Gabriel enjoyed hanging out with his friends, but he missed Serenity. She hadn’t returned any of his calls or responded to his text messages, and his anxiety had climbed steadily throughout the day. As he sat eating dinner with Brent and Darius, he tried to put on a good front and contributed to the conversation when necessary, but his mind was back in the small town, where, in the past, he never could leave fast enough.

“Still nothing from Serenity?” Brent asked.

“No.” He pushed his half-full plate away.

Darius placed his napkin on the table. “If you’re done, we can head over to the hotel.” When Gabriel nodded, he signaled for the server.

They’d booked connecting suites that had a living room area in between. Gabriel lowered himself onto the sofa, leaned back, and closed his eyes.

A few minutes later, Brent said, “Okay, G, we’ve given you time. You need to tell us what’s going on. And don’t try to tell us it’s nothing. We’ve known each other way too long. Did you and Serenity break up?”

He let out a short bark of laughter. “If only it were that easy.” Gabriel sat up, braced his elbows on his thighs, and buried his head in his hands. “I’m in love with her,” he mumbled.

“We figured as much,” Darius said. “And you’re running scared.”

“Yes…no…hell, I don’t know.”

“Have you told her how you feel?”

“No. And last night she mentioned us trying long-distance, since I was supposed to be going back to Atlanta in a couple of weeks. It caught me off guard, and I didn’t answer right away. Before I could open my mouth, she seemed to backpedal and ushered me out. I’ve been thinking about what you guys said about extending my time by a month or two to see where this thing could go. Or even think about staying.” And he wondered whether she would still have pulled away if he’d said something sooner.

Brent shrugged. “Maybe she’s just as scared as you are.”

“She had a bad breakup, which is why she said she wanted to keep it light with us in the beginning.” Gabriel scrubbed an agitated hand down his face. “We went to Ms. Ida’s for dinner last night, and more than one person came over to the table to ask about our relationship. I could tell she was getting uncomfortable, and by the time we got back home, she had pretty much shut down.” Until the proposal.

“I think you should do more than think about staying. You should just do it.”