“Will do. Thanks again!” I waved as he slid into his black Mercedes, then pulled away from the curb.

Michael was amazing. He was the big brother I should have had—protective, indulgent, and honest to a fault. He was there for me when I needed him, and that had meant the world to me. He was also gorgeous, but our relationship had never gone down that particular path. Right at six feet tall, he was a dichotomy of striking features and an intimidating countenance, making people unsure if they should stare or look away. His disheveled hair was almost black, and his deep-set eyes were equally as dark. With full lips and hardly any facial hair, he could have been an emo model or a bad-boy musician covered in angry tattoos.

To me, he was just Michael.

He was the boy who was so fascinated with fast cars that he snuck out to watch illegal street races when we were in high school. He was the person who copied off my homework and met me at an all-night diner when I’d had a bad day and needed a plate of pancakes with hot chocolate.

Michael was my best friend, but nothing more than friendship had ever developed between us.

He never made a single move to change the status of our relationship. It was hardly an option early on. When we met, I had been devastated after a brutal breakup with a boy who had owned my heart since I was five years old. Nico had broken my heart so thoroughly that I wasn’t sure it would ever work properly again. Michael helped me see that life would continue even if Nico wasn’t by my side. Once I was able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, a platonic dynamic had been established between us. I cherished our friendship and had no desire to risk losing it. Michael was the one good thing that came from that time period.

If it hadn’t been for Nico leaving, I probably never would have met Michael.

For the past seven years, he’d been my closest confidant and friend. He had given me so much, and now I could add my job to the list of ways he had made my life better. I glanced back at the vinyl lettering of the gallery name plastered across the window above the door. My lips pulled back involuntarily into a wide smile as warmth flooded my chest. Things were going to be different from now on. I could feel it in every cell of my body. I had seized the reins to my life and would steer myself in the direction I saw fit, rather than be subjected to the back seat and chauffeured to places I didn’t want to go.

My excitement made the spring sky that much brighter and the dirty city street almost inviting. I skipped over to the Buick I had borrowed from my mom and slipped behind the wheel. My father liked for me and my sisters to use drivers in the city, but while I’d been at college, it hadn’t been necessary. No doubt that was already on his to-do list, but I would deal with it later.