You’re never gonna find another guy who’ll be better for you than him.

I couldn’t get those words out of my head.

I was still reeling from my conversation with Declan when I got home hours ago, so I tried throwing myself into my book to take my mind off the constant worrying I’d been doing over Garrett since I got the sad news. Guilt that I wasn’t with him ate at me as the words on my computer screen began to blur together. My eyes ached from the strain of staring at the blinking cursor for hours on end, trying in vain to get the words to come.

But they wouldn’t.

I hadn’t been able to write a single fucking word since Garrett let me go. Not that I could blame him for doing so; I’d basically given him no other choice. I all but forced him to give up on me.

Now he was two states away, grieving the loss of a friend who was more like family. And because I was too afraid to take a leap of faith, he was suffering that loss alone. Sure, he had the other guys with him, but they were all mourning. None of them had someone to take care of them, to hold them up. I could have been that for Garrett if I hadn’t been so hardheaded.

“You’ve been sitting in that exact same position for three hours now, and I haven’t heard you type a single word.”

I looked over my laptop screen and blinked rapidly to clear the spots from my vision. Jeez, I was going to go cross-eyed if I kept this up. Corrine glanced up from the magazine she’d been flipping through just long enough to smirk at me from her place on the sofa, the very same sofa that had been my bed for the past several days.

Having lived in Garrett’s huge house for so long had rubbed off without me even noticing. Now that Liddy and I were temporarily set up in Corrine’s apartment, I felt like the walls were closing in on me. There wasn’t enough space to move… or think… or breathe. I missed the house Garrett had tried so hard to make a home for my monkey and me. I missed him.

Finally giving up on my manuscript, I slammed the laptop closed, propped my elbows on the wooden surface of her dining table, and dropped my head into my hands, rubbing at my temples to stave off the headache that threatened.

“I can’t focus,” I admitted on a groan. “I’m so close to finishing this story, but the ending just won’t come together.”

“Hmm. Maybe that’s because you fucked up your own ending?”

My head shot up and I gave my friend a narrow-eyed glare. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

She slapped the magazine closed with a huff and tossed it onto the coffee table as she stood from her couch/my bed. “Don’t act stupid. You know exactly what I’m talking about.” I’d been a little surprised when she didn’t start in with the third degree the moment I got home, but from the look on her face just then, I knew she’d been waiting for the perfect moment.

I pushed back from the tiny table and stood as well, mimicking her pose by slamming my hands on my hips. “Uh… no, I don’t. Or I wouldn’t be asking. And don’t call me stupid,” I snapped indignantly.

“Gah!” she shouted up at the ceiling. “You’re driving me crazy!”

“Shhh!” I looked to her partially closed bedroom door where Liddy was sleeping on the small blowup mattress I bought. It wasn’t the most ideal living situation, but I was hoping I’d find something more permanent for the two of us soon. “You wake her up now and she’ll be up all damn night.”

“I don’t care!” my best friend cried, throwing her arms out in frustration. “She shouldn’t even be here anyway! She should be in her own bed in her own room in her own home! But you’ve got your head so far up your ass you can’t see it. God, Gwen. I love you more than I would my own sister if I’d had one, but you really screwed up this time.”

My shoulders went stiff, my back straight, and the tiny hairs all over my body stood on end. “What are you talking about?”

“Garrett!” she whisper-yelled. “I’m talking about Garrett!”

“Corrie…,” I warned. “Don’t.”

“Why?” she threw back. “Because you don’t want to hear it? Well too bad. I’d be a terrible best friend if I didn’t point out what a huge, colossal, gigantic mistake you were making.”

I plopped back down in my chair and opened my laptop again in an attempt to shut her up. “Fine, you’ve said what you wanted to say. Now let it go. I’m done talking about it.”

She let out a caustic laugh. “Oh no you don’t.” She stomped over to me and snapped my computer closed so fast I barely had time to move my fingers out of the way.

“Hey!”

“You’re going to listen to me whether you like it or not. And I don’t care if you get mad at me. You’ll get over it, because one day you’ll see I did this for your own good.”

“Stop.”

But she didn’t. Corrine was on a roll, and trying to stop her was like trying to stop a wrecking ball. Suddenly her voice dropped several octaves, and pitying understanding twisted in her words. “I understand why you’re scared, babe. I do. I was there when you lost everyone you ever loved. I watched you claw your way out of that sorrow and try to build a life for yourself. But you’re still so bogged down with grief that you couldn’t see what was right in front of you.”

“Oh yeah? And what was that?” I bit out, defaulting to defensiveness in an attempt to protect myself.

But Corrine knew me too well to be deterred. “A family, Gwen. Garrett was right there, arms open, ready to give you the one thing you’ve been craving for so long, but you were too scared to reach out and take it. You wouldn’t let yourself be happy with him.”

That telltale stinging in my nose let me know I was dangerously close to tears. “You don’t understand, Corrie,” I whispered, my voice husky with pain. “It wouldn’t have worked. Eventually he would have gotten tired and moved on.”

Her palm came down on the tabletop, smacking so loudly I jumped. “How could you possibly know that? You didn’t even try!”

“I did try!” I objected. But it was a lie. I never really gave it my all.

“Bullshit. You didn’t, because if you had, you’d have realized the truth. That man would have walked through fire for you and that little girl. He’d have bent over backward, tied himself in knots to protect you guys from anything. I know that because I saw him do that exact thing. You think, if you guys eventually went the distance, he wouldn’t have shielded you from every pain he possibly could? He lived for you. If you had given him the chance, he could have given you the life you wanted… the family you wanted. A man like him protects what’s his, Gwen. A man like that is worth fighting for, because a man like that would spend his life making sure you woke up happy every single day.”

A sob wrenched itself from my throat. I slapped my hands over my mouth as tears started pouring down my cheeks. “O-oh God,” I said on a ragged hiccup as my cheeks grew wetter. “Oh God. I fucked up.”

She nodded sullenly. “You did, honey.”

“Shit, Corrie! That doesn’t make me feel better.”

Her lips turned up in a small grin as she said, “Well, if it makes you feel better, I don’t think it’s unfixable. If you want him and are willing to fight, I think he’d take you back.”

Hope bloomed in my chest. “You really think so?”

“I do. But you have to be positive, Gwen. If you can’t give him that, you need to let him go.”

With those words of warning, that bloom in my chest started to shrivel back up again. “What if I’m too late? What if he’s done and he’s already let go?”

“Only one way for you to find out.” She stood and went into her room, leaving me alone at the table wondering if she was going to impart wisdom or just leave me hanging. When she finally came back out, she had a bright, sneaky smile on her face as she placed a single piece of paper down in front of me.

“What’s that?”

“What’s it look like?” she asked sarcastically. “It’s a boarding pass. I had every faith that my little ‘come to Jesus’ would sink in. That’s why Ian and I went halfsies and bought you a plane ticket to San Fran so you could be there for your man when he needs you. I already checked you in. All you have to do is get your ass to the airport. I can’t take you ’cause I’m on babysitting duty the next couple of days.”

My mouth was hanging open in shock as I looked from the boarding pass to Corrine, the woman who’d been part of my family for as long as I could remember. “But what if I hadn’t—”

“It’s nonrefundable.” She shrugged. “If I hadn’t helped you pull your head out of your ass, I’d have guilted you into it.”

I actually found myself laughing at her scheming ways for the first time in too long. “You wicked trickster.”

She shot me a wink and disappeared into her room once more. That time she came back pulling a small suitcase behind her. I blinked slowly before my eyebrows shot to my hairline. She shoved the handle of the suitcase at me, took me by my shoulders, and spun me around. “Don’t say I never gave you anything. Now get a move on.”

“But… wait! It’s barely midnight!” I cried. “And I need to shower and do my makeup and hair and stuff!”

“No time!” she shouted, giving me a shove toward the door. “You’re on the redeye and the funeral is later today. Your hair looks fine, you can take a whore bath at the airport, and do your makeup on the plane.” When I dug my feet in, she stopped pushing and glowered at me. “Do you want to be late? It’s now or never, Gwen. Tick tock. Time to make a decision.”

She was right. It was past time to make a decision. And I knew exactly what I was going to do. Leaning in, I placed a quick kiss on her cheek, then bolted for the door. “Thank you!” I called behind me. “Make sure Liddy eats at least one vegetable a day. Bedtime is eight o’clock, not whenever Auntie Corrie decides, and if you need anything, call me. I love you, and I owe you so big for this!”

“Love you too, babe!” she shouted after me. “You can pay me back by giving me my apartment back!”

“I’ll do my best.” I shot a smile over my shoulder as butterflies burst into flight in my belly.

The last thing I heard as I ran down the stairs was Corrine shouting, “Go get your man!”

I hoped and prayed that was exactly what I was going to do.