Max didn’t want the water, or the chips, but he knew that look on Wes’s face all too well. He opened the bag and stuffed a handful of chips in his mouth. After that, and a few sips of water, he turned to his friend.

“Thanks. And … Wes, I don’t know what to do. I’m usually good at countering any argument, you know I am. But I don’t know how to deal with this one. You’re right, I need to figure out how to make her happy; I want to make her happy, more than anything. I told her I loved her, I told her I was sorry, I told her I miss her, but that was the wrong thing, and I don’t know what the right thing is. I feel like I’m letting my chance at the woman I love slip away, but I’m frozen.”

Wes tipped the bag of chips toward him and took one, then pushed it back to Max.

“Eat more of those. Now, do you know why those were the wrong things to say?”

Max ate another handful of chips.

“I feel like I’m back in law school and got called on and didn’t do the reading. No, of course I don’t know why! If I knew why, don’t you think I would have said something else?”

Wes took a sip of his beer and relaxed against the couch cushions.

“Yes, I do think that, asshole. The point is you gotta figure it out.”

There was silence in the room for a while as Max finished the bag of chips and took two more sips of water. Then he took a long, deep breath.

“Because those things are about me. Not about her, or how she’s feeling, or the problems she brought up, or how we can resolve them.”

Wes gave him a smug smile that Max was sure his political opponents hated.

“See, I knew all you needed was a snack.”

Max would get furious at Wes’s treating him like a damn toddler, but he knew he deserved it. Plus … maybe he had needed a snack.

“That’s exactly right,” Wes continued. “In order to get her back, you need to tell her how you’re going to fix this, how the two of you can fix this together.” He looked at Max for a long moment. “Do you think you can? Fix this, I mean?”

Max closed his eyes.

“I don’t know. Maybe she’s decided there’s nothing I can do, maybe she wants nothing to do with me or politics or anyone who has ever had their name in the paper, but I’ve got to try. I’ve got to see if there’s a way around or through this for us.” He winced. “Why didn’t I realize that before? Am I that self-centered?” He looked at Wes. “Please don’t answer that.”