I sat in my studio apartment wanting to talk to someone, but Adam was ignoring my phone calls and Alyssa was busy with a project for work. I stared at the boxes packed up around me, and my stomach rolled. Adam and I were due to move into the apartment in less than two weeks and I had to get a truck rented. But he wouldn’t take my calls and it made me upset. The rest of my workweek had gone by smoothly without so much as a peep from him. Hell, his father had checked in on me more than he had.

Ryan.

I could call Ryan to talk.

I picked up my cell phone and dialed his number, then held it to my ear. I’d had it ever since my hospitalization my senior year. I’d come down with a bad case of mono, the Epstein-Barr strain that knocked people on their asses and made them almost catatonic. He gave me his number in case I needed anything and Adam wasn’t available to come help me. I’d never had to use it because Adam had always been there.

Until now.

“Ryan Tucker speaking.”

“Hey there. It’s Kylie,” I said.

“I forgot you had my cell number. How are you?”

“I’m fine,” I said. “Mostly.”

“Adam hasn’t called you I see.”

“He keeps ignoring my phone calls and text messages, yes.”

Ryan mumbled something on the other end of the line, but I wasn’t sure what he said.

“Ryan?”

“Sorry. Clearing my throat. You know if you need to talk, I’m here. If you want to come over, I can pour us a drink and you can vent. Call it a judgment-free zone.”

“Now I’ve never been one to turn down free alcohol,” I said.

“I have a bottle of very nice champagne I’ve been saving for a special occasion, but it seems as if it might serve us well for another purpose. Care to come over and have a glass?”

There was something in his voice that had me worried. He didn’t sound as confident and rooted as he usually did.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I’m fine. But you don’t sound okay, so come over. Let me pour you a flute of champagne and we can talk.”

I thought back to how comforting it had been to vent to him in my office, so I pulled myself off the couch and walked over to my shoes.

“I’ll see you in fifteen minutes,” I said.

“The door will be unlocked. Come right on in, Kylie.”

He hung up the phone without saying good-bye. I giggled and shook my head as I reached for my purse. I fished around for my keys before heading out the door. Sitting and staring at my packed boxes only made me fume with anger. The limbo state Adam had me hanging in didn’t do anything for my psyche. I cranked my car up and backed out of the parking space, then set my sights on Ryan’s house.

I’d been there many times, but I’d never been there without Adam.

“Ryan?” I asked as I walked in.

“Come on in, Kylie. I’m in the living room.”

His voice echoed through the large chambers of his home as I closed the door behind me. I walked through the foyer and stared up at the vaulted ceiling before passing between the two marbled staircases that ran up either side of the foyer. I turned to my right and walked down a small hallway, then grinned when I found Ryan sitting on the couch with a glass of champagne over his head.

“For you, my dear.”

I giggled as I reached for it, plucking it from his fingers.

“Come sit.”

He patted the couch next to him, and I sighed when I sank into the buttery leather cushions. I brought the glass of champagne to my mouth, tasting the bubbling decadence as it slid down my throat. I hummed at its taste, at the sweetness before the sharpness of the carbonation tickled my nose. I closed my eyes and smiled at the peace that blanketed me.

At the peace Ryan’s presence afforded me.

“Nice to see the lady approves,” he said.

“It’s very good,” I said. “Though you’re giving it to someone who drinks boxed wine on Saturday nights with her best friend.”

“Doesn’t mean your palette can’t be expanded.”

I opened my eyes and looked over at him, taking in how much he looked like his son. But there were subtle differences between the two. Adam’s eyes downturned the slightest bit, while Ryan’s eyes were more of an almond shape. Adam’s cheekbones didn’t sit as high as Ryan’s, which made Adam’s jawline not as sharp as his father’s. Ryan’s nose sloped while Adam’s nose humped, and Adam kept his hair longer and more disheveled while Ryan kept his hair trimmed and perfectly parted to the side.

“Whenever you’re ready,” he said.

A strange feeling came over me, and I whipped my eyes over to look out the window at his backyard.

“We move in less than two weeks and I can’t even get him to pick up the phone. I have to schedule the moving truck and inform the movers—if I hire any—where they will be and when. And I can’t get him to pick up the phone to even tell me if he’s still moving in.”

“Can you afford the apartment if he doesn’t?” Ryan asked.

“I can. I guess, in the back of my mind, I wanted to make sure I could in case—”

I brought the champagne to my lips so I didn’t complete that sentence.

“I’ll let you slide with that one, but for the rest of this conversation I won’t allow you to edit yourself.”

I nodded slowly, focusing on the carbonation and not on how smooth his voice sounded against my ears.

“I’m not even asking him to do anything, Ryan. I’m only asking him if he wants to move on the same day as me or not. It’s logistics, nothing more. I’m not asking him to call anyone or book anything or pay for any of it. And he still won’t pick up his fucking phone.”

“I’ll talk to him about it,” he said.

“I don’t know if you should. I’m worried that you talking to him about it before made him feel like he had to make a decision he wasn’t completely set on.”

“I’m not talking about the move. I’m talking about calling you. Whatever his decision is, that’s his to make, but he needs to call you. He can’t keep avoiding you like a coward.”

I panned my gaze over to Ryan and took in his angry stare. He had spat that last word, and it was an emotion I hadn’t expected from him.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked. “You’re not acting like yourself.”

His eyes turned to look out the window, leaving me to study the profile of his face.

“My ex came by earlier,” he said flatly.

“I didn’t know. Why didn’t you tell me? I wouldn't have bothered you,” I said.

“You’re not a bother, Kylie. You never could be.”

His words punched me in my gut and sent a surprising warmth percolating through my skin.

“She came around asking for money,” he said.

“Can she do that?”

“No, but I figured she would. The last alimony payment dropped into her account at the beginning of the month and she’s already blown through it.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what was the divorce decree arrangement?” I asked.

He shifted his eyes to focus on mine before he turned his entire body toward me. The heat was excruciating in the best way, and it made me nervous. Things I hadn’t expected to feel in Ryan’s presence bombarded my system, so I stuffed them away. I was unwilling to unpack them when it was glaringly obvious that he needed someone to lean on just like I did.

“In exchange for full custody of Adam, I handed her twelve million and promised monthly alimony payments totaling seven thousand a month for twenty years.”

“Thirteen-point-six million dollars for the custody of your son,” I said.

“You did that calculation quickly.”

“It’s pretty simple compared to the ones I run on a daily basis.”

“But yes, you would be right. The last alimony payment hit at the beginning of this month, and she came knocking on my door threatening to take me back to court for more.”

“What in the world would be her legal stance?” I asked.

“Defamation of character and heartache,” he said with a snicker.

“Did you slander her name in the media or something?”

“No. But she heard a group of women gossiping about her in a café, calling her a useless, deadbeat mother, or so she said. Not like something like that could be proven. She’s almost certainly blowing it out of her ass.”

My eyebrows rose to my forehead as I stifled a smile.

“I finally got her to leave about five minutes before you called.”

“Now I’m glad I’ve never met the woman. She sounds horrendous,” I said.

“She is. She hates everyone other than her twenty-something pool boy. She was probably on my doorstep making those threats because she can no longer afford his services.”

I put my hand up to my mouth as I tried not to spray champagne between my lips.

“Do you want my advice? Or do you want to vent?” I asked.

“Advice?” he asked as he quirked his eyebrow.

“Yes. You know, that little nugget of wisdom people listening to others' problems have a tendency to bestow on them?”

“Don’t tell me you’ve been married and divorced.”

“No,” I said with a giggle. “But it doesn't take experience to know what to do in this case.”

“Then what is your sage advice?”

“Hire a lawyer and bury her ass.”

A smile crawled across his cheeks before laughter fell from his lips. It started as a low rumble, a chuckle percolating from her chest. But the second it fell from his lips, the explosion of it tossed his head back. His Adam’s apple bobbed as the bombastic sound filled the air, and it ripped laughter from my throat in return.

“You are a feisty young woman, Kylie. And way too good for my son,” he said.

I drew in a deep breath before finishing off the last of my drink.

“Here, let me top you off,” Ryan said.

I knew I needed to refuse. The energy flowing between us was a little too comfortable, a little too friendly. But it was a connection I had missed. A connection that seemed lost to most people in a world of technology and online relationships.

I smiled as he held out my glass, filled to the brim and bubbling with a want to be consumed.

“But seriously, it would be very easy for you to prove she’s doing nothing but coming after your money, Ryan. And you said it yourself: A conversation like that would be very hard to prove. I’m pretty sure ‘defamation of character’ lawsuits take a little more than a café conversation.”

“I’m sure you’re right on that front,” he said.

“Does Adam know what his mother’s doing?”

“I’ve always tried to shield him from it. He deserves a better mother than that—a woman who was willing to sell her kid away in exchange for a few million dollars.”

“I couldn't imagine doing something like that to my children. I just…it…”

The mere idea left me at a loss for words.

“The world is open to you, Kylie.”

“What?” I asked.

I turned my gaze back up to his and watched his face grow serious.

“If Adam doesn’t want the same things you do, the world is open to you. You’re young, vibrant, and intelligent, on your way to being successful. You’re driven in ways many women aren’t. And you deserve to be with a man who finds those qualities attractive.”

“I don’t know if men like that exist,” I said.

“They do. Adam just isn’t one of them.”

I felt my heart sink into my stomach as I took a sip of my champagne.

“If we’re on this track, let me address you on the same topic. The world is also open to you, Ryan. You’re mature, grounded, successful, interesting. You’re powerful but not oppressive. Don’t allow this issue with Adam’s mother to taint your view of the world when it comes to women. A man like you doesn’t deserve to lead a bachelor life if you don’t want to be a bachelor. Somewhere out there is a woman who is perfect for you, a woman who is searching for you and goes to sleep alone every single night because you aren’t searching for her.”

I turned my eyes out the window as clouds rolled over the sun.

“Somewhere out there is a woman who would give anything to be a part of your world, Ryan. Not for your money or your luxurious life, but for the person you are. There’s a woman out there right now, shivering in the cold because she doesn’t have the heat of your embrace to warm her, who would give anything to be sitting on this couch next to you and listening to you speak.”

I turned my eyes back to his and watched as he drew in a deep breath.

“Don’t stop searching for her because your ex wants your money. Don’t attribute that disgusting persona to all of us. Adam’s mother is the minority. I promise.”

Something flashed in his eyes. Something that tingled my skin and sent my heart thundering against my chest. I brought my champagne to my lips and took a sip. Then another. Then another still. Anything to keep my focus away from his intense gaze. I didn’t know what the hell was going on or why I was having the reaction I was, but I knew one thing: I didn’t need to be having it.