“You should go,” Cam blurted, his heart racing, his stomach churning.

Forcing himself to look over, he felt his heart seize in his chest when he saw the devastation that transformed Gannon’s handsome features. He watched as Gannon swallowed hard, his throat working, and Cam suddenly felt sick.

But forcing Gannon away now, that wasn’t nearly as hard as losing him forever would be.

At least that was what he told himself.

“Is that what you really want?” Gannon asked, his voice rough.

“Yeah,” Cam lied. “I want you to go.”

“I’m sorry,” Gannon said, taking a step back. “I know what you’ve been through…”

“You don’t know,” Cam yelled. “You don’t fucking know what it feels like.” No one knew. “I can’t go through that again. It’s over, Gannon. We’re done.”

Gannon’s dark eyes narrowed on his face. “See,” Gannon choked out, pointing at him, fury creasing his brow, “I thought we could get past this. I just wish I’d known before…”

“Before what?” Cam snapped.

“Before I went and fucking fell in love with you.”

It was Cam’s turn to swallow hard, shock settling inside him as he watched Gannon spin away from him and go for the door. Before Cam could call him back—if he’d even wanted to—Gannon was gone, the door slamming behind him.

For the second time in his life, that devastating loss settled over him, choking him, singeing every nerve ending with horrific, overwhelming pain. And when Cam rolled onto his side, staring at the muted television, he realized he couldn’t see the screen through the blurry haze.

Because now, for the first time since that dreadful day when he’d learned his mother would never be coming home, he was crying.

Sometime later, a knock on his door had Cam bolting upright once again, wiping the moisture from his face. He waited, praying that the person on the other side of his door wasn’t Gannon. He didn’t want Gannon to see him like this.

“Cam? You okay?”

Roan.

Wiping his eyes with the heels of his hands, he took a deep breath, exhaled, and pretended he hadn’t just been crying like a fucking girl. Pretended that he wasn’t disappointed that Gannon hadn’t come back for him.

Not that he deserved it.

“Come in.”

When his best friend opened the door, glancing around slowly, Cam wondered what Roan saw. What he was looking for.

“You all right?” Roan asked again, closing the door behind him and making his way over to the couch. “I heard yelling. Then the door slam.”

“Perfect,” he choked out, hating the hoarseness of his voice.

“You sure? I saw Gannon leave a few minutes ago and he didn’t look happy.”

Cam doubted that he was, but he wasn’t going to tell Roan that. “I’m cool,” he told his friend, keeping his eyes on the television.

“What happened?”

“Nothing,” Cam lied. He didn’t want to get into this. Not now. Not ever. “It’s over between me and Gannon.”

Was it his imagination or did Roan’s body go completely still?

“Y’all broke up?”

Cam nodded as he fell into the cushions, placing his hands on his stomach. As far as Cam was concerned, no matter how much he wanted them to, things between him and Gannon wouldn’t work. He’d spent years trying to get over his fears, and no amount of talking about it had ever helped, but he’d managed to deal with it, to surround himself with people who weren’t planning to go off and leave him.

Selfish? Maybe.

Something he could change? No.

“You want me to stay?” Roan offered.

“No.” Cam just wanted to be alone.

Roan nodded, then got to his feet. “If you need anything, I’m across the hall.”

“Thanks.” Cam didn’t bother to look at his friend.

And when the door clicked shut behind Roan, Cam once again fell over onto the couch and closed his eyes. Praying for no more tears and for at least a measure of peace, because the pain in his chest was overwhelming.

When someone suffered from a broken heart, did it actually hurt?

Cam rubbed his chest. He wasn’t sure what the answer was, but based on the pains he was experiencing, he was beginning to think that was the case.

As Gannon drove back home, he fought the nausea roiling in his gut. After what had happened between him and Cam … well, Gannon felt violently ill. But he managed to keep breathing as he drove, turning the AC on full blast, but it hadn’t helped. His head was spinning, and his stomach actually hurt. Never mind the pain in his chest. If he didn’t know better, he would’ve thought he was having a heart attack.

Maybe he was in shock. That could happen, right? After all, his world had just been flipped on its axis. Fucking rainbows and glitter one minute and the next … poof! All gone.

He still wasn’t sure how it’d all happened. He hadn’t actually intended for things to work out that way. Yeah, maybe he’d taken some of Milly’s advice, but the truth was, he hadn’t expected anything to happen between him and Cam tonight. He’d been surprised when things had escalated so rapidly, but he couldn’t—wouldn’t—have stopped it. Being with Cam… For Gannon, it was the only thing that felt right at this point.

And now it was over.

Just like that.

As he was turning into his neighborhood, his phone rang. He stabbed the button to answer it, wishing it was Cam but knowing it wasn’t. “Hello?”

“Hey.” Milly’s voice was soft, concerned. Clearly she had listened to the voice mail Gannon had left her nearly an hour ago. “I’m on my way over. Are you home yet?”

“About to be,” he told her, his voice rough with the emotion clogging his throat.

“Okay. Leave the door unlocked. I’ll be there in a few.”

Gannon disconnected the call, then pressed the button to open his garage door, pulling inside faster than he should have. He slammed on the brakes to keep from going through the wall, shoved the gear in park, turned off the ignition, and dropped his head onto the steering wheel. The dry sobs tore at him, making his chest hurt, but he refused to cry because someone else had kicked him to the curb.

He should’ve known this would happen. Hell, maybe part of him had, but he’d cared so much about Cam that he’d convinced himself they could work through this.

“This can’t be happening,” he muttered, closing his eyes.

He had no idea how long he sat like that, but it must’ve been a while, because that was exactly how Milly found him. When she opened the driver’s door, he jumped.

“What’re you doing in your car?” she asked, reaching in and pulling on his arm.

Gannon didn’t say anything, forcing his stiff legs out.

“At least you had the good sense to turn off the engine and leave the garage door open.”

Well, he wasn’t suicidal. Just heartbroken.

“Come on,” she urged, closing the door and nudging him toward the house. “What the hell happened? I damn near wrecked my car when I heard your voice mail.”

Without feeling his legs, Gannon made it inside with Milly pushing him from behind. Not bothering to turn on lights, he trudged over to the sofa and flopped down. “I reminded Cam that I was going to Singapore.”

“So? We’ll be back in a week.”

“He told me to leave.”

Milly lowered herself to the cushion beside him, her expression softened. “He broke up with you?”

That was one way to look at it, yes. Gannon’s stomach lurched, and more pain erupted in his chest as he nodded.

“What a prick,” she hissed.

“He’s not a prick,” Gannon said defensively.

“In my book he is. What? Does he think you can stop the world and stop running your business just because y’all are together? That’s not how relationships work. What does he think you’re gonna do there? Did you tell him it’s work? That you have no choice?”

Gannon stared back at Milly. As much of a betrayal as it might be, telling her was the only thing he could do. He needed her support right now. Probably more than ever.