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“What’s up, G?” There was no point in ignoring her. She was immune to it and had a way of wearing me down without saying a word. I was done fighting it. Just like I was done fighting a lot of things when it came to her.

“We’re going to the Opera tonight,” she reported quietly, pivoting to look at me instead of the purple and white bouquet.

A soft smile was her default expression when looking at me and emotion fisted my stomach every time I saw the slight curve of her lips.

Was this how it felt to slowly go insane? To be addicted to something I knew wasn’t good for me? To dread it and crave it at the same time? I was a walking, breathing contradiction with Goldyn and the worst part was that I didn’t know how to fix it.

“Sin and I went shopping for something for me to wear, do you like it?” She turned in a slow circle, watching my expression over her shoulder the whole time. “Don’t lie.”

Why does it matter what I think?sat at the tip of my tongue, but I kept it bottled up because I knew she wasn’t asking me for shits and giggles. She was asking because she really saw me as her friend after the past few weeks and guilt tugged at my chest every time I thought about being short with her.

I eyed the simple cocktail dress, more drawn to the glimpses of her golden-brown skin and told the truth. “You look fine.”

Saying she looked fine was a cop out. Goldyn was stunning in whatever she wore. I was in awe of how she made everything look good. Would I ever tell her that? Fuck no.

“What are you going to do while we’re gone?”

Breathe. Being around her and not doing anything about the pull in my gut was as close as I got to suffocating every day.

I’d tried to distract myself with other women. I downloaded the apps. Updated my profile. Did everything I was supposed to do. And yet, every time I matched with someone and got past the introductions and small talk, I disappeared. Because I wanted to talk to Goldyn instead. Or let her talk to me. She was an endless well of information and stories and never seemed to care that I just listened instead of talking back.

At first, it was because I thought it would make her stop talking. How long could someone speak without feedback from another person? The limit apparently didn’t exist with Goldyn. And by the time I figured that out, I was already addicted to the sound of her voice while she told me stories about traveling in her van for two years. Or the way her grandmother had raised her on reruns ofNight CourtandMatlockso when people at school talked about the shows they were watching, she never knew what the fuck they were talking about.

I tried not to smile remembering the way her eyes rounded when she told the story.

God, I needed to get a fucking life.

“Do you want to come with us?” Her question pulled me out of my thoughts.

Masking how much her invitation threw me off, I followed up with a question instead of answering. “Sin and Enzo know you inviting me on y’all’s date?”

She looked contemplative before lifting her shoulders in a shrug. “Technically,I’mthe third wheel. You’d balance us out.”

“Who’s a third wheel?” Lorenzo wanted to know, walking into the kitchen with his tie undone. He paused directly in front of Goldyn, staring down at her with a possessive glint in his eyes I didn’t even think he was aware of.

When she lifted up on her tiptoes to kiss him, his arm locked around her waist, pulling her off her feet until she giggled. “Enzo.”

“You’re not a third wheel, Goldy.”

My mind was still racing long after Sin came downstairs and they left the house.

I picked up my book, trying to block out Goldyn’s voice in my head.

You’d balance us out.

If I listened to her long enough, I’d do something reckless one of these days like believe her.

I wokeup in the middle of the night, spooning Sin. The warmth of his body nestled against me felt as amazing as it always did. And while I was happy he was sleeping easier these days, I still knew something wasoff. Goldyn wasn’t in bed with us and her empty spot in front of Sin had me climbing out of bed to go look for her in our hotel suite.

Instead of driving two hours back to Bliss Peak after the Opera, we’d stopped at this hotel in Charlotte and booked the last available suite they had.

Making sure Sin was still sleep, I tiptoed out of the bedroom and found our girl on the couch, her knees pulled to her chest while she read something on her phone.

After a few seconds, she tossed the phone aside and sighed heavily before resting her chin atop her knees.

I leaned against the door frame and cleared my throat, quietly announcing my presence.

Goldyn didn’t startle at the sound, almost like she’d expected one of us to come looking for her, and I didn’t know if that made me happy or sad. Unhurriedly, she lifted her head and smiled across the room at me.