“I chased you for months, and I’m still chasing you. You think this is a casual fling for me? I love you.”

Val’s face fell, and her lip jutted out. “I love you, too.”

They hugged each other and then began to kiss.

I looked up at the ceiling, contemplating a tantrum.

“Sorry,” Val said, fixing her lipstick.

“It’s fine,” I deadpanned.

“We should probably get going,” Marks said. “We barely got a reservation. I don’t want to have to drive around looking for a decent meal at nine thirty at night.”

I forced a smile and then walked to the door, opening it wide.

“Sorry,” Val whispered as she passed.

I shook my head. “It’s fine.”

I shut the door, walked straight back to my bedroom, and fell face-first onto my bed.

Val and Marks had made finding a solution look so easy, figuring it out even though Val had been sharing a condo with Sawyer for over a year. I was miserable living an entire floor below Thomas. But our problems seemed more complicated than living with an ex. I loved a man who I couldn’t love, who loved someone else but loved me more.

Love could kiss my ass.

The next morning, I was relieved not to see Thomas in the elevator.

As the weeks passed, it became less of a worry and more of a memory.

Thomas would make sure to arrive at work before me and to stay far later. The meetings were short and tense, and if we were given an assignment, Val, Sawyer, and I hated to come back to Constance empty-handed.

The rest of Squad Five kept their heads down, scowling at me when they thought I wouldn’t notice. The days were long. Just being in the squad room was stressful, and I had quickly become everyone’s least favorite supervisor in the building.

Eight straight days went by without any run-ins with Thomas at Cutter’s, and then another week passed.

Anthony had given me the number of a friend who knew someone who shipped vehicles, and once I’d called and mentioned Anthony’s name, the price dropped in half.

By May, my Camry had been delivered, and I was able to explore more of San Diego. Val and I went to the zoo, and I began systematically visiting all the beaches, always alone. It became sort of a thing.

It didn’t take me long to fall in love with the city, and I wondered if falling quick was going to start being a thing with me, too. That was squashed after several outings with Val as I began to understand that every interaction with a man just reminded me of how much I missed Thomas.