We don’t drag ourselves out of bed until mid-morning. If I didn’t know how Hayley felt about relationships, I’d think she was reluctant to leave, but…that could be my own desire poking through the reality of the situation.

I’m taking her home today. She was very clear she isn’t looking for a relationship, and it would be a bad idea for me to get involved anyway.

I keep telling myself that on a loop. Over and over until it sinks in.

We take a quick shower together, and the memory of the water dripping across her naked skin is gonna play on repeat every time I come down here from now on.

Once we’re dry, Hayley slides on a pair of jeans that are just this side of too tight and make it difficult for me to look at anything but the curve of her ass. Now that I know what it looks like out of those pants, how her skin tastes and feels beneath my fingers, I can’t look away. I can’t stop wanting.

I can’t stop touching.

Hayley doesn’t seem to mind. When I reach out for her, she leans into my touch. It feels like we’re a couple.

But we’re not.

I keep telling myself that on a loop. Over and over until it sinks in.

Hayley carefully folds her clothes and puts them back in the duffle I brought them in. “Should I…” She awkwardly nods at the bag. “I mean, they’re not mine, so…”

“Keep them,” I tell her. They belong to one of my employees; I have no right to give them away. But I just can’t stand the thought of them on someone else’s body after this weekend.

I do a cursory check of the cabin to make sure it’s in order before we leave, the same thing I do every time I come down here for a long weekend. It’s nice to fall into a routine when the rest of my life feels so out of order.

It won’t be the same the next time I come down here for the weekend. Hayley won’t be with me, but she’ll be everywhere.

“You ready?” she asks. Her brows are furrowed, she looks a little worried. “You okay?” She and I haven’t spent much time together, but she can already read me so well. It’s unnerving. And it’s ridiculous how quickly I’ve fallen for her.

“I’m ready.”

She nods and reaches for the duffel. I quickly reach out and grab the handles from her.

“You gonna get that cooler?” she asks.

“Nah, I’ll bring it back the next time I come down.”

She opens the door, then turns around and gives the place one last look. She’s been stuck here for the past day and a half, anxious to go home. But now that we’re leaving, she almost looks wistful.

I feel wistful.

Hayley steps outside and closes her eyes. She lifts her head up so the sun is on her face, and she takes a deep breath, holding her arms out, basking in it.

“I never appreciated nature until I couldn’t go out in it,” she says with a little smile.

I should go and put this bag in the trunk of the car, but instead I just stand here staring at her.

“It’s been a day,” I tease.

She squints, looking in my direction. “I know, but it was a really long day. I guess that thing about wanting something only when you can’t have it is pretty true.”

“Am I gonna have to worry about you hiking, or falling off a cliff, or getting lost in the wilderness?”

Hayley stares at me, the smile slipping from her face. I wonder what I’ve said wrong.

“No,” she says. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

I’m going to anyway, but I don’t tell her that.

Hayley looks over at the car. “Wow. This is even more of a beater than I thought it was.”

I’m surprised at the shape it’s in, too. The car is a complete shit heap. I know Davis wouldn’t have given me a getaway car that wasn’t mechanically sound, but looking at it now, it seems like a total miracle this thing didn’t fall apart in the middle of 95.

“This place is so beautiful,” Hayley says as she looks out at the lake. “I kinda want to run off that pier and jump into the water.”

I remember her telling me yesterday that she’s never been swimming in a lake. The thought of her soaking wet in that white T-shirt makes me want to encourage her to do it.

“You’d freeze to death,” I remind her, my conscience getting the better of me. Also, cold water seems like a good thing to think of right now.

“C’mon,” I tell her, nodding toward the car. “I’ll buy you breakfast before we head back.”

She smiles and gets in the car.

* * *

I take Hayley to the Main Line Diner, a local greasy spoon that’s been a favorite of my family’s since my grandfather built the cabin. It’s a small-town, friendly place where the staff knows my usual and the coffee’s always fresh.

Lou, my favorite waitress, greets me with an excited smile. “Hunter,” she coos, opening her arms wide for a hug. “I haven’t seen you in a while, darlin’.”

She’s short and sweet, a round-faced woman with large red glasses that are too big for her face, and a bouffant that’s straight out of the sixties. She’s been around as long as I can remember.

“Hey, Lou,” I reply, as she squeezes the life out of me.

Her eyes light up when she spots Hayley, a mischievous smile on her face.

“And who’s this?” she asks, sizing Hayley up before she turns her attention back to me. “A girlfriend?”

I’m not sure what to say, but Hayley steps in and rescues me. “I’m Hayley Grey, a…friend of Hunter’s.”

We’re not dating, and I don’t know the right word to describe what we are—if we’re anything—but the friend hurts to hear more than I thought it would, which surprises me. What I want is…

“Nice to meet you, Hayley,” Lou replies with a raised brow. “Friend of Hunter’s.”

Hayley follows Lou to my usual booth, and I manage to catch her blush as she walks by.

We sit, and Lou hands Hayley a menu. I’ve ordered the same thing since I was twelve.

“What’s good here?” Hayley asks.

“Everything,” I reply unhelpfully.

The place is half full, and the jukebox flips over from one happy oldie to another. Spoons clink against cups as people stir cream and sugar into their coffee. An old friend of my grandfather’s nods at me with a kind smile. I like coming here—the place is full of nostalgia and the best parts of my childhood—but can’t stand the pity on people’s faces when they ask how my mom and dad are doing these days, their eyes telling me everything their words can’t.

I don’t want to hear what a good boy my brother was, or how my grandfather would’ve been proud of the man I’ve become. I just wanted to come here and share some of my past with a woman I never expected to fall for, who I’m going to say goodbye to in a few agonizingly short hours.

The morning light shines in through the window next to us, highlighting the messy waves in Hayley’s hair. She doesn’t have any makeup on and still looks kind of sleepy, but here in this simple diner in the middle of nowhere, she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

She looks up from the menu, catches me staring.

“What?” she asks, her lips curving up into a smile as she bites on her lip.

“You’re gorgeous,” I tell her. Maybe I shouldn’t, but we only have a few more hours together, so why not?

She smiles, tucking her hair back behind her ear as she looks down at her menu. “Thank you,” she says quietly.

Lou walks over and pours me a cup of coffee, then asks Hayley, “You want coffee, darlin’?”

She shakes her head, wrinkling her nose. “No, thank you. Orange juice, please?”

Lou nods. “You want a short stack, two orders of bacon,” she says, looking at me. “Are you ready to order?”

“I’ll have two fried eggs, toast and bacon,” she says, folding her menu and handing it over. “Thank you.”

Lou smiles at her warmly. “Comin’ right up.”

“You have a usual,” Hayley says with a bright smile, like it’s the cutest thing in the world. “You have a usual at this little diner full of senior citizens that plays Motown on the jukebox. I wouldn’t have guessed that about you.”

I’m intrigued. “What would you have guessed about me?”

She purses her lips. “Mmm…I would’ve guessed that you ate breakfast alone. Hard-boiled eggs and oatmeal or something else kinda tasteless and healthy to keep up all that,” she replies, waving in my direction. I mean, I thought you looked good before I saw you naked, but yeah…all that is A-plus amazing, and I wouldn’t have guessed you’d come to a place like this and eat so much saturated fat.”

I’m smiling at her like a complete dumbass, but I can’t help myself.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she says, all flustered.

“Like what?”

“Like you think I’m cute.”

“I do think you’re cute,” I reply.

She rolls her eyes but doesn’t stop smiling. “Is it okay that I mentioned we’re friends?”

That question takes me by surprise. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

Hayley shrugs. “I don’t sleep with my friends, and well…after we leave here you’re gonna drop me off, and we’re…”

Not going to see each other anymore, is what she stops herself from saying. I don’t blame her—I’ve been stopping myself from thinking it all day.

“Yeah,” I say, my voice rougher than I intend it to be.

Slowly, Hayley reaches for my hand, lacing our fingers together.

“I never said thank you,” she tells me.

“For what?”

“For coming to that club. For bringing me here. For making sure I was safe. For teaching me how to protect myself. You took a really scary experience and made it—”

“Remote?” I reply, needing to break up the tension.

She laughs, then sees right through me and squeezes my hand. “Nice. Amazing. Hunter, I—”

“Here we go,” Lou says with a cheery voice, setting our plates down in front of us. “You two let me know if you need anything, okay?”

I nod, not able to speak.

“Enjoy your breakfast,” she says with a wink. “Friends.”

Hayley slides her hand back into her lap, and we eat in relative silence, making polite small talk now and then. She comments on the song playing, and I tell her a story about an old friend of my grandmother’s I see shuffling down the sidewalk across the street.

Friday night seems like a lifetime ago, and yet I haven’t had nearly enough time with Hayley. I want to know everything about her, could listen to her talk for hours. But she’s clammed up now, maybe because she felt like she was on the verge of revealing too much.

I’ve been there many times this morning.

Maybe it’s best like this, putting up walls that will make goodbye easier.

I ask for the check as soon as we’re finished, telling Hayley we’d better leave if we want to beat the holiday traffic. When I pay, Lou sends us off with a knowing look and a bag full of donuts for the road.

* * *

Neither one of us says much of anything until we’re about 45 miles outside of D.C. It’s been an easy drive; we haven’t hit much traffic. I’m grateful for that. The last thing I want is for this ride to be any longer than it needs to, for so many reasons.

We hit a snag just outside of Fredericksburg, slowing down to a near stop in a jam that looks like it goes on for at least a mile. After drumming my fingertips on the steering wheel trying to think of something easy to talk about and failing, we finally hit open road. Hayley reaches into the bag between us on the seat and pulls out a donut.

She takes a bite and moans.

I fidget in my seat, thinking of cold showers and old ladies and anything to get my body to settle down. The last thing I need is to be in a car with a hard-on for the girl who’s the best sex of my life and also never wants to see me again.

“These are so good,” Hayley says, her voice sexier than I’m sure she intends it to be.

“Told you,” I tease.

She grins at me, kicks off her shoes, and puts her feet up on the dashboard. She leans back in her seat, relaxing like we’re heading off on vacation somewhere and this isn’t nearly the end of the line for us.

She closes her eyes, letting her head loll back against the headrest as she slowly licks the powdered sugar from her lips.

I let out a strangled grown that’s drowned out by the rumbling of the engine.

If I didn’t know better, I’d swear she’s trying to kill me.