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She winces. “Ouch.”

“Yeah, maybe I was a little harsh on that one but the resentment I felt toward him, no matter how misguided it was, is hard to shake off.”

“Understandably,” she agrees.

“So, then he pins me to the counter and I was just too drained from our friend in the parking lot to fight him anymore and he started asking what happened to me.”

She nods and I can see the wheels turning in her head.

“What, Han? Just spit it out.”

“Well,” she muses, setting the empty bottle down on the table. “Go with me on this for a second but why can’t you tell him the truth? I mean, now that you’re certain Oliver has found you.”

I sigh. “You mean besides the fact that he would blame himself or it would hurt him?”

“I knew it.” She grins. “I knew you still had feelings for him.”

“Yeah, yeah. I feel like it was the worst kept secret of all time but back to the other topic. The main reason I can’t tell him is because if he knew, he’d get himself sent back to jail in a heartbeat. You remember what he was like back then if he thought anyone even looked at me sideways.”

“Maybe he’s matured over the past seven years.”

I shake my head. “And maybe he hasn’t.”

“Okay, fine,” she answers with a sigh. “I suppose those are good points but, at some point, you have to tell him, Kady. It involves him, too.”

Staring down at my lap, I nod. “I know.”

“Did anything else happen?” she asks after a few seconds and I nod as I take a deep breath. This part, I’m not proud of.

“He kissed me.”

“What?” she screeches, reaching out and grabbing my arm.

“And then I kissed him.”

Her eyes widen and she grins. “This is even better than I imagined.”

“Will you stop reveling in my misery?” I snap and she turns to me with a dramatic scowl.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Is it so hard for the love of your life to hunt you down and tell you that he’s still madly in love with you?”

I cross my arms over my chest and sink further into my chair. “He didn’t put it quite like that.”

“Ah,” she says, her grin returning. “But he did say those three magic words, didn’t he?”

“Yes! Okay? Yes, he did and in case you’ve forgotten, I still have a boyfriend. A boyfriend that I cheated on last night. I’m not a cheater, Hannah.”

She rubs the puppy’s back gently as she shrugs. “The word cheating sounds so minuscule when you use it to describe you and Noah. What the two of you have… it’s…”

“Okay, I think that’s enough of this conversation. I knew you were Team Noah but damn, girl.”

“What?” she asks. “I can’t help it. Noah looks at you like you personally make the sun rise and set in his world. Every morning that he wakes up, it’s for you, Kady. No one could compete with that, not even a great guy like Mason.”

“Yeah, well, I’m still not sure that it’s a good idea for me to get involved with him.”

She glares at me as she stands up and puts the puppy back in the kennel with his sisters. When she sits down again, she crosses her arms over her chest and studies me.

“So, you’re just going to keep dating Mason even though you don’t love him the way you love Noah?”