It was his fault. He should have stopped her.

But Leah had thrown her hat into the ring with AggroBoy, and there was nothing Matt could do about it. He had warned Leah about AggroBoy, had told her that he suspected the guy had a criminal record. He even pointed out that AggroBoy’s screen name showed his true character. ‘Aggro’ was a truncated slang version of ‘aggravation’. And AggroBoy had hinted of persecution and prosecution by Harry Owen. But Leah told Matt that she trusted AggroBoy. She said that AggroBoy’s name reflected the thorn that he wanted to be in the side of government.

That’s when he realized that Leah and AggroBoy had more than just an online connection.

The pain had been deep. It had always been deep. Leah had gotten under his skin in a way that he couldn’t explain.

Was that what love was? Something that could never be quantified, something that could never be articulated?

Something that just was?

He had seen Leah walk by him on the way to the restroom. The Irish pub was jammed at this hour, but she was hard to miss. Her white-blond hair had been pulled into a messy topknot, adding at least two inches to her six-foot tall frame. She had changed out of the baggy flannel shirt she had worn to their physics lecture that afternoon, and now wore a clingy sweater in a shade of blue that reminded him of the Florida sky. He could barely concentrate on the conversation of his friends. When he saw Leah exit the restroom, he casually slid out from the booth. And then he just as casually bumped into her.

“Oh, sorry about that.” He smiled. He had to look up to meet her gaze. “You’re Leah, right? We’re in Astrophysics 405 together.”

There was a flash of recognition in her eyes. “Yeah.” She smiled. “I’m sorry, I don’t know your name…?”

“Matías. Matt for short.”

“Oh, hi.”

“Do you want to join me and my friends?” He pointed to the booth. Dev, one of the few who had actually observed Matt’s attempt to flirt, waved at Leah.

She appeared confused by the sudden attention. “Uh, sorry, I was just leaving.” She gestured vaguely to a table near the front.

“Oh. Okay. No problem.” He smiled at her. “Maybe we can go for a drink sometime?”

She turned wonderfully, enchantingly pink. “Okay.”

They exchanged numbers.

And he fell unequivocally, irrevocably in love.

His throat tightened at the memory. They had dated. But it had ended. She was Canadian and wanted to return home after her graduation from university. He had visa issues. The truth was, they were both too young to change the course of their lives for one another.