I let out a sigh, placing my head against the window as the plane begins its descent. Walking away from Hannah and getting into the rental SUV to drive back to Honolulu was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I want her to be happy. I hope this brings her the happiness she deserves.

Deep down in my heart, I know I did the right thing. But fuck, I miss her.

Beside me, Caleb is a little quiet. I haven’t told him what I’m going through, although I’m sure he can guess. But I don’t expect him to understand. I don’t think anyone would.

“Yo, dude,” Caleb says as we drop through the clouds and I can see the airport. “I’m sorry for acting that way back there, I shouldn’t have just ran off. I wish I would’ve told Wesley that and shook his hand before leaving. I feel bad about that. It was supposed to be business, but it did kind of feel like a vacation, and I had a good time . . . I just couldn’t understand. I didn’t know why you would give up after all of that.”

“I—” I begin to say, but Caleb cuts me off.

“Hang on, let me finish. I think I know how you feel. I could see it in your eyes, and the entire time back, I’ve been watching you. I know you tilted Wes in her direction.”

I stare at him. I figured he knew as much. I just don’t know how to respond. I kind of put him through it all and may have cost him a big raise. Oliver surely would’ve rewarded him, even if he didn’t say it. “How?”

Caleb shrugs. “You're in love. You’d do anything for her, and in reality, I can’t blame you. I’d probably have done the same thing if I were in your position. I was wrong to react the way I did. I was a poor sport and I wish I could take it back. You may have swayed him in their direction at the very end, but you tried your damndest the rest of the time.”

Relief sweeps through me. Caleb’s been my friend for over a decade now, and I’m glad to know this isn’t going to change anything.

“No hard feelings?” he asks, sticking a hand out to me.

I take it before we smack hands the way we used to, back when we thought Arnold Schwarzenegger movies were the most awesome things ever. “No hard feelings.”

Caleb raises an eyebrow. “How do you think Oliver’s gonna take it?”

“Dick,” I growl. “You just had to remind me about that, huh? No, but seriously, it might be a lost opportunity financially, but Hannah is kind of like extended family. He’s not gonna get his panties in a bunch. At least I hope.”

He chuckles. “Fuck, I’m gonna miss that place. Wes and his damn speeches. Even the bird.”

I laugh. “Well, we’ll all miss things.” Hannah most of all, I think to myself, my heart aching.

Fuck, I hope she calls. But I probably ruined my small chance like I always do. I should have said more before I left.

I’m still haunted by the look that was in Hannah’s eyes, like she was trapped. And I’m scared my biggest regret is going to be that I didn’t do enough for her.

We land and get our bags. Outside, Oli is waiting for us at the pickup area with a smile on his face.

“Hey, boys, how was your trip?”

Caleb looks at me, uncertain. He’s gonna let me take the lead on this. “Awesome,” I say with the fakest enthusiasm I can muster, my stomach twisting with dread even after I just told Caleb that Oliver wouldn’t completely flip his shit. I haven’t answered or responded to Oliver’s calls in the past two days. He’s probably gotten the point, but I didn’t have the guts to tell him over the phone what was going on. I wanted to tell him face to face.

Oliver waves us to put our luggage in the back of his SUV. “Come on, get inside. Y’all must be starving, and it’s a long ride back home. We can stop on the way.”

We load up, and he takes us away from the airport and we hit up a burger joint. He doesn’t say anything about the contract on the way over. I’m sure he knows. It’s just a matter of me saying it.

As soon as we’re seated, he sits back, looking at the two of us. “Don’t be so quiet, you two. Spit it out. Tell me everything.”

I relax a little and tell him all about Wes and his parrot, all the funny stuff, all the crazy shit we did over the time we were there. I gave him a complete rundown on all of the challenges, and how Wes seemed to be interested in our character, not necessarily who won. Oli listens, laughing in the right places before sipping his Pepsi and asking, “So, what’s the verdict?”

Finally, the question comes. Caleb sputters and gets up to refill his own drink at the dispenser while my mouth goes dry. As he leaves, he gives me a small nod. I understand, he’s giving me some privacy. “What’s going on?”

Taking a deep breath, I tell him everything, dread growing by the second. But by the time I’m done, I feel like a ton has been lifted off my shoulders. “I’m so sorry, man. I know how much this meant to you.”

He sits quietly as Caleb comes back, eyeing me as he sets his soda down. The whole time, Oliver just stares at me. I’m starting to think I might be wrong. I willfully lost. That’s a giant ‘fuck you’ if there was one. He probably thinks I’m a hopeless waste of his time, my carelessness once again costing him.

“What are you going to do now?” he asks quietly, surprising me after the silence. He looks . . . calm.

“I don’t know,” I say uneasily, not able to read his face and half-expecting him to jump across the table and drag me out the door to curb stomp my ass. “What’s the next property you want me to look at?” A part of me feels honor-bound to find the next assignment and deliver for him since I screwed him over. “I promise you, no more conspiring with the competition.”

He shakes his head. "No, that’s not what I’m talking about. This is more important than that. What about Hannah? You love her, don't you?"

I see the compassion in his eyes. He understands what I’m going through.

“I don’t know,” I reply. Of course I know, I tell myself. I’ve known it since . . . “What do I do? I mean, we have our own lives. My family is here, and hell, she probably just got a promotion.”

“Hmm,” Oli says, sipping at his drink before giving me a long, evaluating look. In his look, I see a question I’ve wanted to ask him for at least a year now, and for some reason, now is the time.

"How'd you know when you loved Mindy?” I ask. “Not when you thought. When you knew.”

“That’s easy. When you find the one who makes you feel like your heart isn’t in your chest anymore but in her hands. When you meet that person who makes you feel like you’d be happy sharing the fifth circle of hell if they were the one with you . . . when you meet her, and you’d be willing to do anything, be saint or sinner or angel in order to make her happy . . . that’s when you know.”

I can tell he’s speaking from experience. It’s like he went off a checklist of my feelings for Hannah, and I slow blink a couple of times to ease the burn in my eyes. You just can’t cry in front of your best friend and your brother. Totally not cool. “Oli . . . I don’t know what she wanted. Neither of us outright said anything. I mean, when it comes to the big four-letter word or if we were going to make an effort to see one another after . . . it was all about our dreams, how we wanted the other person to be happy, how they made us feel good. Maybe we just assumed we couldn’t be together.”

Oliver’s eyes are sad. “Never assume when it comes to love. I know I’ve asked you to do a lot for the family, but if it meant your being with Hannah, you don’t owe me a damn thing. The world’s a small place. You can still visit.”

His words hit me hard, and I struggle to keep up as Caleb tries to keep the rest of dinner conversation light and as far from the topic of my heartbreak as possible. I hear about how Mindy’s pregnancy is progressing, along with Roxy’s, although that’s sort of hard to hear since I know Roxy’s best friends with Hannah. I’m sure the burger is fine, though I barely taste it. It’s just mechanical chewing. They could have brought me a block of wet cardboard and I’d have eaten it.

When I get home, I lie in bed, realizing that I fucked up big time. How the fuck did I just leave and not say more? Call me when everything settles down? What a fucking douchebag. I close my eyes, remembering the spark in her eyes. That fiery spirit, her beautiful sense of humor. I’ve never known anyone like that, nor will I ever find someone like her again.

Reaching over, I grab my phone. Sure, I got the number for a prank, but it’s still in my phone, and I type out a message to Hannah. Hey, I’ve been really thinking about you. Wondered if you’d like to talk?

The question is, should I hit Send, or do I give her time?