Anna

Peering over the top of my textbook, I frowned at my laptop on the desk. A message from Sean flashed in the corner of the screen.

After our dustup at the park last month, he didn’t contact me for two weeks. My mom facilitated his visitation exchanges, and he stopped sending me emails about the time he spent with Willow.

So I threw myself into my studies, my volunteer work at legal aid, Mommy and Me classes with Willow—anything so I wouldn’t have to think of him. It was our new normal. 

And then last week, he’d sent me three words.

Lemon or lime?

Back in high school, we used to play this game. Sean would throw out two choices and I’d have to pick one. Sean knew I was a lemon girl, but I’d indulged him. 

And that’s how we made the leap from lovers to friends. Sean didn’t tell me he loved me or beg me to talk to him about our future. Because there was no future beyond co-parenting our child.

For Sean, it seemed effortless. He was happy.

Me? I was trying. But the fact that I looked forward to his stupid messages more than I’d liked to admit proved that my heart still belonged to him. And his belonged to Willow. Our daughter got the best of Sean, and for that, I was supremely grateful. 

With a sigh, I set my book aside, then doing my best impression of a contortionist, I slid out of bed. Willow never even stirred.

Grabbing my laptop, I headed to the kitchen for some wine. After filling a teacup with some cheap Moscato, I settled on the couch to read Sean’s message. 

Cookies or Brownies?

Biting my lip, I typed: What kind of cookies?

Dots jumped around in the box as I sipped my wine.

Laughing when he replied: You’re breaking the rules, I responded with an angel emoji.

When nothing came back for a long moment, my heart sank just a little. It was still early. Maybe Sean was getting ready to go on a date. 

Sipping my wine, I pulled up my browser to find a movie to watch. When Sean’s picture appeared on the screen, I startled, spilling Moscato all over myself.

Incoming FaceTime call.

Butterflies swarmed in my stomach as I accepted.

And then Sean was there, his handsome face taking up the entire screen. 

His brows turned inward. “Why can’t I see you?” 

“Oh . . . Hold on.” I ran my fingers through my hair, straightened my soggy T-shirt, and then tore off the piece of electrical tape covering the webcam. “Better?”

Sean smiled as he relaxed against the headboard. “Yeah.” 

We stared each other for a minute and then both spoke at once. My cheeks heated and I wondered if Sean could detect the blush in the dim light.

“Sorry, go ahead,” I prompted with a laugh. 

“I was just asking about your day.”

I took my last sip of wine to cool myself down. Sean was making it all kinds of difficult to concentrate. He was shirtless with his arm resting casually behind his head. And damned if I didn’t want to lick the screen. 

“Let see,” I began. “I made homemade macaroni and cheese for dinner. And then Willow—”

“I’m asking about you.” He smiled into a sip of beer. “What did you do today?”

Thrown off by the heat in his azure gaze, I pondered for a moment. Think. “Um . . . the usual. I went to class and—”

“Which class?” His tongue darted out to sweep some liquid off his bottom lip, and I forgot my own name. “Well?”

I rattled off a few classes that I wasn’t even sure were on my schedule while Sean continued to look at me like he wanted to eat me for a midnight snack. 

“Sounds like fun,” he said when I finished babbling. 

Fun would be if he lowered his camera so I could see where that happy trail led, but I wasn’t about to tell him that.

“Is everything all right?” he asked, adjusting his computer so only his concerned face lit the screen. 

I finally managed to push out a breath. “Yeah . . . of course.” 

He looked down and sighed. “Anna . . .” 

Nothing good ever started when Sean said my name that way. Infusing steel in my spine, I braced myself for whatever was coming. 

Raking a hand through his hair, he met my gaze and smiled. “I want to see you.”

Blood rushed to my ears. Why would he want to see me? It had to be something big.

“You are seeing me.” 

“In person. Can we do that?”

Excuses filled my head. But I couldn’t form any words, so I nodded. 

Sean visibly relaxed. “Cool. Day after tomorrow?”

Resisting the urge to rub the ache in my chest, I nodded again. “Sure.”

My voice was thin and reedy—but Sean didn’t seem to notice. He was too busy grinning. The pain spread to my limbs, and I couldn’t feel the cup in my hand. 

“It’s getting late.” I forced my lips to bend. “I’m going to go, okay?”

A crease formed between his brows. “Yeah, sure.” Before I could sign off, he blurted, “Wait! Blue or Green?”

I looked deep into the azure pools of his eyes, momentarily silenced by the silver threads that sparkled when he smiled again.

“Blue.”