I didn't run.

​

I want that on the record. Blake Moore detonated a bomb in the middle of my life and disappeared to a war zone, Reid chose his best friend over me every single time it mattered, and I'm still here. Same town. Same job. Same apartment I picked when I decided, for the first time in thirty-two years, to stay somewhere.

​

I'm not the one who left. That's new for me.

​

Reid wants another chance. He's sorry. He's so sorry. And I believe him — that's the worst part. I believe him and I still can't let him back in, because every time he looks at me with those golden retriever eyes, I remember that he didn't believe me.

​

Then Blake comes home.

​

He's not supposed to be a factor. He's here for Reid. Here to fix the damage, patch the cracks, and step aside like none of it ever happened.

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But I know what happened. He told me he loved me. And the way my pulse kicks when he walks into a room tells me the feeling wasn't as one-sided as I've been pretending.

​

I kiss him. Because apparently I've lost my mind.

​

Now Reid's best friend is looking at me like I'm his whole world, and Reid is looking at me like I'm his second chance, and I'm looking at both of them thinking — what if I don't have to choose?

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What if the bravest thing I've ever done is refusing to?