I’ve never been very good at hide-and-seek.

“Hey,” he says quietly, tucking his hands in his pockets.

“Hi.”

“I haven’t seen you all day. Have you been avoiding me?”

He’s standing so close the light breeze carries his scent toward me. The lies that want to slip from my lips fade from memory.

“Maybe,” I answer quietly, brushing my hair from my face.

He reaches up, hesitantly, helping with a strand I missed. “I don’t want it to be this way.”

“I’m good at running.”

“Don’t run from me.”

“You don’t know me, Pierce.”

“I want to,” he replies quickly, brushing his thumb across my cool cheek. “Friends, Lila. That’s all I’m asking for.”

I nod against his palm. It feels too good to pull away.

“I was just about to grab some coffee around the corner. Do you want to join me?” he asks.

“I have plans.”

His hand falls away. “Have you talked to him?”

He doesn’t need to clarify. My whole world revolves around him right now. It also doesn’t get past me that he assumed my plans were with Blake. I guess I can’t blame him. “No, he’s out of town for a while, I guess.”

His expression softens. “Can I at least give you a ride somewhere?”

I think about it for a few seconds, hearing the train leaving in the distance. It will be at least fifteen minutes before the next one. “Yeah, if it’s not too far out of your way, that would be great. Thank you.”

He makes a quick call and two minutes later his black Escalade pulls up. We both jump in, leaving downtown Chicago as a backdrop.

“Are you going home for Christmas?” he asks, breaking through the silence. I feel him staring at me but fixate my eyes on the passing buildings.

“No, not this year.” I’ve been so consumed by everything that’s going on in my life, I almost forgot it’s only days away. It’s too late to make plans now, even if I could afford it.

“You better not be spending it alone in that tiny apartment of yours, Ms. Fields.” I kind of like when he calls me that. It brings me back to when we first met . . . when things were normal.

“Don’t worry about me. There’s Skype.”

“Seriously?”

I laugh, thinking about A Christmas Story and horrible take out. “You should try it.”

The rest of the ride is quiet, and when we pull up in front of my building, he climbs out before I get a chance. He keeps his hands to himself as he walks me to the door.

“Have a nice weekend, and Merry Christmas, Lila.”

“You too,” I answer back, walking through the open door.

Before it closes all the way, he pushes his way in. I walk back to give him space, my heart thudding against my ribcage. He comes close, and when I think he might kiss me, he stops, his warm breath hitting my lips. “I have one more thing I need to say.”

I swallow, looking up into his warm green eyes.

“When you’re lying in bed tonight—thinking—remember that I’m here and he’s not.”

Before I can respond, he’s gone.

WHEN I WALK INTO MY APARTMENT, my thoughts are so wrapped around Pierce’s words that I almost miss Blake leaning against the counter. He’s the opposite of the man who dropped me off just minutes ago—fitted long-sleeve white T-shirt, faded jeans that mold to his body in all the right places, his blond hair curling under his gray beanie. Times like this, I get why I fell for him so hard. I wish he’d stop reminding me.

He speaks first. “Hey.”

“Hi.”

“How was New York?”

I shrug. That’s a loaded question. “It was a quick trip. I didn’t fall in love. I didn’t fall in hate.”

“How’s Pierce?”

He doesn’t really want to know this, does he? I contemplate, watching him.

He pushes off the counter, taking slow steps toward me. “I hated that you were alone with him.”

This should be the time that I tell him nothing happened. I should be able to say that, but I can’t. If I let myself, I could easily fall for Pierce.

And the guilt . . . I don’t deserve it. Blake is the whole reason I can’t fall for Pierce. He fucked me. His touch reached deeper than my skin to my heart, but he couldn’t fill the need he created. He couldn’t commit, and now I’m the one who finds it impossible to give myself to anyone else. That brings the bitterness back.

“You let me go, remember?”

He winces but doesn’t break his slow stride. I step back to get more space between us, but just like so many other times with him, I find my back against the wall. He reaches me, caging me in with his hands against the wall on either side of my head. “Do you trust me?”

“No.”

“I need you to. Even when I hurt you . . . when you hate me, I need you to know I’m only doing what’s right for you.”

I swallow, trying to keep my eyes on his, but they always seem to find their way down to his lips. I hate how my body reacts to him. “You confuse the hell out of me, Blake.”

“There’s somewhere I need to go tonight, and I want you to come with me.”

“I can’t keep doing this. Nothing has changed between us.”

He comes even closer yet, his lips inches from mine. If he tried to kiss me, I don’t think I’d be able to stop him. My brain may scream at me to run away, but my heart wants me to stay. Even when just hours ago, I’d convinced myself it was time to break away.

“Come with me,” he begs.

I open my mouth to argue, but his finger covers my lips. “Come with me.”

“I have to work.”

He shakes his head, running his fingertip along my lower lip. “I already talked to Dana. I got you covered.”

Everything goes black. You shouldn’t do this. He’s just going to leave you flying high again without a safe place to fall. Then, as things come into focus, and all I see is him—the one guy I shouldn’t want but can’t seem to forget. He’s managed to ruin me in just a few short weeks.

His eyes soften as he removes his hands from the wall. He won this battle, and he knows it. “Grab your coat.”

I struggle to find the right words. My throat is dry. My head aches. It’s as if I’m stuck on one side of a fence with no way to get over and no time to strategize. I just want to disappear into my bedroom and bury myself under the thick covers, but I can’t. Not when he’s looking at me like this. “Give me one good reason why I should.”

“Because if you don’t, you’ll always wonder what could have been.” He motions between us. “You feel this connection, but just like me, you’re not quite sure what to do with it. This gives us a chance to figure it out together.”

He makes it hard to argue when he says the most perfect words. He’s right, but he’s not. Just days ago, I knew what I wanted from Blake, but he was on a completely different page. For all I know, he still is.

“I’m not going to let you hurt me,” I finally whisper.

“I don’t intend to.”

“I need more than that, Blake. I don’t care about your intentions.”

He cups my face in his hands, leveling our eyes. “I’m not very good at this stuff, Lila, so listen to me carefully. For two years, I’ve been trying to get a contract to restore historic murals in Paris, and I finally did a few days ago.” He pauses, brushing the pads of his thumbs across my cheeks. “I turned it down because I couldn’t leave you . . . I couldn’t let you go.”

His admission melts me. Maybe I do mean something to him. “What does that mean . . . for us?” I ask, holding back tears.

“I don’t know, but I want you to figure it out with me. Please . . . just come with me tonight.”

A long pause. A potentially life-changing decision. “Do I need to change?”

He looks down, surveying my dress and heels. “You might want to throw on some jeans and grab a warmer jacket.”

As I move around the apartment, changing and gathering my things, I’m in a fog. Thoughts come then quickly fade away only to be replaced by others. Reece’s advice repeats in my head. Pierce’s words play over and over. Yet, before long, I’m standing at the door next to Blake.