Page 35 of Here We Go Again

“Honestly, I’m not surprised,” she says. “I was expecting the breakup. We haven’t been in a good place for a while now. I even went tonight planning to end things myself. But to learn he’s in love with someone … I just feel stupid. How did I not see this coming?”

“You shouldn’t feel stupid. We’re supposed to trust our partners. He’s the idiot here, Bec. Not you.”

“I hung on, though,” she says. “For weeks I knew things were bad, and I just let it stay bad. Who does that?” She shivers, and I reach over to turn on her seat warmer. It’s still eighty degrees outside, but it’s cooler in here, and she’s practically soaked.

I stop at a red light and look over at her. “Someone who doesn’t like to quit,” I say. “Who believes the best in people.”

She meets my gaze, her wide brown eyes rimmed with the smudges of what’s left of her makeup. I’m not sure if she cried it off or it washed off in the rain. Either way, she still looks beautiful.

“Or maybe just someone who’s been stuck for a really long time,” she says, a weight to her words that I immediately recognize.

I could say the same thing about myself.

The light changes, and Becca looks around, like she’s only just noticing that we’re actually driving somewhere. “Do you have any idea where you’re going?” she asks.

“Not a clue,” I say. “I just figured you didn’t want to be there anymore, so…”

She lets out a little chuckle and shakes her head. “I really didn’t. The fact that he wanted to pay for my Uber—like I would ever let him play the hero after what he did…”

“You made the right call,” I say, then I tap on the steering wheel. “So, where to? Home? Food? What do you need right now?”

“Just home, I think,” she says. “I need to sleep and forget this day ever happened.” She tilts her head. “Well, not all of the day. More just … tonight.”

Warmth spreads behind my ribs. It’s no small thing to know she doesn’t regret our conversation.

I plug Becca’s address into my GPS, surprised to learn it’s only a few blocks away from my place. “We’re practically neighbors,” I say when I pull up to the curb in front of her condo. Weird to think I’ve driven past this building a million times without knowing it was hers.

“Is your place really close?” she asks as she digs through her bag.

“Two blocks that way,” I say, pointing down Peachtree Boulevard toward the hospital. “You could walk it in five minutes.”

“It’s wild we’ve never run into each other,” she says.

“Until we did.”

“No, I know. I just mean like … out on the street. Two blocks is so close.” She closes her bag with a huff. “K, well, I have a problem.”

“You’re missing something?” I ask, and she nods.

“My house keys.”

“Did you leave them at the bar?”

“No. I don’t think I took them with me. Rory picked me up; I must have left without grabbing them.”

“Is Mia home? Could she let you in?”

“She’s still at the hospital,” Becca says, frowning at her phone. “I guess you could drive me to the hospital, and I could get Mia’s keys. Assuming she’s not in the middle of a delivery. Maybe I could just steal them from her locker?”

I tilt my head to the side, a different idea popping into my mind. I’m not sure I should suggest it. But I do live two blocks away. And Becca’s clearly exhausted. “You could,” I slowly say, nerves making my gut tighten. “I’m happy to drive you up there to see. But if you want another option … you could also stay at my place.”

Becca’s eyes widen. “Oh. I really couldn’t. I’ll just find Mia at the hospital.” She unbuckles her seatbelt. “Honestly, I could even walk there from here. I do it all the time, and I’ve already wasted enough of your night.”

I swallow a litany of swear words and reach for her arm. I didn’t mean to freak her out, but that’s clearly what I’ve done. My fingers skim over her bicep, and she pauses, but she doesn’t pull away. She just turns, looking at me over her shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” I quickly say. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. My guest room is all the way on the other side of the apartment, with its own bathroom. I swear, I had zero intentions in extending the invitation except that you’re wet and locked out and it’s almost midnight. That’s really it.”

She sniffs and settles back into her seat. “I know. I didn’t think you had bad intentions. I just don’t want to be a burden.”