin on the window, I was the drab sales clerk dusting the glass and floor around her. 

But here was Luke, his fingers catching a lock of my hair, as if he just couldn’t help himself.

I didn’t dare turn around because one long look in his eyes and I might cave.

I flipped through the pages like a madwoman, inwardly frustrated that I couldn’t seem to make sense of the words I was reading. When I finally found the old version of the profile, I took it out of the rings that held the report together, replaced it with the new one, shut the folder close and practically shoved it at Luke as if a flimsy stack of paper could protect me from him.

There was a flash of hurt in his eyes. “Are we going to be like this forever?”

I felt the sting of the same old pain. “Forever’s what we choose it to be, Luke, and you chose this.”

I bolted to my feet and put a good distance between us. 

As if on cue, Elise reappeared, walking in as if she had no idea at all of what was happening. 

“So, Max, I was wondering,” she said as she took out a small note card from her purse. “I’m throwing a small homecoming party this weekend. Just inviting some old friends and other people I know in the restaurant circuit here. I’m doing it at my parents’ house just half an hour outside the city. My Mom has an amazing greenhouse there. She’s really big into the whole farm-to-table movement—fresh products grown locally made straight into delicious food for the same local community. If you’ve got nothing better to do on Saturday evening, you could bring a friend and join us.”

She had broad, expectant smile as she held out the card to me. It was a simple invitation with the date and time and location. Luke seemed like he was holding his breath next to her as they waited for my answer.

Choices warred inside me.

I couldn’t tell exactly what held Luke and Elise together but there was something in there that I was prickling to know. This definitely didn’t feel like the typical woman-swapping Luke’s been made infamous for. But she was still a different woman—one he clearly adored in some way—and it rankled. I wasn’t sure I could sit there at the party and bite my lip bloody observing them. Green eyes made everything look different, you know?

But then, I also promised that date to someone else.

It made the decision easier because it wasn’t much of one. Sure, it was the coward’s way out but the one time I tried to be brave about love, I just got burned. Battle scars, for sure.

“I’m thrilled to be invited—thank you—but I’ve promised someone to help him host his housewarming party,” I said with as gracious a smile as I could manage. Even without looking at him, I could feel Luke stiffen next to Elise. 

Elise’s eyes widened in curiosity. “Oh. Is it a friend or a boyfriend?”

It was a blunt question to ask someone you’ve met five minutes ago and I wasn’t sure why Elise asked. She definitely didn’t blurt it out by accident. Something about her tone hinted at what honestly sounded like purpose. 

Alex and I had pretty much stayed where we were at two weeks ago—still very much like friends but aware of the possibility for more. He did not push us any further which I appreciated. The housewarming party had been a spontaneous idea after he got his final piece of furniture delivered. He joked about it with the team after a practice I had attended and Zoe, of all people, jumped at it. No one could say no to her—not even Alex who stood no chance against his hurricane of a boss. Zoe wasted no time in partnering up with me to plan out the food and the entertainment. She had the expertise of someone who could play hostess to a party in her sleep.

But before I could respond to Elise, and perhaps explain myself a bit better, she just grinned and snapped her fingers as if the answer was plain on my face. “Oh. It’s yet to be determined, isn’t it?”

Luke all but growled at that. “It’s none of your business, Elise.”

Elise just rolled her eyes. “I’m just curious.” Then she smiled at me again. “Doesn’t matter though, Max. I’m all for keeping promises so don’t worry about it. Consider it an open invitation. I have a few events planned in the lead-up to the restaurant opening. Have to get people interested, you know? You’re welcome to come to another dinner—and maybe bring your friend or boyfriend with you.”

“She doesn’t have a boyfriend,” Luke ground out through clenched teeth.

This time, my eyes narrowed at him. “I wouldn’t sound so final on that. Maybe I’ll find someone who wants to be with me and maybe I’ll want to be with him too.”

His expression went from stubborn to bleak in a heartbeat. “You don’t meant that.”

Elise jabbed Luke on the side. “Of course, she does. Who doesn’t want to seize their chance at happiness?”

“Someone with initials L and H,” I muttered under my breath.

“What did you say?” Elise asked.

“Nothing.” I sighed and lifted the papers I had in my hand. “Anyway, I should probably get back to work. Have a few things to clean up and then I’m done for the day.”

“Oh, yes. Sorry to have kept you here with all my prattling,” Elise said with an apologetic smile before capturing my hand again with both of hers. “Again, it was very nice to meet you, Max. I look forward to having you join us for some great food at some point.”

Despite all the glaring reasons why I somewhat resented her, I couldn’t help but smile genuinely at the woman. It was difficult to dislike her, actually, because she was all warm smiles and laughter. She had the easy confidence of someone who had no issues with herself and the cheerfulness of someone drinking up life and all its glorious possibilities when the rest of us only stood back and nervously watched.

 It was easy to see her allure beyond her obvious beauty. 

Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one with eyes standing close to her.

Maybe it was selfish and messed up of me but I didn’t want the same eyes that had looked at me and saw me to be beautiful to stare at the sun and be blinded by it, the image of me burned away from his vision forever.

“Thank you and it was great to meet you, too, Elise,” I told her before taking a step back to make my swift exit. I turned to Luke and nodded. “Mr. Hedenby, thank you for your time. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I went as fast as my legs could carry me without breaking into a run. 

No one liked to linger for extra torture.

By the time I made it back to my desk, I was feeling closer to normal. And by normal I meant that I wasn’t about to come out of my skin. Whenever it hit me these days—and it hit a lot—longing felt like a heavy, endless blanket you got lost in until you felt like you were suffocating.

The sheaf of papers I’d brought with me were sitting on my desk and I stared at it for a while until I got my bearings together. Finally giving myself a mental kick, I picked them up to take them to the shredder. As my fingers moved around to get the papers into the feeder, they caught a sharp edge on the back. I turned them over and found a post-it note stuck to the back of the last page.

I know you don’t want to hear it but I miss you, even when we see each other every day.

It hurt in all the same places.

And it pissed me off for all the same old reasons.

With the words blurring in my watery vision, I pushed the paper into the shredder. I watched as it slowly disappeared, cut up neatly into tiny little squares and dumped into a dark place where no one would ever be able to figure out the puzzle they made and put them back together again.

The note, I mean. Not my heart. Maybe both.

***

So, what do you guys think? 

What are your theories on Elise? How do you feel about her? 

Let me know! I won't be too much of a Chatty Cathy myself and leave you a shorter note this time. My New Year's resolution, you know? Might break it soon enough. =)

Hope you ejoyed it. Please vote and comment if you did!

XOXO!

-Ninya

♪♪♪ Chapter Soundtrack: Salvation by Gabrielle Aplin♪♪♪

You are the avalanche
One world away
My make believing
While I'm wide awake

Just a trick of light
To bring me back around again
Those wild eyes
A psychedelic silhouette

I never meant to fall for you but I
Was buried underneath and
All that I could see was white
My salvation
My, my
My salvation
My, my