To hell with what happened the other night. I don’t care. I took things too fast, and I scared her. That was on me. What was I thinking, walking out of there without trying to fix it? I’m never going to make that mistake again. Never in my goddamn life.

I speed past Beau and Jane’s house. They’re not there. A college thing for Jane. I don’t like that, either. They should be here, with the security.

It has to wait. I can’t text Beau and drive at top speed to get to Emily.

When I pull up to her house, I know she’s heard. No doubt in my mind. Because three of my security guards are waiting on the porch.

The one in the middle nods to me as I climb out of the car. “Is Emily inside?”

“She and Paige are inside, Mr. Garza.”

I stride onto the porch and let one of the guards open the door for me. I’m not standing outside and begging to be let in. Not sending her a bunch of texts. I just go in. She can kick me out later if she wants.

“Emily?”

“We’re in the kitchen,” she calls back. I can hear the slightest shake in her voice.

I go into the kitchen.

Paige and Emily sit at the kitchen island, muffins on plates in front of them. They have glasses of lemonade. Paige takes one look at me and breaks into a grin. “Hi, Uncle Mateo. Want a muffin?”

I mean to answer her. I really do. Except the word yes sticks in my throat. I can’t do anything until I’ve done what I came here to do.

Which is to go around the kitchen island, take Emily by the hand, and pull her into my arms.

She practically falls into me, her arms going around my waist, her head going to my chest. All her fear is strung through her muscles.

“There are three guards on the porch,” I murmur into her hair. “Nobody’s getting in here.”

“I know they’re not. But maybe that’s a problem. You know—” A deep breath that sounds very much like she’s trying not to cry. “If you never let anybody in, you just start believing that it’s better to be alone. You just start thinking that you’re the one whose judgment isn’t good enough. That maybe you don’t deserve to be happy.”

“Emily—”

“I kept trying to keep everybody out.” She pulls back and looks into my eyes. “I tried to keep everybody out because I didn’t trust myself to know what I wanted. That’s crazy.” Emily laughs. It sounds relieved and bewildered and tired. “It’s just crazy. I know what I want.”