“Just getting out of the way while the cleaning crew fixes Ground Zero.”

“It’s really that bad? And you’re lecturing me about Marco?” she asked.

“Hold on.” I focused long enough to parallel park, and then turned off the car, finishing my cigarette.

“You there?” Finley asked.

“Yeah,” I said, blowing out a puff of smoke. The white cloud slipped out through the top of the window I’d cracked just enough that I could tell my father I’d tried.

“You’ve got to stop this shit, Ellie. Everyone has a limit.”

“That’s what I’m counting on,” I said, taking one last drag before pushing the butt through the window. I stepped out, and then ground the cherry of the cigarette with the heel of my boot.

I bent over to pick it up and then tossed it into the nearest trashcan.

“You’re lucky,” a voice behind me said.

I turned around to see Tyler leaning against the brick veneer of an automotive parts store with his arms crossed, a US Forestry truck parked not far away.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“If you hadn’t picked up that cigarette butt, I might have had to arrest you.”

“Someone should inform you that you’re not a cop.”

“I’m friends with a few.”

“How very cool for you.”

“How’s the house?”

“Bashed the fuck in. Good to see you,” I said, turning on my heels.

I heard his footsteps chasing after me. “I was just … kidding,” he said, finally at my side. He held up a black pack of Marlboros.

“What the hell is that?” I asked.

“A peace offering?”

“You’re offering me cancer?”

He chuckled and stuffed the pack into the side pocket of his standard issue blue coat. “Where are you headed?”

I stopped and turned to him, sighing. “You’re a douchebag.”

He blinked once, and then those beautiful creases in his forehead formed, and a smile spread across his face, revealing most of his perfectly white teeth. “What’s your point?”

“My point is you were supposed to fuck me and leave me alone.”

“Okay?”

He watched me for a while with a disgusted look on his face. His boots were worn but shined, his blue cargo pants pressed but wrinkled from half a day’s wear, his shirt faded. Tyler was a hard worker and took pride in his job. He had probably never missed a day of work, but that was where his ability for commitment ended. Tyler Maddox had no doubt broken as many hearts as I had. He was exactly what I deserved, even though I had no intention of going anywhere near him.

“You’re talking to me. You said you wouldn’t.”

Tyler shoved his hands in his pants pockets and shrugged, smiling at me like he’d never had a one-night stand. That kind of charm couldn’t be learned. “I said I wouldn’t call.”