“You’re supposed to be my partner, not my nanny,” he continued. “You don’t get to decide what I need, or how I’m supposed to live my life. It’s my life, not yours, and not anyone else’s.”

We glared at each other. This was not going to work for me. Maybe I did hover. Perhaps I was too invested in the men I loved. And sure, I probably was a lawnmower wife/girlfriend who tried to remove obstacles from the path of those I loved. So sue me!

“Is that it then? Is that your ultimatum and I’m supposed to fall in line?” I asked. “I’m just a secondary character in your life? Or are we going to talk about last night? About the Sunshine House or why you felt so compelled to help Emily, Elijah, and the baby? How about why seeing them triggered a massive panic attack for you?”

He looked taken aback as if it had never occurred to him that I might want to talk about this stuff. Men!

“No, we’re not talking about it,” he said. “None of that is relevant to us.”

“Really?” I asked. “I think it’s pretty damn relevant when the guy I’m seeing collapses in the middle of the street. I heard the EMT, Nick. He said you had a panic attack. It’s not just going to go away, and you can’t continue to live like this.” I gestured to the house. “You are so freaked out about having another stroke that you’re having panic attacks. You need to talk to someone, and if it isn’t going to be me, then maybe it can be your sister.”

“Is that how you see me?” he asked. “Some broken guy that you want to foist onto his sister because he’s too much to deal with?”

“I never said that,” I said. “But it’s pretty clear you have a lot of damage from your childhood that you need to figure out.”

“Says the woman who was married twice by the age of twenty-eight,” he said.

I sucked in a breath. That was a low blow.

“So now you’re going to weaponize my past and use it to hurt me?” I asked. His scorn cut more deeply than I was willing to show him. I’d thought we were better than this.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “That was out of line—much like you calling my sister.”

“If you’re expecting an apology, you’re in for a long wait,” I said. “She deserved to know.”

Yes, this was the hill I was prepared to die on. It was more important to me that Nick have someone in his life for the long term than to have me in the short term.