Nate Vaughn pulled the last box out of the closet, determined to finally finish moving in. Three years after he’d gotten his keys to the apartment.

He’d been avoiding this box. Just looking at the battered exterior made his stomach knot up and his throat constrict. He gently pulled the top flap up, and the others unfolded in a plume of dust.

Great. And he’d just mopped for the first time since ever.

Battered frames with pieces of cardboard between each one were slotted tightly together. Except for the one on top. Last time he’d opened this box, he’d made it as far as the prom picture before he couldn’t look at any more. Nate couldn’t surround himself with her smiling face. Wasn’t it enough that he loved a woman who would never feel the same way about him?

He was a pathetic moron, but after fifteen or so years of being in love with her and denying it, these days he just accepted that no one would take the place of her.

Cara Logan.

The girl from 21B, the apartment next door. Or, she had been while he was growing up.

His best friend.

And in two short weeks...she’d be here.

He blew out a breath and swiped the rag over their smiling faces.

Prom.

What a night.

Their little group, Cara, Josh and Bryan, had spent most of it in a corner of the dance hall, discussing their next Dungeons and Dragons campaign and playing Magic: The Gathering. But a photographer had captured a few candid moments.

This one... This one captured it all in one image.

He sat forward, elbows on his knees. Cara was to his left, behind him in the shot, but she’d leaned against his back for the picture, arms draped over his shoulders. Her glasses were crooked and the flash reflected off her braces. The others weren’t in the frame. Just the two of them. And they looked...like a couple. Like, for this one, single solitary moment, they belonged together.

Nate scrubbed his hand over his face.

Man, he was fucked up.

At thirty years old, he should not be hung up on a girl he still called Shortcake and Cara-bear. She’d always been so out of his league. Smart. Funny. Confident. He was pretty sure the TV show New Girl was secretly about Cara, only she was a lot more awkward.

His phone vibrated.

He glanced at the clock, frowning.

It wasn’t time yet. Why was Cara calling early?

He pulled out his phone and groaned.

Ellie. Shit.

Nate jabbed the Answer button, guilt gnawing at him.

“Hi, Ellie.”

“Nate. Finally decide to answer, huh?” Her words slurred a bit, which meant she was drinking.

“Sorry, I was busy with the holidays.”

“Merry fucking Christmas.” Ellie muttered a curse. “So, busy tonight?”

Nate glanced at the box, and a dozen other pictures of Cara.

“Naaaatttee?”

“Sorry, Ellie, I can’t tonight.”

“Bullshit.”

“Ellie—”

“Bullshit! Ever since you said Cara was coming to visit, you’ve been blowing me off. At least have the decency to admit it.”

Nate leaned against the back of the sectional and stared at the old, hardwood floors. What was he supposed to say to that? It was the truth. He and Ellie had an arrangement. She knew his heart belonged to Ellie, and he knew she didn’t have a heart to give. It was just sex. Two people who liked things a little weird in the bedroom, but were so emotionally unavailable it wouldn’t be fair to anyone else. They worked. As friends.

“God, Nate, at least admit it to yourself.”

“You’re right, Ellie. I’m sorry. I’m a shitty friend.”

“Finally! So long as you admit it, I don’t care.” Something rustled in the background and she sighed. “Okay, so I’m lonely. If we aren’t going to fuck, at least talk to me? I’m still your friend.”

He winced at her crude language. Ellie liked to shock people. Said it showed her immediately who and what she was dealing with. Still, he liked to think that there was at least some...kindness in what they shared. She was right, they were friends.

“I just...I haven’t seen Cara in a year. We talk almost every day, but...I haven’t seen her.”

“And...?”

“I don’t know.”

“Pft, it’s you. You’re worried it won’t be the same. You won’t feel the same. You should really just cut out your heart like I did. It’s easier this way.”

Nate chuckled, because Ellie was likely drunk and needing someone to humor her. Deep down, Nate knew she was hurting. Ellie had a heart, she just liked to bury it under a lot of other stuff. She did have him nailed down, though.

Part of him wondered if his palms would still get sweaty around Cara. If he’d get pulled in by her.

“You could just tell her how you feel, you know? Most girls dig that shit.”

“You don’t know Cara.” He wasn’t...good enough for her. Smart enough.

“I don’t—the hell I don’t. I know you, so I’m pretty sure I know her. You talk about her often enough. If I had a heart, it might get hurt.”

Nate winced. Yeah, there weren’t many people he could talk to Cara about. Josh and Bryan were both here, in L.A., but he could never admit to them how he felt. He wouldn’t be surprised if they’d picked up on it, though. When it came to dances, he was the one who asked Cara to go with him, while Josh and Bryan showed up alone. No one had ever commented on it, but that was the way it’d been. Josh and Bryan, Cara and Nate.

“How long are you going to be abstinent on me?” Ellie asked. “You’re always super rough when you haven’t had pussy in a while.”

“Ellie.”

“What? It’s the truth. Or are you trying to pretend like you don’t use me like a fuck toy while you think about Cara?”

“That’s over the line, Ellie.”

“Dude. You’re in love with her, and you fuck me. It’s a little twisted, and I just want you to realize that.”

“I know. Okay?” He squeezed his eyes shut. “I know I’m fucked up, thanks for pointing it out. Happy?”

This—this was why as soon as he’d known Cara was coming to town, he had made it a point to not see Ellie. It was one thing to have a friend with benefits when Cara wasn’t around...but if she came here...it felt wrong. Like he would be cheating on her. But they weren’t together. They weren’t a thing. Just in his head.

Ellie blew out a breath.

“I’m sorry, Nate. I’m drunk. I’m surly. I’m a bitch.”

“Yeah.” Nate sighed. “I should have...been better. You’re right, I...have this weird, one-sided loyalty when it comes to Cara. I’ve been a shitty friend. How are you? Anything happen over the holidays with...?”

“Nope. Lawyer says it’ll be another couple of weeks before something happens. I think Aaron’s people are going to try to settle everything out of court in one, lump thing. Sucks, because I...he should pay, you know?”

“Yeah.”

Nate clenched his hand into a fist. There were few people in this world he wanted to punch repeatedly like Adam Willis, the former host of Legend, a YouTube video game show that was in direct competition with the show Nate worked on. Adam’s reputation for being a dick was well established, but no one would talk about the way he harassed women. At least not until Tamara Roh stood up to him in a very public way. The YouTube video of her putting him on his ass had over a million views. Once she’d gone to war, other women had followed. There were at least a dozen of them who’d come forward, most pressing charges of one kind or another.

Women like Ellie, Adam’s former personal assistant, who now worked for Josh and their show, HitPoint. She’d become part of the family. She didn’t talk about working for Adam or what’d happened, but Nate could see the scars in the shadows of her eyes.

“You talked to Tamara?”

“Uh, no, she’s out of town. We texted a little.”

“I talked to her a time or two. Tamara’s cool.”

“I want to be her when I grow up.” Ellie giggled, which meant she was a lot drunker than he thought. Ellie was...hard laughs and coarse language. Not giggles.

Nate circled the sectional and sat down. It was time to be a good friend. He couldn’t be what Ellie needed right now, but he could listen to her. They would always be friends.

Cara Logan hefted her duffle bag into the back seat of her step-father’s car. Her mother stood at the garage door into the house, arms crossed over her chest. Cara tried to not make eye contact with her, but she could feel Mom’s eyes on her the whole time.

“Denis, are you sure the roads are clear?” Mom’s voice had that whine in it.

Cara squeezed her eyes shut. When Mom whined, Denis usually gave in. For once, Cara wanted something to go right. Just this once.

“It’ll be fine, dear.” Denis patted his pockets. “I forgot my phone. Let me go grab it real quick, Cara.”

Her heart leapt up into her throat and she wanted to claw at him, tell him to come back. She’d go get the phone.

Please, don’t leave me alone with her...

Cara stared at her reflection in the mirror. She could see her mother’s face in the glass, frowning, deep lines across her brow.

Dad had aged her, and not in a good way. Mom didn’t smile like she used to. Denis made her happy, but deep down, Mom still had open wounds. Much like Cara.

“Why are you spending your money on this trip? Is it really worth it? Is this wise? You’ve screwed up so much lately, is this what you should be doing? Have you thought about going back to school?” Mom spoke in a rush, saying the same questions she’d pelted Cara with, all in one breath.

Cara wanted to cry. To crawl under the car and die. But she couldn’t.

In a few hours, she’d see Nate. And for three days, she could Cinderella pretend the world away. This was her dance, her shot at fun before trudging through the disaster that was her life. She just...needed something good. And Nate was good. He was the only good left in her life.

“I can’t afford to go back to school, Mom. I’ve saved up for this trip. I’m going.” She straightened her spine.

What had Nate said to her the other night when she’d talked about her manager? He’d said to be like Rey from The Force Awakens. Nate was obsessed with the movie. They both loved Star Trek, but he’d finally found a character that he identified with in Finn, which made The Force Awakens his new favorite.

Nate and Finn were both underachievers who found their calling...and followed their dreams. She was so proud of Nate. He’d left Omaha, and even though his plan A of joining the Navy SEALs hadn’t panned out, his plan B was pretty awesome. He got to work on movies and TV shows. His life sounded so exciting compared to her own string of disasters.

“You’re going to screw up your chances of getting another apartment, if you don’t hold onto this money.”

“I’ve already bought the plane ticket.”

“You could get a refund.”

“I don’t think it works that way, mom. Not the day of the flight.”

“You could try. Why do you want to go visit that boy, anyway? He’s never done anything for you.”

“He’s my friend.”

“Friends leave, Cara. You need to wake up and realize you’re an adult now. You’re not a child.”

“Here’s the phone,” Denis said too loud, too cheerful.

How much had he heard?

“Great.” Cara smiled, though it hurt to, and turned. “Ready?”

Denis kissed her mom while Cara dove into the passenger seat. She waved at her mom while Denis slid behind the wheel, the car already toasty warm.

“You know she’s just worried about you?” Denis glanced her way, his kind face creased.

“I know.” Cara mustered a smile. Denis was great for her mom, and Cara. After what Dad did to them...she didn’t know how they’d have gotten by.

“She’s just in one of her moods.” Denis eased the car back out of the drive.

Mom’s moods had been the bane of Cara’s existence since having to move back in with them. She was fully aware that her life wasn’t all she’d hoped it would be, and Mom took every opportunity to rub Cara’s nose in it. As if she could pay Dad back for all that he’d done to them.

Cara breathed a deep sigh of relief as they pulled out of their neighborhood and Denis pointed the car toward the airport.

In a few hours, she’d be in California. With Nate. He was everything good in her life. Which, if she let herself think about it, was pretty sad in and of itself.

Nate had moved away ten years ago. He was still her best, and sometimes, only friend.

Maybe her mother was right, and she was just pathetic. It wasn’t like Cara was measuring up to her dreams. She was an accountant, working for a company whose practices she hated and with co-workers who mocked her on a daily basis. It was like living in junior high, only now people were crueler.

Which was why she needed to go to L.A. See Nate. Something had to change. Her life was in a rut, and maybe...maybe seeing him, feeling those butterflies, would shake something lose. Or not. She’d never know if she didn’t go.

There she was.

Cara Logan.

Nate Vaughn hadn’t seen Cara since last Christmas. A whole year. Her hair was longer, she was paler than Casper’s ass, and she was still the most beautiful thing to crash land in his life. And she was his for the weekend.

Well, not his.

Cara would never be his.

But she was his best friend come to visit, and that was worth something.

He cranked his stereo all the way up, rolled the windows down and hit play on the track he’d cued up.

The Imperial March blasted through the subwoofers, vibrating the whole car and earning more than a few death glares from other drivers doing pick-ups at the airport.

Nate didn’t care.

He only had eyes for Cara.

She started at the first blast of brass, her head whipping around, scanning the cars for him.

Nate stuck his hand up through the sunroof and waved. She grinned, did a little hop and waved back. He chuckled and whipped his car into a space at the curb.

Some people grew up and changed, but not Cara. Sure, she’d matured, he was a dude, he hadn’t missed that, but everything else about her was the same. From the too-large glasses to her mismatched style, she was geeky chic before it was a thing.

“Don’t get out, I just have one bag.” She tossed the duffle and her long, winter coat in through the window.

Nate grunted and barely caught it. For such a small bag, it weighted a metric ton.

“Shit, what all did you bring?” He gently shoved the bag into the back seat.

“Books. Duh. And my boots.” Cara launched herself across the car, twining her arms around his shoulders and squeezed for all she was worth. “I missed you!”

He gently hugged her back. Next to her, he was an ogre, but she’d never seemed to mind.

A driver behind them laid on the horn. Nate stuck his hand through the sunroof and flipped them the bird.

“Wow, aggressive much?” Cara settled back on her side of the car and buckled up.

“L.A. drivers are pricks.”

“This sure ain’t Omaha, is it?” She chuckled and folded one foot under her, in typical Cara style.

Nate found somewhere else to look, besides the narrow band of skin between her over-the-knee socks and skirt. It was only a few inches of leg, but still. Those were Cara’s legs.

Lusting after his best friend was one thing, staring at her like a dick-for-brains was another.

“So, hi, Mr. Big Time L.A. guy.” She leaned on the center console, all grins. Today’s glasses were bright red, which set off her pale blue eyes. Her blonde hair was doing its best job trying to escape the twin braids, but she’d tied some sort of scarf thing around her head that seemed to be...helping? He had no clue, and when it came to fashion and Cara, there was no telling.

He maneuvered the car into the moving lanes of traffic and turned the music down.

She just kept staring at him.

“What?” He glanced her way every few seconds.

“Nothing. I just can’t believe I’m here, or that this is where you live.”

“L.A.’s not all it’s cracked up to be.” If Nate had his way, they’d be living and filming their show, HitPoint, somewhere else. L.A. was a depressing city full of people trying to be something they weren’t. Still, for a behind-the-scenes guy like him, it provided a lot of work opportunities.

“Oh, shut up, Mr. Big Time.” Cara pushed his shoulder.

Nate tipped his body to the left and grunted, holding his shoulder.

“Please, like I hurt you.” She rolled her eyes, but the smiles kept coming.

He’d missed those, the way Cara lit up life just by being in it. Nate hadn’t realized just how much he’d relied on her until he’d enlisted in the Navy, short lived though that period of his life was.

“How’s Josh? And Bryan? And Samir? I feel like everyone I know lives out here now.”

“Josh is good. He’s buried himself in preparing for the next season. Don’t be surprised if he doesn’t show up tonight, okay?”

Cara shrugged, but otherwise showed no interest one way or the other about Josh’s presence. Nate had always thought Cara and Josh looked like the perfect couple. They were both blonde and people liked them instantly, but they’d never seemed interested one way or the other. Still, Nate was more than a little jealous of the idea of them together. He’d long since given up rationalizing his jealousy over Cara and simply accepted it.

“How’s work?” he asked.

“Eh. Did you hear that Daphne is getting a divorce?”

“Daphne?” Nate frowned. The name was familiar. “Josh’s neighbor, his sister’s BFF? Crazy Daphne?”

“She’s not crazy. She’s nice.”

“Okay, nice Daphne?”

“Yes, nice Daphne. What’s Bryan up to? He looks so happy on camera! And what’s this I read about a new co-host?”

One by one, Nate answered her questions, but never got more than an eh, good or okay out of her. He gritted his teeth and ran over everything they were gearing up to do with HitPoint. He shouldn’t be so annoyed. Of course any normal person would be excited about a place they’d never been before. L.A. was a very glitzy city, but Nate missed home, the slower pace of life...and Cara.