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I watched as he sat down at the bar next to another man.

Eli.

Of course. They were friends. That had to be why he was here.

Oh god, Eli was here.

I’d been banking on him not being anywhere near this restaurant. Reese told me he was an electrician, which somehow I’d stuck in my brain as keeping him far from anything like this place.

Thank everything Reese wasn’t here.

Then I realized what that meant: I glanced at my phone. In only five minutes, Reesewouldbe here, getting up on stage, singing for the first time in years.

In front of the man who’d broken her heart.

He’d ruin this. It was Reese’s chance at reclaiming her most precious dream. But if she saw him… I knew she’d barely gone to talk to the manager in the first place. This asshole would destroy this moment for her and be just as bad as Simon for stealing it away once again.

I looked away and turned back to my food. Suddenly my appetite was gone. I took a giant sip of wine instead, which instead of helping, burned as it went down, making my stomach turn.

That was it. I couldn’t stand by and watch this happen.

Nerves spiking in my stomach, I stood up and walked over to the bar.

Eli saw me first. We’d never actually met before but I could tell he knew who I was, maybe from the park? Or the blog? If Reese had ever shown him.

If Will had ever shown him.

Will turned on his stool and nearly fell off.

“Michelle?”

Heat tore through me but I knew if I looked at Will, I wouldn’t be able to do what I needed to do.

“You need to leave,” I said to Eli.

“What?”

“Michelle,” Will said, “what are you doing here? How—"

“Me,” Eli said. “I invited Reese.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Will had his hand on his forehead, trying to make sense of what was happening. I hazarded a quick glance at him while he wasn’t looking.

My chest seized.Will.Did I think I’d never see him again? Is that what I’d wanted?

But I had to stay focused. “Eli, I don’t know what you were trying to do inviting her here, thank you—it’s a lovely place, but--”

“I’m sorry,” Eli said. “For hurting her. It was the only thing I knew how to do. I’m not in a position to be anything good for her.”

“Goddammit,”I said, incredulous. “Can you hear yourself?” Now I turned to Will. “Do you hear how that sounds?”

Will stared at me, his eyes so deep for a moment I couldn’t speak.

No.

This wasn’t about me and Will.

“Eli, you need to leave. If she sees you here, she’s going to lose her confidence and I won’t allow that.”