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she knew that would be taking the easy way out. She wasn’t into making

excuses. She knew exactly why Romi walked so quietly out the front door.

She knew that it felt perfect and right when they were together, but

sometimes that wasn’t enough. It was hardly ever enough. Connection,

chemistry, rightness—it all faded with time. Time and bullshit and life.

She wished she could change it.

But she just wasn’t brave enough to risk everything for something that

would probably just turn into heartache in the end. She didn’t want to take a

chance on not being alone and ultimately end up alone. Fear had always

held her back, but sometimes the risk just wasn’t worth it, no matter how

much she might wish it could be.

Chapter 15

Romi

Romi dreaded going in to work on Monday because she was sure things

couldn’t get any more awkward or icy if she planned it that way. She should

have known better. The first thing Wynn told her when she walked in the

door was that they were going to be rearranging some of the salvage items

in the basement because Kiera had taken herself on yet another pick. She’d

gone to save what she could from an ancient hotel being torn down

somewhere.

Romi wasn’t sure if Kiera planned the pick just

to be away from the store

on Monday so she didn’t have to see her, or if that was giving her too much

credit. She wanted to tell herself that Kiera had toyed with her and that she

felt nothing, but Romi had seen the panic in her eyes after. She’d seen the

doubt, the recrimination, the fear, as reality slowly sunk in. She knew Kiera

had a lot going on. She’d said as much before. It wasn’t like she could

really blame her. The pick probably came up last minute and Kiera jumped

at the chance. It likely didn’t have anything to do with her at all.

As soon as Romi slid into her car after work, she pulled out her phone