“Watts said he asked you to go on a road trip with him.”

I nodded.

“What did you say?”

“A road trip costs money that I don’t have.”

“Is that the only reason?”

“Tyler...”

His shoulders sagged. “It doesn’t matter what I do, does it? I just can’t…” He gestured to the space between us. “Get past whatever’s in the way.”

I pressed my lips together and clamped down with my teeth. I’d been doing so well staying away from him. It would only be cruel to admit the truth.

“What?” he said with a half-smile. “Say it.”

I shook my head.

“Don’t be a pussy, Ellison. Say it,” he repeated.

“I shouldn’t.”

“Yeah. You should.”

“I miss you,” I blurted out.

He scanned my face, a new light in his eyes.

I closed my eyes. “I think about you all the time … mostly wondering why you put up with so much of my shit.”

“You and me both.”

I looked away, trying to find something that warranted my attention so Tyler wouldn’t see the hurt in my eyes.

“But, when I’m around you, Ellie … it doesn’t matter why. It doesn’t matter what you did to piss me off or push me away. I can’t explain it. I can’t shake it. Some days I wish I could. I come from a family of proud men, but I’m not the first to falter when it comes to the one woman he can’t walk away from.”

“You should … walk away from me.”

He chuckled. “You think I don’t know that? You’re the female version of me.”

I glanced up at him, pleased with his confession. “When you showed up tonight, I was happier than I’ve been in a long time.”

He didn’t hesitate, taking my cheeks in his hands. He leaned in, but I pulled back.

He furrowed his brow. “Then what? What do I have to do?”

My eyes burned as I clutched the mid-section of his shirt with both fists. “I’ve already told you. I’ve told you a hundred times. I’m fucked up. I’m drinking again. I’m taking spiked coffee to work.”

He shrugged. “So we start over.”

There was that word again. We. It didn’t sound so foreign anymore, and that scared the hell out of me. “It’s not that simple. I’m not in any shape to try to manage a relationship.”

Tyler looked into my eyes, and then yanked his shirt from my grip and walked away with his hands on his head, breathing hard.

“I know I’m a dick,” I said. “You don’t deserve this. But I tried to warn you.”