The thought of spending his days without the possibility of seeing her smile or hearing her confide in him hurt. Way more than it should.

So he packed away any foolish longings and weighed his feelings versus his needs.

As always, he came out the stronger for it and relegated any discomfort with distress to a healthy way of idealizing balance.

He fell asleep with ease.

And this time he didn’t dream. Or at least, he didn’t choose to remember.

CHAPTER 12

“I almost kissed him,” Justine confided to Katie Friday night at her apartment as they watched the first episode of one of Katie’s favorite series of all time. The show involved half-naked and fully-naked men fighting each other and having sex with women all over the place. Justine could see why her best friend loved the show.

Katie’s eyes grew wide. She paused the television and turned to gape at Justine. “Say that again. You almost kissed your boss?”

Horrified, Justine shrieked, “Are you insane? No, Katie. I almost kissed Xavier. Yesterday in the laundry room. We were standing way too close, and you could cut the tension with a knife.”

“Cliché, but I’ll allow it.” Katie held up a finger to stop Justine’s retort. “No, wait. I want to hear everything. Right now.”

With a sigh, Justine told her all about Wednesday evening coffee and meeting Auggie, and then the near kiss in the laundry room. “And I swear,” she ended, “I can’t be sure, as I was trying not to get caught staring, that he was pretty excited to be near me, if you know what I mean.”

“What? No.” Katie shoved a handful of popcorn in her mouth and chewed like a hungry squirrel.

“What do you mean, no? And ew, I can see your food.”

“I can’t believe you waited until now to tell me. How are we best friends?”

“Oh stop. I haven’t told anyone else.” Not that she had anyone else to tell. Well, if Aunt Rosie had been around, she might have called her. But then, probably not. Her aunt had a way of making her feel like an old cow put out to pasture, as her aunt liked to say, and Justine had yet to reach thirty.

“I’m still a little confused,” Katie said. “I know you and Mitch didn’t end in a good way. Well, minus any drama, it was the driest breakup ever. No screaming or throwing things. You just took a few extra weeks to get all your stuff together, slept in the spare room, and were never home. Then you moved all your stuff here.”

“I thought it was a mature way to end things.”

“Bah.” Katie scowled. “You’re an amazing person with creative ideas and a real passion for life. Except when it comes to guys. Xavier seems intelligent.”

“He is.”

“Nice.”

“He’s nice.”

“And he’s freaking hot. You have to admit that.”

Her cheeks still felt warm as she answered, “He is.”