The elevator dings and the doors open on the fourth floor. Asher waits for me to step out first. I bet he’s going to press the ground floor button and make his escape. Otherwise he’s just being a gentleman, which would be shocking behavior from the man who, earlier today, saw me running towards the elevator at work and immediately closed the doors before I could get in.

He steps out behind me.

I think I’m going into cardiac arrest. Maybe when I get rushed to the hospital, they’ll stitch up my lip.

“I didn’t stick the landing,” I say and then I watch his eyebrow quirk up. “Turns out I’m not a professional ice skater.”

Asher bites his bottom lip to stifle a laugh. His smiles are so few and far between that I’ve never noticed the dimples in his cheeks until this very moment. I swear my heart flutters.

“You must be devastated.”

“It was a sobering moment,” I say. “You can follow Bree’s Snapchat if you’re interested in the visual recap.”

“I’d rather not know what Bree gets up to when she’s not at work.”

“It’s a lot of dramatic commentary while she watches Jeopardy. And her dancing on tables.”

“Well if dancing on tables is involved...” he says once we stop in front of apartment 401. He pauses and turns to me before he knocks. “Unfortunately, I think I’ve already surpassed my quota for unethical workplace relationships.”

“It’s hardly unethical for two consenting adults to be involved.”

“I don’t recall consenting to being involved with you.”

“I don’t recall consenting to being your personal bagel delivery girl and yet, here we are.”

His nostrils flare and he gives the door three hard raps before it swings open. I quickly grab his hand and lean into him. We reek of being in love.

“You made it!” Francesca’s hair falls in dark waves over her shoulders and she’s wearing a long-sleeved black dress that shows off what my legs would look like if I was ten inches taller and did five thousand high-kicks before breakfast.

“We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I say and I’m beaming. The human embodiment of the sun. I’m responsible for global warming. I could melt glaciers. I look up at Asher and I’m completely enamored. I should have gone into acting. I’m killing this whole pretending-to-be-in-love thing. The hearts in my eyes are going to explode.

And when Francesca leans in to kiss Asher on the cheek, I feel a pang of jealousy twist in my stomach. Even my emotions deserve an Oscar. We’re so good at faking it.

“Olivia, oh my God.” Francesca is horrified when she sees my face. I was too when I saw my reflection in the train’s window. “What happened?”

“Oh, I—”