When Teagan awakened, it was still dark in her hotel room. She glanced at the clock: 5:35 a.m.

Then she remembered. The kiss. Her hotel room. And Aaron in her bed.

She glanced over; the blanket was pulled back and the sheets rumpled and the pillow indented. Where Aaron had been sleeping. Did he get up to use the restroom? She glanced at the bathroom. No light on.

Then she heard a voice. A deep, quiet voice. It was Aaron’s voice. He sat in the armchair in the corner of her dark hotel room, speaking to someone. She couldn’t see his face.

“I’ll be home tomorrow,” came his hushed voice. Then silence, as if listening to someone speak. “No. I’m just visiting an old friend. He lives in the area.” Pause. “No, I’m not with her. I told you, that’s in the past.” Pause. “I love you, too.”

Aaron was on the phone. With his wife.

Panic tore through Teagan’s chest and she gasped, sitting up suddenly. The armchair was empty. When she glanced over, Aaron lay next to her, sleeping. It was 4:30 a.m.

It was a dream. A bad dream. Aaron wasn’t talking on the phone to his wife, he was sleeping next to Teagan. But Teagan didn’t feel relieved. Instead, tears ran down her face and the panicky feeling still gripped her.

What have I done?

Aaron was in her bed! She’d slept with the man who broke her heart! Who let her care for his home and dog, just to “forget” to call her while he reconnected with the wife he supposedly hadn’t talked to in months! Who treated her like her ex-husband treated her!

And why did he do it? Because she let him! Because she let her feelings and a few charming words sway her to forgive and forget, just so he could hurt her again!

Then she remembered Josh. She grabbed her phone from the table and checked it. Two missed calls from him. She closed her eyes for a moment. She’d done to Josh what Aaron had done to her. She’d forgotten to call because something “better” came around.

Calm down. It’s just sex. You’re single, Aaron’s single, and you got caught up in the chemistry. It doesn’t mean anything.

But Teagan knew that was bullshit. She couldn’t do this, couldn’t be part of this. She could still learn from her mistakes. Starting right now.

She got up and grabbed her toiletries from the bathroom, quietly stuffing them into her duffle bag. She put on her clothing from the previous night, strewn across the chair along with Aaron’s. That was it. The rest was in her truck. She grabbed her belongings and tiptoed out.

Teagan’s phone rang just as the first light came up in the east. She glanced down. Aaron. She ignored it.

But when he tried again several minutes later, guilt crept in. He’d be worried.

“Hey,” she said.

A couple moments of hesitation. “Where are you?”

“On I-25.”

“Why did you leave like that?”

She could hear the confusion in his voice. The utter bafflement. “I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have let you into my room. But it’s done, and now we can go on with our lives.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means it was a mistake. I shouldn’t have… we shouldn’t have done it. Slept together. Not after all that’s happened. We shouldn’t have done it.” She knew she was repeating herself. But she wanted to make sure he heard her, loud and clear.

“I don’t understand.”

“You broke my fucking heart, Aaron!” she cried. “And I won’t make the same mistake again! I want a man who loves me, who will be there for me, not a long-distance fuck buddy who will throw me away when something better comes along.” She took a deep breath. “You got what you wanted, Aaron. Leave me alone and don’t call me again.”

She hung up.

And with that, she tossed her phone aside and continued her journey north. Four more hours and she’d be home.

Teagan cruised up I-25, the soft winter light attempting to warm the pale golden hills dotted with evergreens and patches of white snow. The peaceful, lonely winterscape soothed her battered soul.

She kept hearing Aaron’s words. The pain in them. The confusion. He’d been genuinely surprised at her sudden departure, and hurt, too. But she couldn’t have stayed with him. She couldn’t have sat there and pretended it was all okay. It wasn’t.

How could she let it happen? Was she so weak that dinner, a brief apology, and some good manners were enough to get her into the sack? After all that had happened?

She sighed. Maybe so. But it was a moment of weakness and the moment was over.

God, he must think she’s crazy, going from cold to hot to cold in such a short span of time. She felt a little crazy.

The sex sort of made sense. Aaron still got her motor running, and he’d come all that way to see her with his hat in his hands. But what was up with the freakout? With the bad dream and the sneaky departure? She’d come to peace with what happened, hadn’t she? Maybe not. After all, they’d never talked about it. He’d withdrawn, and she’d bailed. He tried to reach out, but she refused to listen. But what was the point in hearing his excuses? It wouldn’t have changed a thing. He was set on getting back with his wife, and that was that.

And Josh. She’d called him and apologized for not calling last night. In the interest of honesty, she told him the truth, that she’d run into an old boyfriend. He wasn’t happy about that, and she couldn’t blame him. But she and Josh had no romantic relationship. They’d only had the promise of one, and she realized she didn’t want to explore it. Seeing Aaron made her see the truth, that if she’d felt any real attraction for Josh, she would have looked forward to their trip, instead of feeling ambivalent about it. She’d hoped their trip would change things, but why would it? They’d been friends for months and no amount of phone or Skype chats had generated that spark, that desire to let him strip off her clothes and screw her senseless.

She didn’t know if the right guy existed. She only knew Josh wasn’t him. She wanted someone who made her feel like Aaron had… but without the pain and suffering.

Later, when she pulled into her parking spot, relief came over her. She was home safe after a great con. It would take time to shake off the Aaron thing, but she’d shaken off much worse before. She unpacked and took a shower, putting on fresh clothes before lying down to take a nap.

A ringing woke her. Groggy, she looked around, realizing it was her phone. She grabbed it. It was Aaron. She rolled her eyes, wondering which part of “don’t call me again” was so difficult to understand. But when he left a message, she couldn’t help but listen.

“Hey, it’s Aaron. I know you said not to call you, but I need to talk to you. It’s important. Please, please call me. Please, Teagan.”

Teagan bit her lip. The pleading in Aaron’s voice… it was so unlike him. She called him.

“Hey,” came Aaron’s voice. It was a relieved hey.

“Hey.”

“Thank you. For calling me back. I couldn’t… I can’t leave it like that.”

She said nothing, waiting for him to say what he needed to say.

“Look,” he began. “You don’t owe me anything, okay? I just want to talk, about what happened last night… and before. I have a lot to say.”

“What’s the point? It’s done.”

“No, it’s not.”

There was a knock at her door. Teagan told Aaron to hold on and opened the door, ready to tell Ben she’d talk to him later. But it wasn’t Ben.

It was Aaron.