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Hell, I couldn’t afford it now. The fact that Wolf brought me here made me hold onto hope that everything was okay. Maybe he was just having a bad day. Week, actually. Or month. I didn’t know. I’d lost track of time since I’d really felt like things had been okay between us.

One thing was certain—I’d grown tired of talking. It felt like whatever I said was either met with short answers or contention. Happy fucking Valentine’s Day.

While we ate in silence, I wondered, had he always been this way? Had I just been so enamored with him and so insistent that we give it a try that I had missed how he was this whole time? Or had something happened to make him change?

After dinner, we went back to his place afterward and made love, and the sex was as good as ever. Although we didn’t talk afterwards, Wolf held me close and fell asleep. For a while, I questioned if maybe what I thought was happening was all in my head.

But I knew in my heart that something was different. It wasn’t just my imagination. And the fact that he had tried to tell me that everything was okay over and over reinforced my belief that somethingwaswrong. Maybe after these past few months he was regretting being with me.

The hardest part was not knowing how to fix it…because I didn’t know what was broken.

Maybe it would be better if I simply broke it off myself.

Those were the swirling, relentless thoughts in my head as the tears started to silently fall, even while Wolf softly breathed in and out, holding me as if nothing was wrong.

CHAPTER 42

When I left Wolf’s house the next day, it was more of the same. He kissed me and said goodbye, but it felt like he was just going through the motions. At work, I managed to smile and give the same solid customer service I always had, but Wolf was constantly at the back of my mind.

I needed to talk to someone, to get their opinion. Someone else could tell me if I was making a mountain out of a molehill or, if not, maybe be able to give me advice on how to handle things.

Kyle, likely my closest friend, was out of the question. No way in hell was I about to bring up that I was having problems with my new boyfriend. That would have been inconsiderate.

For another moment, I considered calling Kyle’s mom. She’d always given me solid advice.

Again, though, that would be awkward and maybe rude:Hey, I don’t love your son anymore, but can you tell me what I should do about the guy I’m dating now?

Nope. Out of the question.

Then my mind seized on the perfect person: Claire.

My old friend could give me a woman’s perspective on just about anything I could ask, something I didn’t get that often. I was around guys all day long all the time, both at work and inthe band, and as much as I loved men and felt like I understood them, they didn’t always understandme.

So I needed a woman’s point of view. More than that, I just needed to recharge with a friend—and my only friend outside the band who still lived in Charlotte and was a woman was Claire.

But how the hell could I tell her all that without overwhelming her?

I decided to send her a quick text that I agonized over for a few minutes before actually sending:Hey, Claire. I know it’s been a little bit but I wondered if you’d want to go out for coffee or something. My treat. I just need a female friend to talk to.

She didn’t waste any time replying.Hell yeah. I would love that.

When works for you?

She responded:I don’t work on Sunday.

Me either. Where would you like to go?

She texted back,Would you hate going to Early Rise on your day off?

No. That sounds good. Does 10:00 work for you?

Yeah.

Although two teenagers worked the shorter Sunday shift, I could still make our drinks if I wanted. Even better, I could use my employee discount.

But I would have been happy to go to the Starbucks in Silver City to spend a little girl time with Claire. Why I hadn’t thought to do this eons ago was beyond me.

On Sunday, when Claire met me at Early Rise, I asked her, “Do you trust me?”

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