My fear quickly dissipates when Heidi creeps into the room, holding her pumps to her chest with one arm, as she eases the door gently shut behind her with the other. She turns around and starts tiptoeing across the floor, but then she freezes as I flick on the lamp between our beds.

“Well, hell, I thought you’d be tied to McCrae’s bed or something right about now.”

I toss the clunky shoe down on the floor. “Surprise, babe.”

She drops her shoes and kicks them, one by one, beneath the desk. “So, why aren’t you in McCrae’s bed?” She wrinkles her nose. “Is everything alright?”

Bringing my knees up to my chest, I circle my arms around my shins. I’ve spent the last several hours lying in the dark, my brain pinging between needing Wyatt and wondering whether or not everything will be fine with him until we return to L.A. I’ve yet to come up with a solution to either.

But to Heidi, I tip my head. “We’re good. We have to leave so early that we decided to call it a night.”

She pauses for a few seconds, like she’s about to say something earth-shattering, but then she unzips her strapless top and pulls it off. Rolling my eyes, I glance away from the pierced boobage on display until she clears her throat. When I turn my head back to her, the red silk bustier is draped over the back of the chair, and she’s stretching a tank top down her waist.

“You don’t think I’m stupid enough to believe that, right?” She loops a ponytail holder through her dark hair, which has started to frizz.

I rub my hands up and down my legs. “Not at all, but I think you’re smart enough not to make a big deal out of it.”

“Oh, I am.” She pulls off her jeans and tosses them on top of the red top before she climbs into bed. Adjusting her pillows, she looks up at me from beneath her long lashes. “And before you start making a big deal, no, Cal and I did not sleep together.”

Stretching my legs back down the sheets, I flex my feet and hold up my hands defensively. “I wasn’t even going to bring it up.”

“You were thinking it. We just went to a few more bars.” She grabs the remote from the nightstand, but before she switches on the flat screen TV, she cocks her eyebrow. “You tired?”

With thoughts of Wyatt still strumming their way through my brain? Hardly.

For an hour, Heidi and I sit in complete silence, which is a feat for us, considering we both loathe quiet situations. The only thing she finds worth watching is a rerun of Game of Thrones that she’s probably seen no less than ten times. Midway through the episode, she crawls to the bottom of her bed, lies on her stomach, and refuses to look away from the TV, acting as if she hasn’t already witnessed her favorite character’s death.

“I hate this scene,” she whispers. “I’ll never watch this show again. Never. It rips out my fucking heart.”

“You said that last year.”

After the end credits play, she turns off the TV and blinks, her head lolling forward a bit. She’s seconds away from passing out. Then, I’ll be up alone, thinking about shit that I shouldn’t, like thoughts that I would have been over by now if I didn’t accept Wyatt’s deal back in New Orleans.

Heidi returns to the top of her bed and stretches out on the pillows. Though her eyes are closed, she turns her head in my direction. “Do you think this is actually it for you and McCrae?”

“Yes,” I say too quickly. The muscles in my face stiffen, but I continue. “Maybe. At some point, we have to stop trying if it’s not going anywhere.” Wyatt and I had reached that point a long time ago, but I didn’t realize it until last year, a couple of weeks after our Thanksgiving Day hookup.

“You said that last year,” Heidi says sleepily, repeating my earlier statement.

Yes, but this year is different.

Although Heidi is probably planning on having a ten-hour sleep marathon, her chances of accomplishing that are cut short when Wyatt shows up to our room a little after nine. He leans against the door frame, his body relaxed, as if we didn’t argue last night.

I match his nonchalance and give him an easy smile that’s the complete opposite of how I’m feeling. “Morning,” I say.

He glimpses over my head and snorts when he eyes Heidi passed out on her bed, curled into a fetal position and breathing heavily. “Did you get my text?”

“Turned off my phone.”

“Avoiding me?”

I lick the corner of my lips. “Dodging drama.”

He curls his hand into the hem of my shirt and inches into the room, closing the space between us in a series of deliberate short steps. The sound of his boots dragging across the carpet is loud enough to mask the deep breaths I’m taking.

“Drama’s not all bad, beautiful.”

Shaking my head, I stare him down. “It is when I end my night wanting to murder you.”

Wyatt’s gaze lowers. His eyes are intense, unblinking, and the apology that I want from him is there, clearly visible behind the turbulent blue depths. I’m just not sure if it’s enough.

“We’re leaving in an hour.” His fingers creep beneath my tee, splaying out on the smooth skin just below my belly button.

I mirror his movements, pressing my palms on the sides of his abs. “I’ll wake Heidi up.”

As he drops his mouth a little closer to mine, his warm breath fans across my face, and I tilt up my chin. “Not yet.” His fingers trace the length of my torso, all the way up to the sensitive spot beneath my breasts, and then they move back down, cupping the wide curves of my hips. “You’re still angry.”

Why does he have to make everything so difficult? Why does he have to tear me down at every turn just to make me want him at the next? “Of course I am,” I hiss, suddenly out of breath. “You acted like a jealous idiot.”

The muscles in his neck tighten. “And you haven’t?”

I lower my chin, scowling up at him from beneath my lashes, which are still coated in the mascara I used last night. “I’ve never insulted anyone speaking to you in a bar, not even when it was anything but innocent.”

He mutters a curse, and just when I expect him to get the verbal apology out of the way so we can be on our way, he surprises me. He picks me up, and he literally hauls me over his shoulder.

“Put me down,” I warn.

Ignoring me, he moves out of the doorway and uses the toe of his boot to close the door quietly.

“Wyatt, so help me—”

“You’ll what, beautiful? Hit me? Scream?” His pierced lips drag up into a wicked grin. “You know I love it when you do both.”

Because I don’t want to give Heidi the shittiest wake-up call ever, I don’t scream at him. Instead, I rake my sorry excuse for fingernails up his back through his soft black T-shirt. When he chuckles, I can feel it vibrate through my body. “You think that’ll stop me from talking to you?”

No, because he’s probably getting a boner from it.

He doesn’t let go of me until we’re behind the bathroom door, and even then, he sits me on the beige granite countertop, locking my legs between his. I hit him in the chest, hard, but he doesn’t budge.

“You’re letting it all out now, aren’t you, babe? First, jealousy, and now this?” I demand. “You must truly want me to experience everything you’ve got to offer before we go back to L.A.”

Wyatt’s hand inches up my back, finally tangling into the tousled hair on the nape of my neck. “I was out of line last night.” When he tilts my head back a little, giving my hair a tug, a shot of pleasure pours through me, and I make a soft sound. He must take it for a sound of disgust because he drags his other hand through his hair. “I fucking overreacted, Ky. I’ve never done that.”

“No,” I say, squeezing my eyes shut. “You haven’t.”

“It’s getting closer—us getting back to L.A. And this is the first time I’ve ever believed you when you said you’re through.”

I panic because I don’t want to hear him talk about the end. I feel like a strong hand is clenching my heart, stopping it from beating just right. I smooth my hand up his chest to the hollow of his tattooed throat.