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Thalia’s chewing on the lip again as she picks at the fraying fabric of her shorts. I try not to let my eyes linger on her legs, especially at this moment. “I was afraid of losing myself. Bash, I know that you’re probably the love of my life, and that I fucked up at that restaurant. You had just gotten through renegotiations for your contract, and I wanted to be someone more than the trophy wife who went to all the games. I…I wanted my dreams to be a priority, too, and I was afraid that wouldn’t happen if I said yes. I needed more time, but despite all of those reasons, I wanted to say yes. I was afraid.”

Her words render me speechless. That seems to be happening a lot now. At least I finally have a reason for why she turned me down four years ago. I never should have asked her to leave. “I miss you. I’ve really missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” Lia smiles shyly, and I can’t explain it, but I feel better finally knowing why.

“I’m sorry,” I say again, and her smile disappears into a frown.

“Bash.”

A rumbling laughter escapes my mouth, and I can’t believe that this is where I’m sitting today, being scolded by Thalia for apologizing. It feels so good to be called that name by her. “Sorry,” I apologize, shrugging nonchalantly.

She shakes her head at me. “You’re annoying.”

“That hasn’t changed,” I admit.

It’s her turn to hesitate, piquing my interest. “I’m not sure if it’s too soon or fair for me to ask about this, but—”

“Ask,” I interrupt, and her cheeks flush red.

“Why did you give her the ring you proposed to me with?”

My eyes widen in surprise, but it’s a fair question. I explained to Kiera what happened, but I never thought to clear that up with Thalia. “She found it in one of my drawers while I was visiting Mimi that final week. I was trying to process Mimi dying, and I didn’t have it in me to explain. Kiera said yes without me ever asking, and then Mimi died. I wanted to know I had someone in my corner unconditionally because I had no one else, so I went along with it.”

She nods, looking a little relieved. I guess it means I’m not a complete asshole because I didn’t intentionally propose to Kiera with it, but I still went along with it. “Were you actually going to marry her?” she asks another hard question.

My fingers resume their nervous tapping, and I take a few minutes where we sit in silence as I think of the right response. It dawns on me that it doesn’t matter if it’s the right response. She wants the truth. “I don’t know. Maybe I would have for the same reason I went along with the assumed proposal?”

“Are you going to be okay? Shit, I’m sorry, that was a stupid question. I just…I’m worried. This is a lot for anyone to deal with.”

Despite everything that’s happened, I feel like I have some peace because of the answers I received from Thalia. “I think I’ll be okay eventually.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“Do you really want me gone from your life?” I ask, needing to know the answer to this one last question.

Thalia shakes her head slowly, and I feel a weight lift off my shoulders. “No. Was I really the worst thing that almost happened to you?”

How I handled that conversation will forever be one of my biggest regrets. Everything I said was with the intent to hurt Thalia the way I was hurting.

“No. Far from it, Thalia. I don’t think I want to know what a life looks like without you in it.”

She unclips her hair, running her fingers through it. “Bash, we can’t be anything right now—not for a while, at least. You need to be by yourself to figure out who you are and your next steps. We can be friends if that’s something you want, but nothing else is going to happen.”

I can see it on Thalia’s face how serious she is about this. I’m serious too when I nod to agree with her.

I’ve got a long way to go before I’m going to even be in a position to be with someone else. Kiera broke my trust and my heart, but she didn’t break me.

I smile at her, feeling surprisingly better after this conversation. I didn’t know what to expect. Making things right with Lia has lifted a huge weight off my shoulders and my heart that I’ve been carrying around for a long time. I was nervous walking in. Thalia’s always been a bit of a wild card, and I didn’t know what to expect.

“Friends,” I say, offering her my hand to shake it like it’s a business deal.

Her hand curls into mine. “Friends.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Thalia

AGAINST MY BETTER judgment, I found myself at Eric’s apartment. When we broke up, it was mutual. He was obviously a little more upset than I was, but we agreed to be friends just like the last time we broke up. Except now I’m livid, and I guess it shows on my face because the smile on his face fades when Eric notices my mood. “Hey, everything okay?”