I give him a thumbs-up. After what happened with Sarah, it is hard to tell which of the things Dom told me were lies and which were truths. In the past month, I have questioned every single aspect in my relationship with Dominic Graves. Ultimately, even the anger and the pain can’t make up for the fact that I genuinely loved him. And that with his death, he took any sense of closure I may have had to his grave.

“I wanted to get away from the Dom-fest. Not because I didn’t care—because I cared too much and didn’t know when the next opportunity to live for myself was going to present itself. I wanted to live for me. Write, drink, fuck. Live a detached, lonely life. Get lost inside myself, find out who I was.” Joe strokes his chin, deep in thought. “Then I met you, and you went and crapped all over my plans. I couldn’t escape you, no matter how hard I tried. You were the only thing I thought about. I wrote Dom and my parents letters about you. I told them I met the one. I wasn’t happy about it. It was more like: ‘Can you believe I met her before I slept with fifteen girls? Before I signed a book deal? Before I rented my own place?’ That was to Dom, obviously. Not Mom and Dad.”

His confession is ripping me apart. I feel like he is prying all my wounds open. I had no idea he was in just as deep.

“I bought a ticket back before I even talked to you,” Joe admits, looking away so I won’t see the color rising in his cheeks. “The plan was to go home, pack my shit, move to California, and hope to hell you wouldn’t get your head out of your ass quickly enough to realize you were dating a loser. I was hoping being next to you would help me put a dent in my manuscript.”

I clutch his hand in mine, closing my eyes. The past is so painful, because we were a breath away from a happily ever after. From my mom being alive and well. From Joe coming for me.

“But then I stopped answering you,” I finish for him softly.

“That didn’t mean I stopped trying, though.” He rubs the back of his neck, frowning. “I kept sending you messages. Then emails to variations of your name. I couldn’t believe I was dumb enough not to ask for your last name. Everlynne is such a unique name. I’d have found you in a heartbeat.”

I sigh, because I felt the same way.

“And then I decided to go ahead and travel to San Francisco anyway.” Joe smiles grimly, staring at an invisible spot on the floor.

“You did?” My heart jumps to my throat.