The rain lets up the second I step outside the building. I’m choosing to see that as a good omen because I need something after that near run-in with Marcus.

What the hell am I thinking?

Once again, even with all the second thoughts and the logic telling me how stupid it would be to get involved with Lance Tyler, I can’t help myself. He’s so warm and inviting, like the first smell of coffee in the morning but also mixed with some wild substance that makes me ravenous and out-of-control like a kitten on catnip. I want to roll over and arch my back and just purr whenever he’s around.

Me-fucking-ow.

I pause at the corner light to get my bearings. How have I already walked three blocks from Lance’s office? I should go home and try to relax while I wait to hear back from him about seeing my father — if he can even get me in there. I’ll stop at the coffee shop up here and then hail a cab home.

My eye catches a familiar form at the end of the next street. He casually leans into the edge of the building, glancing around the corner in his leather jacket.

I walk up behind him, trying to peek over his shoulder, but I’m just not tall enough.

“Hey, Rob.”

Robbie spins around so fast his hair whooshes to the other side of his forehead.

“Hey! Trix...” he says, clearing his throat. “How ya doing?”

“I’ve had better Mondays,” I say, dragging my tongue. “What are you doing out here?”

“Nothing,” he says quickly.

I bend at the waist to glance over his shoulder, spotting a little sandwich place across the courtyard. I recognize it immediately. Just a little hole-in-the-wall place that I’m not particularly fond of, but it’s a favorite of...

Melanie’s.

I gasp when I see her sitting at a table alone beneath the awning with her tablet in one hand.

“Stalker!” I point at Robbie. “You filthy stalker!”

“I am not stalking her,” he says, easing me back a step. “Since when is observing someone from afar without their knowledge considered stalking?”

I gawk at him.

“Don’t answer that,” he says.

“Well, if you aren’t stalking, then what are you doing? Just go talk to her.”

He scoffs. “You know I can’t just walk up and talk to her.” He holds up his hand. “I’m wounded. Predators can smell that kind of thing.”

I roll my eyes. “Okay, Robbie. Real talk.” I reach out and lay a hand on his shoulder. “You have got to stop this.”

“Stop what?” he asks.

“Torturing yourself like this.”

“I’m not torturing myself.”

“It’s been half a year, Rob. She’s moving on. You should, too.”

He smiles. “She’s moving on, is she?”

“Yes.”

“No, she’s not.”

“Yes, she is,” I argue. “She has a secret admirer.”

He snorts. “A secret admirer? What is this, a third-grade social studies class?”

“Some fan has been sending her flowers for months now with cute, little notes on them.”

His smirk deepens. “Is that right?”

“She loves it. They’ve been sexting back and forth this weekend and, sooner or later, they’re going to come forward and she’s going to walk off into the sunset with them.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I don’t want to see you get your heart broken again, that’s why.” I squeeze his shoulder. “Please, Robbie. You gotta let her go. For your own sake, man.”

He squints as some of his amusement fades from his cheeks. “You sound awfully sure about this, Trix.”

“That’s because I am.”

“Well, you’re wrong.”

My gut twists with sympathy. “Rob...”

“Roses, right?” he asks.

I nod. “Yeah. They send her roses.”

“Twelve of them?”

“Yes.”

“Always twelve, no more no less, wrapped in a one-inch ribbon? Colors vary?”

“Exactly.”

Robbie steps to the side. “Check it out.”

I glance around the corner in time to see the delivery guy walk away from Melanie’s table. Her face lights up as she turns the bouquet over in her hands in search for the little, white envelope.

I turn back to Robbie as the truth sinks in. “Robbie...”

He raises his hand to stop me, his eyes locked on her. “Wait, this is my favorite part.”

I exhale and look at Melanie. She peels the tiny envelope open and slides the card out. The edges of her lips curl. Her cheeks flush a bright pink and she laughs softly to herself before raising the flowers to her nose.

“It’s you?” I ask him.

“Come on, Trix...” His smirk rises again. “Who else would it be?”

“You’re the one she’s texting with?”

He chuckles.

My jaw drops. “When are you going to tell her?”

“Honestly hadn’t planned on it,” he says with a shrug.

“Then, why are you doing it?”

He bites his cheek and doesn’t answer.

“Robbie, you have to tell her about this!”

“No, I don’t.” He glares at me. “And neither do you.”

“I can’t not tell her, Rob. She’s gonna be so pissed—”

“Omerta!”

My face screws up. “Omerta?”

He nods. “Omerta. That’s a mafia thing, right?”

“Yes, but you’re not mafia and Melanie’s not a cop.”

“Still, I’m invoking Omerta on this, so you can’t tell her.”

“You can’t just invoke Omerta,” I say. “It’s not a pirate code.”

“Trix, please.”

He stares at me, pleading and desperate like a poor, sick puppy.

I groan. “Fine. I won’t say anything... for now.”

“No, not for now. You won’t say anything ever.”

“I won’t, but you will. You have to tell her about this, Rob. Sometime between now and the day you die, you have to tell her about this.”

“I’ll think about it,” he says. I tighten my glare at him. “That’s the best you’re getting today, Trix.”

“Okay...” I shift on my feet. “But if she and I ever find ourselves in a life or death situation where my only options are dying a horrible, painful death or telling Melanie about this, I’m telling Melanie about this.”

“You mean you’ll betray our friendship only in that extremely unrealistic, statistically unlikely scenario?” he quips. “Sure, that’s fair.”

“Thank you.”

He smiles. “You’re a really good friend, Trix. I always thought so.”

“I know. About time somebody said it.” I cross my arms. “Okay, if you’re not doing this to win her back, then why are you doing it? At least, tell me that much.”

“Well, let me answer your question with a question,” he says, briefly glancing my way. “Is she writing again?”

“Yeah, actually. She is.”

He nods. “She’s my wife, Trix.”

“Ex-wife,” I correct.

“Look how happy she is. That’s good enough for me.”

“For how long, though?” I ask. “Are you really going to keep this up forever?”

“If I have to.”

I look across the courtyard again. Melanie’s still grinning to herself like a crazy person.

“And you don’t think she’d come around if she knew it was you?” I ask.

Robbie exhales a bitter laugh. “We both know the answer to that one, Blossom.” He pulls a pair of sunglasses from his jacket pocket and slides them onto his nose. “I gotta run. Catch you later.”

I sigh as he walks off in the other direction. “Bye, Robbie,” I say.

Wow. It’s been him this whole time. He’s right, though.

Who else would it be?

Who else can make Melanie Rose smile like this?

I move out of hiding and walk across the courtyard toward her. Before I reach her table, I throw on a smile.

“Hey, girl. What’s up?”

Melanie looks at me and lets out a happy gasp. “Trix! Check it out!” She holds up the flowers, these ones ties together with a one-inch dark blue ribbon. “I got another one!”

She looks so damn happy, it’s almost annoying. I haven’t seen her like this since they first started hooking up.

Robbie this. Robbie that.

You guys will never guess what Robbie did the other night...

I fake some surprise. “Awesome!” I say as I sit down. “What did the card say this time?”

She hands it to me and I fish it out of the envelope.

I wish I could see you for the first time again.

“That’s really sweet,” I say with a smile.

“The sweetest,” she says, sighing.

My phone rings in my purse. I pull it out and my guts tug a bit when I see Lance’s office number.

“Hello?” I answer.

“Are you free in an hour?” he asks.

“Yeah, why?”

“Because Jerry is held up in court for a while and the warden gave us a green light.”

My heart skips. “Wait, today?” I ask. “Are you kidding?”

“If you’re up for it.”

I pause, overwhelmed with equal parts of joy and sadness. It took Lance less than an hour to give me everything I asked for. My own family shot me down in less than five seconds.

“Trix?”

“Yes,” I say. “I’m up for it.”

“I’ll send a car to your place to pick you up. They’ll take you to the jail. I’ll meet you there.”

I nod. “Okay. Uh, tell them to meet me in the alleyway behind my building, just in case.”

“All right.”

“Thank you. I owe you one.”

I hear him smile. “Well, I’m definitely saving that.”

I laugh, letting the warmth travel through my toes.

“Who was that?” Melanie asks after I hang up.

“It was...” I hesitate for a moment. “Lance.”

She blinks. “What did he want?”

I bite the edge of my lip.

“Trix...” her eyes narrow, “are you doing a naughty thing?”

“A little...” I shake my head. “He’s getting me in to see my dad today.”

“Oh, wow. That’s... a big deal.”

“It is.”

“What are you gonna say to him?” she asks.

I blow out every molecule of air from my lungs. I’ve wanted to see him for months. Not a day goes by when I don’t think of something to tell him about, some small detail of my day that I know he’ll find amusing or boring — though he never says that. He’ll say something along the lines of that’s cute, Bea. That never bothered me though. He always listened to me anyway.

All of that has been overshadowed by the ultra-mega-fuck-hurricane that is this situation with Marcus and my brothers.

“I don’t know,” I finally say.