I pushed my hands through my hair as I let out a long breath. I glanced over at the clock. My parents would be home any second, and the last thing I wanted was to be fighting with Heather when they walked in.

“Okay, Heather. You’re right. I need to learn to just ignore her. I care about her though, and I worry, so—”

Her mouth dropped open as she shot me the dirtiest look.

Oh fuck.

“What? You care about her?”

Jesus H. Christ! I can’t believe I just said that. “Okay, this is getting fucking ridiculous, Heather. I love you. I’ll only ever love you. I want to be with only you. Why are you so fucking jealous over someone who’s only a friend?” I shouted.

I watched as tears began pooling in her eyes before she lowered her head. Oh, holy shit. Why did I just yell at her? I was nervous about proposing to her tonight, and I was taking it out on her.

She started to shake her head as she looked back up at me. “She’ll never go away, will she, Josh? How would you feel if I talked to Jerry on the phone all the time? If I told him how handsome he was? If I snuck outside to talk to him? If I told you I still cared about him?” Heather asked as she tried to hold in her sobs.

“Baby, I meant to say, I cared…as in past tense. I feel nothing for Lynda. I just worry that she’ll do something stupid,” I said as I moved closer to Heather.

“She. Is. Not. Your. Problem. The problem you have right now, Josh, is the fact that you can’t open your eyes and see she’s coming between us. She’s doing the very thing she set out to do the day we walked into that hospital room together.”

“Heather, Lynda is not trying to keep us apart. That’s just stupid. Why do you keep saying that?” I asked as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Jesus. My whole world just stopped at the sight of that tear.

“Whether you want to see it or not, that’s exactly what she’s doing.” Heather turned and walked inside and then made her way upstairs.

Just then, I heard my parents, so I went inside to meet them. I watched as my mother and father came into the kitchen, laughing. I put on a smile, trying to act like nothing was wrong.

“Josh, darling! Is Heather here also?” my mother asked, looking toward the family room.

“Uh, yeah. She’s upstairs, trying to figure out what to wear for the party.” I glanced at my father, who was giving me a knowing look. How the hell does he know when I’m putting up a show?

Turning to head up the stairs, my mother said, “Wonderful! I can’t wait to see what she has planned for tonight. I’m going to go say hello and see if I can help her pick out a dress.”

Once she was gone, my dad looked at me. “What happened?”

“Lynda called, and I took the call outside. Heather overheard me talking to her, and that led to a fight.”

“Josh, you need to cut these ties with Lynda…now,” Dad said as he took a water bottle out of the refrigerator.

“Oh fuck. You, too, Dad? What exactly am I doing wrong? The girl has problems, and I’m just trying to be her friend.” I sat on the bar stool and put my head in my hands.

My dad let out a laugh that caused me to look up at him.

“What the hell is so funny?”

He stopped laughing and gave me a look. “Are you kidding me, Josh? The only problem that girl has is the fact that you love Heather and not her. The other night, your uncle told me he saw Lynda out with his neighbor, and she was hanging all over the kid. Wake up, Josh. Stop acting like a fucking idiot, and give a hundred percent of yourself to the girl you love. She deserves at least that. I think she’s been patient enough with your ass.” He reached for an apple and took a bite.

“Well, shit. Don’t hold anything back, Dad,” I said, standing up.

My mother walked into the kitchen. She stopped and placed her hands on her hips, shooting me the look she always gave when she was pissed. “What in the hell did you do to Heather?”

“Oh. My. God. You, too?” I said as I started to walk past her.

My mother grabbed my arm, stopping me. “She just left, Josh. She said she’s not going to the office party tonight. She wanted me to tell you that she’s heading to Mason. So, I’ll ask you again, Josh. What the hell did you do or say that caused her to walk out of my house with tears in her eyes?”

When my father cleared his throat, my mother and I looked at him.

“Lynda,” he said, raising his eyebrows.

Traitorous bastard.

“Josh, oh no. Josh, you didn’t…” My mother started shaking her head.

“I didn’t, what?”

“Will you just kick that girl to the curb already? Can’t you see that she’s trying to pull you two apart?”

Holy hell. Not her, too? “This is bullshit. I’m going upstairs to take a shower and get ready for your Christmas party, Mom.”

“Josh, what about Heather? She left!” My mother pointed toward the front door.

Reaching down, I held on to the ring box in my pocket. “I’m not going to force her to go to the party. If she doesn’t want to go with me, then I’ll have to go without her,” I said as I walked out of the kitchen.

Before I hit the stairs, I heard my father say, “Stupid bastard is going to lose the only girl he’s ever loved just because some twisted nutcase won’t let go of him.”

With each step I took, my heart starting beating faster. I couldn’t lose Heather. I’d rather die than live without her.

What the hell am I supposed to do?

Sitting in the waiting room, I thought about everything that had happened between Josh and me. The love I felt for him was beyond anything I’d ever felt before. My hands started shaking as I recalled what had happened yesterday. I had walked out of his parents’ house without even telling him that I was leaving. I’d just left, like I had done with my parents. I’d just left without a single word to him—no, I love you…no, we’ll talk later about things.

Nothing.

“Heather, I see the wheels spinning in your head. You heard the doctor. Josh is going to be fine.”

I looked over toward Ari. She was curled up next to Jeff on the small sofa.

“I just left him. I didn’t even say good-bye to him. I just walked out. What if—”

“Don’t do that to yourself, Heather,” Jeff said as he got up and walked over to me. Sitting down, he pulled me closer to him.

I wanted so badly to be in Josh’s arms right now. I wanted him to tell me how much he loved me and how he wanted no one but me. Why was I so upset with him? I’d heard him tell Lynda he was in love with me.

“I was so mad at him when I left. He went outside to talk to Lynda, and at the time, I thought he was just trying to be sneaky about it. Now that I look back…oh god, Jeff. He was just trying not to hurt me. I’m such fool.”

Ari stood up and came toward us. Getting down on her knees in front of me, she grabbed my hands. “The moment he wakes up, just tell him. Tell him how much you love him and that you’re sorry for walking away like that. Tell him you’ll never walk away again,” Ari said, giving me that smile of hers.

Greg cleared his throat. “Um, Heather, honey, would you like to go in and see him?” he asked. “Liz is still in the room.”

Getting up slowly, I nodded. Greg reached out and took my hand. As he led me to Josh’s room in the ICU, my heart started racing, and my head was spinning.

When we stopped right outside the door, Greg turned me to face him. “I want you to know something before you walk into that room.”

Tears began building again, and I did everything I could to not cry. “Okay,” I whispered.

“Josh was on his way to Mason when he had the car accident.”

I felt all the air leave my body at one time. What? “What do you mean, ‘Josh was on his way to Mason’?”