Bre didn’t stop her quick pace when she reached the street. She was determined to put as much distance between her and Collin and her horrible hopes and expectations as possible. An Uber would be quicker, but she needed to blow off some steam before she was stuck in a car for the ride back to Brooklyn.

She still couldn’t believe him. He’d only known her for a fucking week! What gave him the right to think he could start dictating what she would do with her life? She’d never been with a guy that bold, and she wasn’t about to start tolerating that kind of behavior from him. Who did he think he was?

Bre wasn’t really paying attention to her surroundings and she eventually got tired of walking around Manhattan. She needed to get back home so she could put this whole chapter of her life behind her. It was time to get back to the real world, where the men were all looking for simpler things like no-strings-attached sex. Things were just easier that way. She was done with all these Wall Street guys who knew how to manipulate and charm their way into her life.

When she finally made it back to her apartment she was again thankful she never let Collin come over. It made going back to her normal life much easier. There weren’t any memories of him in her place, or in her bed, for her to deal with. She didn’t have to dread crying into her pillow because it still smelled like him. Her apartment had always been a sanctuary; a safe place for her to return to when life got tough. Thankfully she could still call it that.

Bre dodged calls from Aimee and Stephanie, still needing some time to herself. A few hours passed while she took a relaxing shower and then busied herself with rearranging her bedroom. Collin Hayes would be pushed far from her thoughts before long. She just had to keep moving. So it came as a surprise when her phone rang and she found his name printed on the screen.

Bre’s stomach fell to the floor as she stared at it. Why was it taking so long to go to voicemail? She didn’t dare to even mute the phone for fear that he’d know she saw his call and just didn’t want to talk to him. Her breaths didn’t come again until the ringing finally stopped. Almost instantly there was a loud beep as a text message came through.

I’m going to keep calling. Please talk to me.

Bre stared at the text for a long while, reading it a few times. She jumped when the phone started ringing again. Collin’s name flashed on the screen. Two buttons appeared: one to answer the call and one to decline it.

Bre didn’t dare press either one.

Was he really going to call her over and over until she answered? What if she had her phone muted because she was watching a movie? What if she was trying to take a nap? It’s not like either one of them had slept much the night before…

When the ringing finally stopped, the message app returned. Bre read the text again, and her temper got the better of her. She wasn’t going to let her phone be held captive. She was going to give him a piece of her mind!

Her fingers flew into action as she typed a response, letting him know they were done and he was just going to have to come to terms with it. There was nothing to talk about and he needed to leave her alone and move on!

Just as she went to push the Send button, the phone started buzzing with another call. The screen switched and, instead of hitting the button to send the text, she hit the Answer Call button.

Fuck!

Bre stared at the screen as a little timer started ticking off the duration of the call. Well, there was no turning back now… She slowly lifted it to her ear.

“Hello?”

“I didn’t think you were going to answer.”

“I didn’t mean to…”

It irritated her that Collin could sound so calm while she was freaking out.

“I’m glad you did. Can we talk?”

“We don’t really have anything to talk about.”

“Are you at home?”

Bre hesitated for a moment.

“Yes. Why?”

“I’m outside.”

“You’re what?”

She raced to the nearest window and took a peek. Sure enough, Collin was standing on the sidewalk with a phone to his ear, occasionally glancing up at the building. He was wearing khaki shorts and a forest green polo shirt with brown boat shoes. If he were anyone else she would have thought he looked pretentious. Instead he looked very well put together. Stupid man.

“I would have come up but I never got your apartment number…”

She glared down at him.

“That’s very bold of you. What if I had someone here with me?”

“Do you?” he asked, deadpanned.

“No… but that’s not the point!”

“I want to talk. Can I come up?”

The hardness from her anger didn’t last long as her stomach wrapped into a ball of nerves. Fine. They could talk if that was what it would take to get him to leave her alone. She turned and surveyed her apartment with a quick glance; the ball of nerves got worse. This just wouldn’t do…

“No,” she said, finally. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll be right down.”

What in the world was she getting herself into?