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I wasn’t prepared for this at all. I haven’t even come to a decision about where I stand with him or where I want us to go from here.

Once again, I practically sprinted away from him as soon as the ballet ended, not giving him a chance to needle me for information after I let him give me the most delicious orgasm ever. It is becoming a pattern, me running away instead of facing the hard truth.

Because I know what I want, I am just too scared to take it. It feels selfish to love him when I’d put everything, so much blood, sweat, and tears, into getting where I am now.

I don’t want to be a statistic, a girl who gave up her life for a man only for him to leave her and her not have anything left. The issue is, I don’t think Cullen is one of those guys. It feels like he is one of the good ones—a rarity in this world.

Sure, he didn’t tell me he is divorced, but he never lied or manipulated me. Time and time again, all he has done is shown up and listened.

Bridget cuts the silence.

“So, you guys together now?”

Cullen and I say yes and no simultaneously.

He raises a flirtatious brow at me.

“What? After making you—”

I shove an oyster to his lips, the hard shell cutting off his sentence with a grunt.

“I’m using the bathroom.” I excuse myself and practically sprint from the table.

It’s only once I get to the bathroom that I realize Hannah has followed me.

“Vee, I’m all for playing hard to get, but you are being stubborn, girl.”

“Am not.”

She angles her head, making me feel a little childish.

“Fine.” I sigh. “But what do you want me to do, Han? I like the guy, but dating him could upend my entire life.”

She leans back against the marble counter, crossing her arms, “it’s your choice to make, but if I can give you one piece of advice throughout any of this it’s that if something feels right, don’t let it go. Look at me.” She tosses out a self-deprecating laugh. “The guys I date basically use me for sex. None of them have ever asked to be my boyfriend.”

“Hannah.”

“I’m not asking for pity; I mostly use them for sex as well. Half of them wouldn’t even be good boyfriend material, but the option would be nice. This city is brutal, riddled with commitment-averse men who are only focused on the grind. New jobs always crop up, but your heart? You only have one of those. Don’t forget that.”

She leaves me alone, and I stare at myself in the reflection of the mirror above the sink. If it weren’t for all the makeup on my face, I’d splash a boatload of cold water onto my skin. My system needs a reset.

Instead, I just take a deep breath and head back through the restaurant to our table.

My feet slow when I see Cullen standing, pushing his chair back under the table.

“You’re just as much of a workaholic as she is,” Bridget complains. “No one loves me.”

“I told you I was busy today.”

“Hmph.” She turns her head to the side like a petulant child.

“You’re leaving?” My question floats through the air with a twinge of disappointment lacing the words.

The apologetic look Cullen gives me hurts more than I anticipated.

“My client forgot to put their key in the lockbox, so I need to go grab it.”

“Oh.”