“It’s not about him,” he protested in anger. He wanted her, badly, but that want warred with an insistent message: People leave, people leave, people leave. Liam left because Aiden wasn’t good enough. Lisa left because he still wasn’t good enough. Antonia would soon wise up. It was best to stop this now before anyone got hurt. “I’m frightened about my future just like you. If I don’t get my shit together and solidify my career, I’m out on my arse. It just wouldn’t be good for you, Antonia. At least you have the chance for something stable.”

“Then just fucking do it,” she said in exasperation. “Stop talking about it and do it. If it helps, pretend you’re baking a cake. Confidence, remember?”

Aiden exhaled a mirthless laughed. “A cake? My dear, this isn’t a cute kitchen experiment based on blind luck and whim. This is real life.”

“Hypocritical and lacking critical thinking skills,” Antonia shot back. “Those are the makings of a pretty terrible teacher.”

Aiden was at the end of his rope. “We don’t have to do this,” he tried. “We don’t have to spend our last hours fighting.”

“Do you even know what we’re fighting about?”

Aiden didn’t answer. Instead, his gaze dropped to the pavement.

He shouldn’t have been surprised when Antonia walked away from the discussion, but the sound of her hard steps against the gravel kicked him in the gut. Aiden understood what self-preservation looked like; he was currently denying his own feelings to make this easier on them both. He meant only half of what he said. Of course he didn’t want her to go back home, but he wasn’t living in a dream world. He wouldn’t allow her to get attached to a dream world either.

But every step she took, pulled the invisible rope around his heart until it threatened to snap. Aiden left the sidewalk and followed her across the street, his chest tightening the closer he got to her.

“Antonia, please.”

“No,” she said, breathing hard. “You don’t want to fight.”

“I don’t,” he said, half-jogging to catch up with her. “I just want to hold you and kiss you.”

She spun around, her eyes blazed with anger. “That’s the problem,” she said.

Aiden stopped short. “I don’t want us to part like this,” he said loudly. “I just want you to be happy.”

“And I’m telling you what it takes, you’re just not listening to me. I’m sick of dealing with men who can’t get their shit together. Between the ones who gaslight me and lie to my face and the ones who can’t figure out what they want, I’m sitting here looking foolish.”

“Don’t compare me to your ex-boyfriend,” Aiden said. “I’ve never lied to you and I’d never cheat on you.”

Her laugh was humorless. “Derek was enough for me,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t need another man wallowing in their pitiful daddy issues while the women in their lives are desperate to just fucking live.”