I shouldn’t have gone to Sarah’s last night.

Ever since she told me she’d thought I cheated on her, I’d had a ball of rage roiled up in my chest, pushing me to confront her every chance I got so I could show her just how much of an asshole I really was. After all, she’d called me one, and she loved to be right.

I’d once loved to make her happy.

When we’d been together, I’d been the most loyal, loving, dedicated boyfriend in this whole fucking world. Anything she wanted? I gave her. Anything she needed? I found. I’d gone out of my way to take care of her, and to show her she never had to doubt me or my love. Never, not once, had I given her even a tiny reason to think that I might ruin that by cheating on her.

Not. Fucking. Once.

So to hear that she had “seen” me with another girl, and then packed her bags and left without telling me why she’d needed “space” to “think” for a week—something I’d given her despite my confusion, because, again, I gave her whatever the hell she wanted—was like a blow to the balls with those high-heeled shoes of hers she loved to wear despite how impractical they were in the office. To call me pissed off was the understatement of the century.

I was livid.

Typing quickly, I documented the details of Liz’s gruesome murder, and the entire crime scene, pausing only when I sensed someone come up to my desk. Since I couldn’t sleep, I’d come in early to get some work done. I’d been one of the only people in the office until now. Lifting my head, I frowned at my best friend. “What are you doing here so early?”

Hernandez scratched his head, looking at me weirdly. “It’s not that early. It’s eight.”

“What?” I glanced at my phone, lighting up the screen. Sure enough, he was right. I’d been here for two hours already, and I hadn’t even noticed the room slowly filling up with people. On their own accord, my eyes travelled to Sarah’s desk. Her chair was empty. “I didn’t notice.”

“I could tell. You didn’t hear me calling your name, asking if you wanted coffee.” He set a cup on my desk, and slid it toward me. “So, I took that to be a yes.”

“Hell, yes.” I picked it up, kicked back in my chair, and grinned up at the man who’d been there for me for longer than I could remember. “Thanks, man.”

“Anytime.” He perched on the edge of my desk. “What’s up?”

“Nothing, just catching up on some paperwork.”

Hernandez flinched. “The murder case?”

“Yeah.”

Hernandez readjusted himself on the desk, smoothing his khakis. He wore a plaid button up shirt and a tie, with his brownish-black hair spiked and looking a little wild. “How’d your new partner handle her first violent case? We don’t get many of those around here.”

I set my pen down a little too hard, immediately cursing myself. I was showing too much. Giving too much away. It was no one’s business how I felt about her—not even my best friend’s. “Fine. She’s pretty tough.”

That, at least, was the truth.

“Good.” He glanced toward the door, running his fingers through his hair. “Speak of the devil…”

I looked up with way too much enthusiasm for my liking. Today she wore a tight-fitting grey dress that hugged every curve of her body. One I’d tried so damn hard to forget. Her long brown hair fell over her shoulders in thick waves, and she’d painted her lips a dark red today. Her medium skin shone with what could only be magical powers, and she walked with a grace that put every other woman out there to shame.

I couldn’t look away.

“Fuck me,” I muttered.

Hernandez grunted in agreement. “She looks good. today”

I didn’t agree. I didn’t need to. “You got any hot cases?”

“Nah.” Hernandez looked away from Sarah. Good. I’d been this close to punching the man who had been at my side my whole life because he’d practically been drooling over her. “We got a case yesterday, but it was a dud. Nothing on the books for now.”

“How’s Thomas doing?”

Hernandez winced. “Enthusiastically optimistic, as always.”

Samuel Thomas was a young recruit who told anyone and everyone he met that he intended to change the world. His optimism was cute, if not annoying. He was fresh outta school, and ready to take on the world. In my opinion, he and Sarah would have made a much better pairing than splitting up me and Hernandez like the captain had.

Sarah came over, eyeing me cautiously. After our fight last night, guess it wasn’t too weird she might be nervous around me. “Hey, Hernandez.”

Hernandez nodded at her, shooting me a look out of the corner of his eye. “Good morning, Lopez. How are you doing?”

“Great,” she said, flatly. She glanced at me again, the dark circles under her eyes even more prominent than yesterday. “Any calls this morning?”

“Not yet, I’ve just been typing up my report on Liz’s case.”

She nodded once. “I’ll do the same, then.”

“Okay.” I hesitated, my grip on the coffee mug flexing. “Sarah?”

She stiffened, and turned around slowly. “Yes?”

“I meant what I said last night.”

Biting her lip, she darted a quick look at Hernandez, then nodded jerkily. “Okay.”

And with that, she walked away.

Again, I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

It was becoming an annoying habit.

“What did you say last night?” Hernandez asked in a stage whisper.

“That I wanted to start over.” I leaned back in my chair, sighing. “We’re partners now, for better or worse, and I choose to try to make it better. To move past the…past.”

Hernandez pursed his lips. “Not a bad choice.”

“I also found out why she left. I’ll fill you in when there’s no ears around.”

After glancing around the office, Hernandez stood. “Garyowen’s, at nine?”

“Deal.”

Once I was alone again, I glanced at Sarah. She sat at her desk, waiting for her computer to load. As she waited, she tapped her fingers on her thigh. She’d painted them maroon. For some reason, I couldn’t look away from her fingers as they tapped. When I finally did, I locked eyes with her, and got caught dead-ass staring at my ex.

She blinked at me, confusion—or perhaps another emotion I couldn’t name—coloring her cheeks. I lifted a brow at her cockily, trying to play it off, and turned back to my own computer.

I needed to pull my shit together.