“I think I need a drink.”

My heart lifted just seeing Sam’s face on the other side of my door. “Shit, me too.”

She followed me inside the townhouse, kicking off her Converse sneakers. She could’ve been in high school again with her stonewashed jeans and hoodie, her hair tucked up into a bun that had me itching to take it down.

“You go to the gym?” she asked.

I glanced down at my sweatpants and white t-shirt, running a hand through my wet hair.

“Just had the kind of day I needed to shower off.”

She followed me up the stairs and I went to the fridge to pour us each a glass from the half-empty bottle we’d started the night before. “You first.”

“Okay. So it felt totally weird to go apartment hunting—like I was back in college or something—but…” she sucked in a breath. “I think I found a place. I put a deposit down and everything.”

“Seriously? You move fast.”

“My dad wants me to move out, though I think it’s more for my sake than for his. Still. I’m ready to have my own space.”

I raised a brow. “For painting?”

“And other things.” Her mouth twitched and she stepped closer, pressing up on her toes to kiss me.

As I wrapped my arms around her, the feel of her body against mine through our thin clothes had my brain pulling in a dangerous direction.

I placed my hands on her shoulders and she dropped back to her feet.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

I reached for my wine, taking a long gulp before clearing my throat. “Max and I had an argument about Titan. I’ve been trying to structure this platform deal we need, but Max won’t even look at it.” I rubbed a hand over my neck. “We’ve had disagreements before but never anything serious.”

“I’m sorry. You really don’t think you can work it out?” Sam’s hands went to my forearms, and I settled for playing with the belt loops at the waistband of her jeans.

I shook my head. “I’ve been thinking about it all afternoon, and maybe it’s an opportunity in disguise. You said it yourself. I wouldn’t have picked this work if Max hadn’t made that first game.”

“Well, sure. You can do anything you want, Lee. I’m sure headhunters would be all over you if you decided you were ready to make a change.” The troubled look on her face didn’t leave.

“I don’t need a recruiter. David made me a job offer consulting on Phoenix.”

Sam straightened, blinking up at me. “David wants you to work for him?”

“In LA, for eight months. This could be my chance to try something new.” I waited a beat. “I want you to come with me. With David’s network, we could get you something too. I mean, you’d have to be willing to put your name out there,” I said, getting into it now, “but why the hell not? It’ll be Sam and Riley’s Excellent Adventure, Part II.”

The heavy breath she blew out had my gut tightening. “Riley. I need to tell you something. This art dealer called me today. He saw my work at the restaurant. He wants to feature me in his gallery this summer.” She flushed. “I told my dad about it, and he actually smiled. I think that’s the first time I’ve seen him smile about my work since I dropped out of college.”

Pride bloomed in my chest, with feelings of confusion mixed in as I studied her face. “That’s great, Sam. But is that really what you want? Painting trees and landscapes for the Jonathans of the world? I mean, you can reach your million people through Phoenix alone. Isn’t it time to do what you want to do?”

Her face flushed and she pulled her hands from mine. “It’s not that simple. I went to school for fine art. I’ve been doing this for a decade, and I need to see it through.”

“I get that you stopped doing comics because you were scared. But you don’t have to be anymore. Come to LA with me. It’s not complicated. You can fly back and see your dad whenever you want. If you put a deposit on your apartment…” I shrugged. “I’ll pay it. I want to stop entertaining all the reasons we can’t have exactly what we want.”

“Slow down, Riley,” she said, holding up a hand and taking a step backward. “It’s my life. We can’t just turn it upside down in a second.”

“Our life,” I reminded her, shifting off the counter. “We talked about this. I want you in it.” I hesitated. “I thought that’s what you wanted too.”

Emotion welled up in her eyes. “Of course it is.”

“But?”

“But a few months ago we hadn’t spoken in a decade,” she insisted, her brows shooting up. “I can’t go to LA with you on a whim. My dad needs me here—”

“Your dad’s the one asking you to move out,” I reminded her, an impatience edging into my voice. “He’s fine. He’s a FaceTime call away.”

“Riley…” she started.

The way she said it sounded as if I was asking her to take a vacation to the seventh circle of hell.

I could talk my way into or out of anything. But for once I didn’t know how to stop this, how to fix it.

I knew we’d both been burned in the past. By life, by each other.

This was supposed to be our chance. We’d gone through all our shit, come out the other side.

Stronger.

Together.

Sure, this idea seemed crazy and I’d only cooked it up in the last half a day. But it was perfect. How could she not see that? I was ready to use every connection I had, every dollar to my name, to give us the happy ending we both wanted.

I didn’t want to turn down Epic. But I couldn’t walk away from her.

“Sam,” I murmured. “Come on.”

“I’m not going with you,” she said quietly.

I felt the crack in my chest. Denial rose up inside me and I sucked in a ragged breath. Held it. “So you want me to stay.”

“No!” she exclaimed. “Lee, you’re good at looking after people. So good, in fact. In high school, you tried to do the right thing for me. And I love that you did, but all it caused both of us was heartache.” She took a breath. “I want you to do the right thing for you for once.”

I still remember how it felt when I’d sent her the texts, the calls, the letters all those years ago. It was like picking at a wound, every single day.

This? This was like getting stabbed in the gut. Knowing there was no way to heal it, watching yourself bleed out.

Over the years, I’ve gotten good at faking it. I put on a smile even when I don’t feel it.

In this moment, it took everything in me just to breathe.

I could argue. I could fight and twist her words and do everything in my power to change this.

But…

I didn’t want to. I wanted her to want this.

“What are you thinking?” she asked finally.

I took a long breath. “I’m thinking…” I rubbed a hand through my hair. “I’m thinking you should go.”

I brushed past her, taking the stairs two at a time toward the foyer.

“What?” Her voice rose behind me.

“I need to decide what to do. And I can’t think with you here, Sam.” I reached for the door handle and jerked it open.

Hurt flashed through her eyes, and for a moment some dark part of me was glad.

But she left, dragging my heart behind her.

Like she always had.