“Honey, it’s the South. It’s always sweet.” I poured us two glasses.

“He’s not just a guy who lives next door,” she argued, then thanked me for the tea as I passed her a glass. “He’s the guy you want. The guy you said kissed like a god.”

“Maybe I overexaggerated.” I sipped my tea, knowing full well that I hadn’t. Kissing Jackson was a religious experience. The man knew exactly what he was doing in that department, and he did it so well that my heart picked up the pace just thinking about it. If that man could rev me up using only his mouth, what would the rest of his body be capable of?

“Uh-huh,” she challenged, lifting her eyebrow as she called out my bullshit.

“None of that matters,” I grumbled. “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results, and I’m not involving myself with another heartbreak just waiting to happen when I haven’t fixed myself from the last one.”

“You don’t know that he’s a heartbreak,” Sam argued. “What if he’s the love of your life and you miss out because you were too stubborn to walk across the damned yard and talk like adults?”

That wasn’t possible. Will was the love of my life. Wasn’t he?

But what if he…wasn’t?

Damn, was I a horrible person for even thinking that?

“Morgan?” Sam asked, clearly expecting an answer.

I blinked, trying to recall what she’d said. “Even if he wasn’t a pilot, it wouldn’t work. The man is in love with his ex. Whether or not he denies it, I heard it in his voice when he talked about her. I’m not getting involved with someone who sees me as some kind of consolation prize. No, thank you.”

Sam sighed. “And again, you don’t know that. You’re assuming. We have so few chances to be happy. I almost missed out on my chance with Grayson because I was sure that he still loved Grace, and now I can’t imagine what my life would have looked like without him in it.”

What did my life look like without Jackson? My heart stuttered in protest, but I couldn’t trust that thing, anyway. I’d been through worse. I’d survive. What I wouldn’t survive was the moment he inevitably crashed into the damned ocean.

“That’s different.” I shook my head. “You guys are the definition of fate and happily ever after.”

“We’re the definition of a really good fight,” Sam countered. “Look, I know the guy lied, and if what you’re doing is punishing him with your silence, then I’m all for it. Make him suffer until you feel he’s paid the price for being an asshole and hiding his job from you.”