“What are you having?” Ashlee asked.

“Surprise me.”

“All right.”

She made me a cognac-based cocktail. “There you go. And it’s on the house.”

“You can’t do that. Let me pay.” Her life hadn’t been easy with her asshole ex-husband she’d left behind.

“Nope. It’s on me. So…”

“So what?” I took a sip. The liquid went down smoothly and warmed my belly.

“Are you sure you want to stay tonight?”

“Why?”

“We’ve got live music every last Thursday of the month. They’ll be on in five.”

I shrugged. I wasn’t here for the music. Just a drink. Ashlee being here was a bonus.

“Do I finally get to meet Eva?” I’d seen pictures of her little girl on social media. She was the only one from this hometown whose friend request I’d accepted. Though one in particular I should decline instead of leaving it pending for the past five years.

“Tomorrow, I’ll bring her to lunch.”

“Cool. I brought a gift for her.”

“You already spoil her. She’ll finally be able to see who sends her all those extravagant gifts for every birthday and Christmas.”

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. You helped me find my footing and move back here after the divorce.”

“I’m still not convinced moving here was the right choice.”

“It was. All our friends and family are here. We have a strong support system.”

“I’m happy for you, then.”

The strum of a guitar caught me off guard, the sound wrenching at my heart the way it sometimes happened whenever I heard the instrument. So many memories wrapped up in just a few guitar strings.

“Are you truly not going to the reunion next week?”

“I didn’t…”

“From the moment I saw you, saw the sparkle in your eyes—”

The soft crooning stopped my words. I looked at the makeshift stage, my heart double-dutching in my chest.

Max strummed his guitar, his raspy voice one I could have picked out blindly from just the first note. Especially from the lyrics of this song. I’d been next to him naked when he wrote it.

Held in a trance, I listened to the lie of every word. Back then, I’d taken them to be for me. That he had written the song for me, that it was his way of expressing what he felt without having to talk about it.

I can’t do this.

“Cole, you okay?”

“I have to go.” Despite her saying I didn’t have to pay for the drinks, I slapped some bills on the counter and left her a generous tip.

“Maybe you should talk to him,” she said. “He’s changed, Cole. They’ve changed.”

Well, good for them, but I hadn’t changed the way I felt about Max Cadwell. He was still the fucking asshole who stomped on my heart a decade ago.

Being out in the cool night air helped. A little. My stomach still quivered, and a godawful pressure clenched my chest. It had been there since he picked me up at the airport.

I hopped into Gladys’s truck and turned on the ignition. Nothing happened.

“Come on.”

It took three tries before the engine roared to life. I shifted the gear into Drive and had to jam on the break. Standing in front of the truck was Max.

Oh fuck, I could have hit him.

I wound the window down and stuck my head out. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I need to talk to you.”

I gritted my teeth. “I’ll leave skid marks on your ass, Cadwell. Get out of the fucking way.”

He blinked as if surprised by the way I spoke to him. He should be. I’d always been soft spoken, but the world had a way of making you loud when nothing else worked to give you a voice.

“I just want to talk. Can’t you give me that?”

“There’s nothing we have to talk about.”

“Maybe you don’t, but there’s a lot I have to say. Just don’t drive away. Please hear me out.”

For as long as I’d known Max, I’d never heard him beg anyone. Unless it was about sex.

“Fuck.”

I turned off the ignition and punched the steering wheel. Max walked over to the driver’s side.

“Ten years ago, I was an asshole who hurt someone who cared about me, and I’m so fucking sorry. Will you let me apologize properly, please? Half an hour of your time. That’s all I want.”