He drove like the devil was chasing him.

Any cop on patrol would’ve pulled him over, but he managed to avoid them and screeched to a stop outside Sally’s house. He still thought of it as theirs, which was why he hadn’t been able to drive past it since the night he moved out.

Leaping off his motorbike, he ran to the front door and pounded the wood.

“Sally, we’ve got to talk!”

It wasn’t until his fist started hurting that he realized his approach was probably way off.

Turning up like an angry madman? Was he nuts?

He stepped back from the door with a heavy sigh, and croaked, “Sally, please…let me in.”

Her reply was silence.

He squeezed the back of his neck and cursed under his breath.

She was ignoring him, because she didn’t want to see him. She wouldn’t give him a chance to make it right.

Dammit!

“Or maybe she’s just not home, you idiot,” Nate muttered.

As his frantic brain calmed, his logical senses kicked back in and he made a quick call to the hospital to find out if she was at work.

But Sally was off for the weekend.

So where the hell was she?

With an irritated huff, Nate walked around the property to double-check that the bungalow was empty. It actually had the feel that it’d been that way for a while. The back lawn was long and unkempt, and a peek through the window showed thick layers of dust on the furniture. And there were zero signs of Rusty’s antics anywhere.

How long had they been gone?

Shuffling to his Harley, he sat on it for a few minutes before starting up the engine. His brain ticked through the places Sally could be living—her parents’, her sister’s, Lena’s, Chantel’s, Bridget’s…Oscar’s?

His stomach rebelled at the idea and he revved the engine, heading to her parents’ place first.

They wouldn’t welcome him, but he didn’t give a shit.

He needed to talk to Sally.

He needed her to know that he’d finally figured it out.

As his Harley rumbled through the open gates, nerves attacked him. He’d been so set on seeing her that he hadn’t come up with anything to say. What did he start with? Would she even listen?

Sally was the world’s most patient, compassionate woman.

She’d listen. Of course she would. Which meant he had to express himself pretty damn perfectly in order for her to hear what his heart was so desperate to say.

“Sally, I love you,” he whispered as he hopped off his bike and pocketed the keys. “I miss you. I’m lost without you.”

It was all so generic and borderline cheesy. Like something out of the romance novels she loved to read.

He had to be better than that.

She needed honesty—raw and ugly…but real.

Swallowing down the last of his tattered pride, he knocked on the door and stiffened the second it swung open.

“Nathan?” Michael Richmond’s face puckered with annoyance before smoothing out with a professionally tight smile. “What are you doing here?”

“I need to see Sally.”

“She’s not here.” The man gave him a polite nod and went to close the door.

Nate shot out his hand to stop him. “It’s important, sir. When is she getting back?”

“Not today. She’s away for the weekend.” With a short huff, Michael gave up fighting Nate for control of the door. Nate was stronger and, in that particular moment, far more determined. Scratching his forehead, Michael let out a resigned sigh. “Look, Nathan, I really don’t think it’s a good idea, you trying to see her again. She’s moving on and you need to let her do that. She wasted a lot of years on you, and I don’t want you messing with her when she’s close to being happy again.”

The words were like poisonous darts, hitting Nate’s chest in quick succession.

The venom soaked into his bloodstream, trying to numb his heart, warning him to give up.

She was happy again. With Oscar. Which meant she was happy without Nate.

Dipping his head, he gazed down at his boots and could barely muster a nod. “I just thought…”

“You had your chance and you blew it,” Michael clipped. “If you love my daughter, leave her alone and give her the life she deserves.”

Nate couldn’t argue with that. He did love Sally and he desperately wanted to give her the life she deserved. But with him.

“Goodbye, Nathan.” Mr. Richmond closed the heavy door with no more fight from Nate.

Clenching his jaw, Nate kept staring down at his boots. He watched them walk to the motorbike as if they were detached from his body. He’d been so certain the night before when he called Sally. So determined when he drove here to win her back.

But was that fair?

She hadn’t returned his call.

She’d gone off for the weekend, no doubt with Oscar, and she didn’t need him.

His stomach clenched like there was a fist inside of him, trying to squeeze him dry.

“Hey, asshole.”

Nate closed his eyes, resisting the urge to look over his shoulder with a snarl. Fuck off, Xavier. The words were right on the tip of his tongue.

“She’s gone down to the lake house with the douche nugget,” Xavier told him.

Nate could barely swallow past the bile surging up his throat. He gripped his hands into fists and kept his back to Sally’s younger brother.

“You know, it wouldn’t hurt, man. The worst she can say is no, right?”

Nate blinked. It took him a second to register Xavier’s words. Then he frowned and spun to face him. “What?”

Xavier grinned, sliding his hands into his pockets just the way his father did. “If you show up at the cabin, she can tell you to piss off or…you know…lovingly fall into your arms.”

Nate scoffed and shook his head. “From what your dad just said, I doubt she’s going to do that.”

“Dad doesn’t know shit. And if you’re standing here believing what he just told you, then you’re just as stupid as he is.”

Nate worked his jaw to the side, anger bubbling inside of him.

“Listen to me, man.” Xavier glanced over his shoulder as if he was about to share the world’s greatest secret and didn’t want to get caught. Stepping forward, he waited until Nate was looking him in the eye before emphatically stating, “You were all she ever wanted…when you showed up.”

Nate grimaced, disgusted at himself for being so fucking blind for so fucking long.

“I wouldn’t be out here talking to you if I didn’t think you were meant to be together. My family may not love you, but Sally has always adored you. I don’t know how the hell your grumpy ass does it, but her heart is yours.”

Nate blinked in surprise, his lips parting. It was all he could manage with the emotions raging through him. Speech seemed impossible.

“Look, go to the lake house, apologize for being a selfish prick and tell her you love her.” Xavier slapped him on the shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze. “Oscar will probably hate you for it, but we can deal with that shit later. Just don’t fuck this up, and you may graduate from asshole to dude.”

Nate snickered at Xavier’s wink and shot out his hand. “Thank you.”

“I’m doing it for Sally, but you gotta promise me that if you get her back, you treat her like—”

“I will. I promise you.” Nate’s voice was husky with conviction as he squeezed Xavier’s hand. He didn’t know what his eyes were doing, but it made Xavier smile and nod.

“Go get her, asshole.”

Nate didn’t need to be told twice.

Throwing his leg over the bike, he started it up and tore away from the Richmonds’ house. He didn’t want to think about the fallout of Sally taking him back. All he could focus on was the idea of seeing his woman and telling her that she was everything, and he’d never fail to realize that again.