She snickered as I shook my head at her horrible joke.

“What did he ask you?”

“Oh, it was something about Tyler.”

“Tyler? What would he want to know about Tyler?” I asked, my heart skipping a little faster at the mention of Roman and Tyler in the same sentence. My hands began twirling the napkin in my hand as I nervously listened.

Why was I so anxious?

“It wasn’t about Tyler exactly. Cavenaugh wanted to know what company he worked for.” She shrugged. “Something business-related, I guess.”

“Oh,” I responded, my fidgety fingers slowly relaxing.

“Why do you look so worried?”

“What? No, I’m not. It’s just that Roman can be very intense sometimes,” I explained, hating myself for even mentioning his name. I felt like I was breaking some sort of confidentiality rule.

“Intense how?”

“Well, he told me to steer clear of you once,” I said, the words coming out like vomit.

God, I couldn’t even stop them. I’d been holding too much in. With Melissa’s late nights and my inability to talk to my mother about grown-up problems, I felt like a volcano ready to erupt. If Lauren prodded too much more, I’d end up telling her everything.

Like the fact that I had a big, fat crush on my hotter-than-sin boss.

And my relationship with Tyler was the only thing keeping me from climbing Roman like a tree.

“He told you to stay away from me? That’s insane! I mean, first of all, why would he even care?”

I laughed awkwardly. “I know. It’s so weird.”

“And, second, it’s none of his business.”

“It’s not,” I agreed.

“Listen, you’ve got enough to deal with right now besides a pushy boss. Just focus on yourself, okay? And I don’t care what Cavenaugh says. I will continue to be your awesome friend. Sound good?”

“Great,” I said, breathing out a sigh of relief.

I needed to talk to my boyfriend. And I needed to do it soon. Otherwise, I really was going to explode.

And that just sounded all sorts of bad.

I was used to the loud noises at night now. Even though Tyler made vain attempts to be quiet, the alcohol still pumping in his veins always made him clumsy and awkward, even in his own space.

I tried to ignore it.

I tried to tell myself he was doing his job.

Paying his dues.

But this was not how I’d pictured our life together. This was not how it was supposed to be—our happily ever after.

So, I did the only thing I could. I sank further into the covers, burying my head in the blankets, and I pretended I was somewhere else, anywhere else, other than here.