“What? I’m losing you!” My best friend lied like a fucking pro. “Listen, I’m getting on the road, see you there!” She was gone before I could call her on her obvious bullshit. With an amused huff I powered on my car and followed the directions to the house. I would do this one thing, and then I’d go somewhere quiet and call Theo. I wanted to see him. I wanted to tell him about the good things that were happening to me.

I was so distracted thinking about what I’d say that I got to the house on autopilot. It was indeed the same street we’d driven down that day. In fact it was the same dark blue house with green shutters and a big oak tree in the yard.

I slowed down and parked on the street in front of it and pressed a hand to my chest when I saw the Tesla SUV in the driveway. Looks like a place a person could be happy to come home to after a long day.

With trembling hands I pressed Julia’s number on the car’s touch screen.

“Julia del Mar, what the hell is going on?” I asked, my voice shaking.

“I’m just giving you a little nudge, babe. That’s all.” Her voice was so full of hope that I couldn’t even get mad at her lying ass.

“This is not a client. Is it?” I asked, right as I saw him walk out of the house. A sob escaped my lips when he finally spotted me and his eyes widened with recognition. “Julia!” I cried. Freaking out and swooning all at once.

“Go,” my friend urged. “We’ll be there later. I love you, friend. Go get your man.”

There are those moments in movies when the two main characters finally have their reunion and you think: Would they really drop their phone on the floor of the car and leap out of it like a lunatic? The answer is, hell yes...well, after they almost crush their own windpipe with the seat belt.

“Fuck this thing,” I cried, scrambling to get free. By the time I managed to unlatch myself he was standing by the door of the car. Looking gorgeous and stoic.

I’d been certain Theo was what I wanted from the moment I’d put my mom on the plane back to New York. Before that even—I knew it the moment I walked out of that penthouse the morning after we got back from Santa Fe. When I opened the door and stepped out of the car, he pulled me into his arms and it was like I could breathe again. No, more than that. It was like I could feel the breath coming in and out of my lungs. Like oxygen was returning to my body.