“Girl, what is up with you?” Natasha whispers. Our boss just walked out of her office, but she could be back at any moment. “You’ve been moping all week, barely speaking, looking like you’re on the verge of tears.”

I don’t answer her, just stare at my screen. I’ve barely gotten any work done this week. It’s Friday, almost a week since I ran out on Liam and ignored his messages and calls. It’s been two days since he’s tried to contact me. I wasn’t responding to him, so I know it’s unfair and petty of me to feel this way, but I miss his messages. I wanted him to keep trying. I was so close to breaking. And, now that I’ve lost that connection to him and he’s moved on, I’m even more desolate than earlier in the week.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out he’s moved on when his messages stopped the other day. The same day I pulled into the gym parking lot and saw him with Jenny. She’s so tiny and petite with huge boobs and a bouncy butt. I’m sure she didn’t mind taking off her scraps of clothing for the guy. I’m sure she’s already told him every vapid thing about herself.

Fine. Whatever, Liam. I just need the weekend and a girls’ night tonight, and I will be over it. I swear. Some cookies wouldn’t hurt, either. Maybe I can convince Harper to bake me cookies and cakes this weekend. I’ll drown myself in wine and pastries. That will surely heal my battered heart.

“Hello? Earth to Savannah.”

“Natasha, I don’t want to talk about it. Boys suck, that’s all you need to know.”

I feel her gaze on my back, firing silent questions. If there wasn’t the faint clomping sound of our boss coming down the hall, I know she wouldn’t stop. She’d keep going until she had what she wanted.

Our boss appears in the doorway. I look over at her, since she’s just standing there. She is shooting daggers at me with her eyes. “I have told you ladies before, I don’t like deliveries to come to you during the workday. It is distracting, and your work becomes sloppy. Whatever new boyfriend you have, Savannah, you better set him straight and tell him not to deliver to this office.”

“I don’t have a boyfriend,” I say, confused. Natasha shoots me a questioning look, but I ignore her.

“Do you think I care about your gossip? Maybe you spread your legs for someone over the weekend. I don’t know, and I don’t care.” I gasp. The Witch turns on her heel and stomps back into her office. A moment later she yells, “And tell that damn old bat of a receptionist that I am not your errand girl. I don’t care if I walked past the desk and was coming back here. I’m not a delivery girl. Go get your delivery. And set whoever it is straight.”

I finally glance at Natasha. She mouths, “Wow.” I almost let my laugh escape when I see her flicking her off under her desk.

I am even more confused when I get up to the front desk. There’s a vase of flowers, only there are no flowers. It’s just stems. That’s weird, but when my eyes land on the white box with a blue ribbon, I know that Harper must have sent something to me. She’s been worried about me all week and knows how much I need sweets when I’m really down. Last night was the worst of this week.

I go straight for the white box, passing by the stems. The receptionist, Patty, speaks up. “They’re both for you, honey.” She points at the stems. “Is that something new the kids are doing these days? I don’t understand you young folks. Flowers without the flowers.”

I thank her as I pick up both items. I don’t mention the rude words my boss said. I’m sure The Witch already told her she wasn’t a delivery girl. Patty is too lovely to say anything to me about The Witch. I’m sure she let it roll off her shoulders before she went back to reading her Harlequin Romance.

I silently go back to my desk, placing down both items as quietly as possible. Natasha’s face lights up when she sees the box, and she does a little dance, knowing I’ll share a cookie with her.

I look at the stems again, but there’s no note attached to them, only to the box. When I open it, I’m shocked when I don’t see Harper’s name at the bottom of the card, but a name I didn’t expect or even guess.

My eyes water as I read the words over and over again.

I miss you. I wish you’d return my calls or messages, so I could apologize in person for being a jackass. I want you to know I am thinking of you.

-Liam

I open the box, ready to grab a cookie while I pretend not to cry at my desk, but there are no cookies inside. What the hell? There’s just another note taped to the bottom of the box.

I open it, thoroughly confused. Why would Liam send cookies without any cookies?

If you want the cookies and flowers, you have to text me, gorgeous.

I have someone on standby with a bouquet of your favorite flowers and warm, delicious cookies I know you love and am positive you want. They’ll be delivered in minutes.

All you have to do is text me.

I can’t stop the laughter that bubbles from my chest. It is an all-out cackle that can’t be helped. That damn barbarian. He fights dirty to get his way. I grab my phone to message him but then stop. I’m not sure if that is what I want to happen. Do I want to simply play into his hand?

“Stop that laughter right this instant. This is why I said no deliveries at the office.”

I’m not paying attention to The Witch anymore. If I text him, I feel like I’m promising to give him everything, and if I ignore him, then I need to be ready to say goodbye. And, I know I’ve been lying to myself, I won’t be over him by this weekend. No amount of wine or cookies will help the state of my heart.

I smile again, looking at both notes. If he wants to play games, I can play games, too. I’m not ready to give everything, but I can extend an olive branch as I decide. And, if I do, I get cookies. I can’t deny cookies.

I grab my phone again.

I shoot an email to Patty, telling her to email me if anything arrives for me. I don’t have to wait long for her response telling me that my deliveries are here.

“Did the shop mess up? How could they not notice they sent flowers without the flowers!”

I tell her, “It was just a man playing games, trying to get his way.”

She looks up at me. Her wrinkled face breaks into a smile. “Honey, those are the best kind of men.”

I laugh and grab the vase of bright pink tulips and a much heavier box than the last. There’s a note attached to this one, too. I look at the card before replying to Liam.

I’m dying to see you, gorgeous. I’ve been a miserable bastard this week.

I pick up my phone, contemplating how I want to do this. I’m not quite done playing games with him. He doesn’t need to know he gave me my first smile of the week, too.

I smile, feeling giddy that he remembered my nickname for my boss. It causes a sliver of hope to bloom in my chest that he remembers details. Maybe I can do this, maybe I can trust him.

Natasha pinches my shoulder and whisper-hisses, “Girl, I don’t know what is going on over there, but I’m dying for a damn cookie and you haven’t even opened the box. Give me a cookie.” She pinches me again.

I cover my mouth with my hand, trying not to laugh. I open the box of warm, gooey cookies, the smell assaulting my nose. I know both Natasha and I are biting back moans. I hand her a peanut butter cookie, her favorite, while I take a classic chocolate chip and decide how I want to give him a morsel of hope—like he just gave me.

I hope he got my underlying message with my last text. I stick my phone in my drawer and try to complete everything I neglected during the week.

* * *

When I show up at The Cellar, Harper and Valerie are already waiting for me for at our usual booth. That never happens.

I slide in next to Valerie, and she turns her dark gaze on me. Her wild, curly hair is pulled back.

“Why didn’t you call me this week?”

“I was busy,” I lie.

“Busy cryin’ and sittin’ on your ass. Harper told me how you’ve been acting like this all week, but refusing to tell her what happened. We both know it has to do with Liam. I am your best friend. We’ve been best friends almost our entire lives. Talk to me.”

She’s right. We have been friends forever. She was the one person I kept in contact with after my attack. Well, she made me stay in contact. She wouldn’t let me slip through her fingers, even after I moved away from our hometown. She would keep me anchored to the me I was—before. Valerie moved up here when her parents died in a car accident; she said I was the only family she had left, and she wanted to be near me. Soon after that tragedy, she met Gabe. The spark of life that dimmed since her parents died was suddenly brought back to life when he got her angry and fired up. It’s some kind of foreplay I choose to ignore.

I look at Harper, and she’s staring at me with a look that says, Yeah, I told her. What are you going to do about it?

“I think I’m going to need a shot for this,” I tell them. As if on cue, Owensaunters over to the table with a tray of six shots. My girls. They already knew exactly what I needed. I smile when Owen places them on the table. He leans down to talk to us, but Valerie stops him.

“Honey, you know, I adore you, but I need you to walk away. We need some wine and food. Surprise us.”

Owen chuckles, but obeys her demand. Valerie pushes two shots in front of each of us. She raises one in the air, waiting for us to do the same. “To Savannah pulling her head out of her ass.”

Harper grabs her stomach, her other hand slamming down on the table, leaning forward and laughing.

“Hey,” I tell her. “I don’t push you more than you’re willing.”

“Shit, you’re right. Change of toast, to being better friends who are open and honest about everything, including the dirty details.” She waggles her eyebrows.

Valerie raises her glass higher. “I’ll drink to that!”

Each of us slams back the shot. I relish the burn and prepare myself.

“Liam is asking questions about my past that I haven’t been ready to answer.”

I look at Valerie, silently communicating everything she wants to know. Valerie—my lifelong friend—doesn’t even know the entirety of the horrors I went through. When I testified in court, my lawyer was able to get the courtroom closed to the public. I don’t want anyone in my life to know exactly what happened to me, what I fear will happen again.

Harper asks, “What exactly am I missing here?”

I take a deep breath and toss back the other shot before I lose my courage. “My ex-boyfriend is in prison for something he did to me. I’ll tell you more one day, but ... please, not tonight.”

She reaches her hand across the table, grabbing mine. She gives my hand a squeeze, and Valerie puts hers in the mix, too. We stay like that for a silent moment. I feel their love and support radiating through them. The safety of this booth is everything I needed this week. I burst into tears, not able to hold in the emotion slamming through me.

Owen comes up and stutters, “He-here’s some food and wine.”

I start talking after Owen walks away, no filter. “Liam is trying to know everything about me, but when people find out, all they see is my baggage. I’ve kept that part of myself hidden for a long time. It’s easier to keep people at bay.” I rein it in before I spill my plans for vengeance and my never-ending fear of when he will return for me.

I take a few deep breaths before continuing. “He notices things about me, and there was an incident last weekend.”

“What happened?” Valerie asks.

“I spent the night at his house on Friday. I fell asleep on the couch and ended up having a nightmare. He didn’t know that, but he picked me up to carry me to bed. I started screaming, crying, and hitting him trying to escape. I was mortified when I came to. I gave him an ultimatum. I’d stay if he didn’t ask questions, or I’d leave right then.”

“But, you didn’t come home on Friday night,” Harper said, looking confused.

I shake my head. “You’re right, I didn’t come home. I could tell he was battling with himself, but he told me he’d give me some time. I have scars on stomach from the ... incident. I got a tattoo a few years ago. That’s where I met James.”

“I didn’t know you have a tattoo,” Valerie says surprised.

I nod. “Anyway, he saw a piece of it. Thought it was just a tattoo, not that it covered something. I freaked out, slipped that James is the only person who knows I have it and the only one who has seen it. He exploded, I freaked and left. He spent the week calling me and texting me, but I wouldn’t reply. Wednesday was the last time I heard from him until today. I also saw him with a girl at the gym, but I think that is probably a misunderstanding after today.”

“What happened today?”

I explain about the flowers, cookies, and notes. They laugh at the exchange, finding Liam utterly charming and hilarious. “Oh, my God, that was so smart!”

Harper agrees. “Everyone knows you can’t resist warm baked goods.”

They’re both still howling with laughter. I can’t help but join them.

“So, you’re going to see him tomorrow.”

“That’s the plan, but I don’t know when. We haven’t set anything up yet.”

Valerie sighs and looks at me for several long moments. She looks away, picking up her wine glass and swirling the contents, lost in thought. She sets it down on the table. “Savannah, the way I see it, you’ve got two choices. You want this dude, you suck it up and tell him. The other choice, leave the poor guy. Don’t string him along.”

“She’s right, Savannah. You can’t be half in and half out. I haven’t known you for too long, but I can see that’s how you live your life.” I open my mouth to argue with her, but she raises her hands in protest. “I’m not judging. I’m guilty of the same, but it has to stop, don’t you think? Aren’t you tired of living on the outside?”

I nod. I am tired of living this way, living in fear while doing everything I can to be brave.

“Y’all are right. I’m going to lay everything on the table. I’m scared of losing him if my past freaks him out, but I’m already losing him by keeping secrets. I’ll tell him everything tomorrow.”

“It’s about damn time,” Valerie says.

We spend the rest of our night drinking wine and talking about lighter subjects. Valerie and I are determined to find a man for Harper. She says she isn’t interested in dating, just wants to focus on her store, but I know she needs more than that in her life. She admitted that she’s living the same—one foot in, one foot out of life. If I’m being thrust into the light, I’m dragging her with me.

Shortly after midnight, we all admit we’re too drunk to drive home. Valerie calls our ride, Gabe. He constantly jokes he could start a chauffeur business with as much as we call him to take us home and bring us back to our cars the next day. Valerie says she’s going to get him a uniform, so they can play some games. She shivers in her seat while Harper and I cackle.

“Let’s get out of here, you crazy lushes,” Gabe says, walking up to our table.

A man with a baseball cap pulled down low approaches behind him. When he steps closer, I only see the bottom half of his face. My mouth drops in surprise.