It had been hours since I’d seen Camry. Too many of them, considering how I’d let things end between us.

“No. They didn’t end. I fucked up,” I said softly, staring down the road. “And now I’m going to fix it.”

That’s what I’d been telling myself the past few hours, but I wasn’t sure if I believed it anymore.

My phone buzzed again and I almost ignored it, tired of the back and forth with Kaleb, but in the end, I picked it up.

Is she home yet?

I looked behind me at the door to the apartment building. She wasn’t in there. It was possible she was ignoring me, but somehow, I didn’t think that was the case. The girl who’d taken on a guy with her bare hands to save a friend wasn’t going to hide from me.

But you hurt her in a way that was far worse, a quiet voice whispered.

And I knew I had. I’d seen the misery in her eyes, the pain she hadn’t given voice to.

I’d hurt her, and I’d fix it.

And I’d get through to her dumb-ass brother, too.

I typed out a quick response. No, she’s not home.

A beat went by, then another message came through from him.

Look, I really don’t quite buy this story from Daytin, but say it’s true. Then Cam’s probably pissed and she’s not going to talk to you. I’ll have Piety call her when she wakes up. Cam’ll answer the phone and you’ll see you’ve been worried for nothing.

“Kaleb, you’re not my big brother,” I said softly. I tapped out a reply.

GFY.

Go fuck yourself, mate. She wasn’t in there. She wasn’t hiding because she was upset with me. Because if she was…

Closing my eyes, I pressed the tips of my fingers to them and tried to breathe past the ache in my chest. If I’d hurt her bad enough that she’d gone in there and tucked herself away so that she wouldn’t answer my phone calls, wouldn’t come to the door no matter how many times I buzzed her apartment, then I didn’t know how I was supposed to fix it.

Would it help that I’d managed to get Daytin off the streets for the night?

She’d come after me before I’d gotten to my car, asked for help. And I’d given it to her.

It wasn’t the clinic, but I’d called Sarah, and after a couple of curses, Sarah had told me to bring the poor bird to her. Daytin had been too tired and too desperate for a bed to care where it was coming from—as long as it wasn’t the clinic.

So I’d taken her there first, before even looking for Camry, because I’d known that Camry’s first concern would be Daytin. And I’d made sure Daytin would be taken care of. Sarah wouldn’t let her go hungry or without shelter, and she’d mother the girl senseless.

But when I’d gotten to the apartment, nobody had answered me buzzing to get in. When I’d slipped in behind some twenty-somethings, I’d knocked on Camry’s door, but she hadn’t answered then either.

I’d driven around looking for her after that, but the shitty thing was that I had no idea where to look for her.

We’d spent most of our time either looking for Daytin, or in bed, and that didn’t exactly make it easy for me to figure out where she might go, especially this late at night.

If it was daytime, she might go to the beach, but most of the beaches would be closed now, and I had no idea where to start. Still, I’d checked a couple, starting with the one closest to her place, then working my way north a couple miles, then south.

I hadn’t found her, no matter how hard I looked.

Eventually, I’d ended up coming back to her apartment, hoping she’d come back.

But she hadn’t.

And I hadn’t been able to get back inside, so I was sitting on the steps. Waiting.

My phone buzzed again. I checked to make sure it wasn’t Camry. I’d sent her nearly a dozen texts, but she hadn’t replied to any, and this wasn’t her either. It was Kaleb.

So I ignored it and buried my face in my hands to wait.

And I’d keep on waiting until she showed up or hell froze over.

I loved her.

I’d just found her, and even if I had fucked up, I wasn’t losing her now.

At least, I hoped I wasn’t.

* * *

I didn’t know what it was that alerted me. A prickle down my spine, a rock rattling over pavement. But something had me lifting my head, and I knew once I looked up, I’d find Camry there.

And there she was. She stood at the base of the steps, looking up at me with bruised, tired eyes. Her mouth flattened and she turned her face away, as if she couldn’t bear to look at me.

“Go away, Jacen. I’m tired,” she said finally. With a grimace, she started up the steps, moving slowly, as if each step hurt.

Like an idiot, I suddenly realized that, wherever she’d been, she’d been walking. The car was still back at the club, albeit now scrubbed clean of the graffiti thanks to Sarah.

“You’ve been out walking,” I said foolishly.

“You’re a smart guy,” she said dryly.

I took the opportunity. “Actually, I’m a fucking fool.”

She stopped on the third step from the bottom and glanced up at me. “I asked you to go away,” she said softly.

“You’re hurting.” I jogged down the steps and reached out. “Let me help—”

“Don’t touch me,” she said, jerking away.

The movement only made it worse. She tried to hide it, but I could see it, and I wanted to kick my own ass for adding to the pain.

She edged around me and forced herself up the steps at a quicker pace. “Whatever it is you want…write it in a letter or something. I’m tired.”

Write a letter.

Staring up at her narrow back as she walked away from me, I realized I hadn’t been completely honest with myself.

I’d told myself I’d do whatever she asked to prove myself.

But I sure as hell wasn’t writing a fucking letter.

Waiting until she’d reached the door, I climbed up after her. She tensed, hearing me.

Bending down, I said quietly, “That’s not how this is going to go, Camry. Let me in. We need to talk.”