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“What’s going on?” she asked again when he didn’t say anything.

Finally, his eyes flicked up from studying his feet, to her face. “You have

to change your mind,” he begged. Kiera nearly took a step back. She’d

never heard him beg before.

“You better come in here,” she said slowly. “Have a cup of coffee.

Something to eat. We can talk, but I’m not changing my mind. I’m just

letting you in here because you look like shit and you could seriously use a

friend. A real friend.”

Shane bent his head. “Thanks,” he mumbled.

That surprised her. Shane didn’t often say thanks. She could tell he was

seriously having a hard time and she knew that even though he had lots of

friends, Shane was the kind of guy who didn’t have any true ones. Not ones

he could talk to about a breakup, even if it was a fake relationship. They

were the kind of friends who were always ready to have a good time, go out

for a beer, go to the bar, watch sports, but not talk. Never talk.

“I was just putting coffee on,” Kiera said when Shane stepped in and shut

the door behind him. “Sit down in the living room and I’ll get you a cup.

And some toast.”

“I look that bad, huh?”

“In my experience, it’s the best cure for a hangover.”

“I’m not hungover.”

“Could have fooled me.”

Shane groaned in response.

“Just go sit. I’ll be a few minutes. Trust me. There isn’t anything a cup of

coffee can’t fix.”

Kiera was so relieved that it was Shane on her doorstep and not her

parents, what he’d said didn’t fully sink in until she got back to the kitchen,

had the coffee brewing, and the toast in the toaster.

e wasn’t going to change her mind. She hadn’t really considered that