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She does. She always does.
“Start at the part where you fell in love with him,” she says, pulling onto the highway. “Because you did. It’s written all over your face. And if I remember correctly, what did I tell you?”
“You said not to fall in love with the handsome billionaire,” I answer.
I stare out the window, watching the world blur past in smudges of green and gray. Falling in love wasn’t supposed to be part of the plan. It wasn’t supposed to happen at all.
“I didn’t mean to,” I whisper.
“I know.” She glances at me, soft sympathy in her eyes. “You never do.”
I wipe at my face, but the tears just keep coming. “I wasn’t even going to do the story the way they wanted,” I explain. “They sent a draft. I didn’t write it. I didn’t even open it. I was supposed to change it, make it different, make it fair—”
I choke on the words. Ness reaches over and squeezes my hand.
“But he doesn’t know that,” she says gently. “And you didn’t get a chance to explain.”
I shake my head. “I fell asleep waiting for it to load. And he…”
I close my eyes against the memory. The way he looked at me like I wasn’t even a person anymore. Like I was just another lie he didn’t see coming.
“He saw it before I did,” I whisper. “And he thinks I betrayed him.”
Silence fills the car, heavy and choking. Ness doesn’t rush to fill it. She just lets me sit there, drowning in it.
“He told me he loved me,” I add after a long moment. “And I didn’t say it back.”
The admission rips something open inside me. Hot tears spill down my cheeks again.
“I didn’t say it back because I was scared. Because I thought… I thought maybe if I kept it to myself, it wouldn’t hurt so bad when it ended.” I turn to look at her, my throat raw. “But it still hurts,” I whisper. “It hurts worse.”
Ness pulls off at a gas station and parks under the shade of an awning. She turns off the car and faces me fully.
“You love him,” she says simply. “Whether you said it out loud or not. You love him.”
I nod, biting my trembling lip. “Yeah,” I croak. “I do.”
“And now what?” she asks. Her voice isn’t judgmental. It’s not harsh. It’s comforting.
I shake my head helplessly. “I don’t know. He won’t answer my calls. He didn’t read my texts. I emailed him. Nothing. He’s completely shut me out.”
“Well, you can’t fix anything by sitting here crying about it,” Ness says, squeezing my knee. “You either go after him… or you let him go.”
The words hit harder than anything else has. Go after him or let him go.
I stare out the windshield, heart pounding. The thought of never seeing Carter again fractures something inside me completely.
“I can’t let him go,” I whisper. “I have to try.”
Ness smiles, sad but proud. “There’s my girl.”
I lean my head back against the seat and close my eyes for a second, trying to summon the strength I’m not sure I have.
“But first,” Ness says, starting the car again, “you’re gonna come to my place, take a shower, eat something, and breathe like a normal human being.”
I let out a watery laugh. “Bossy much?”
“You love it,” she says with a wink. “And you’re gonna need it if you’re about to throw yourself headfirst into a love story that could crash and burn.”