Chapter 2

I met Josh Segel for the first time in a coffee shop.

He wore a plain white T-shirt and jeans, but there was a youthful brightness about him that drew the eye. He really was different from the four calculating men before him. No wonder people in Lily's circle whispered that this time, she'd actually fallen for real.

They'd met at a bar. Josh had been working as a server when a customer gave him trouble, dousing him in red wine and leaving him humiliated in front of everyone.

Lily happened to be there. She'd taken off her coat, draped it over his shoulders, and swept him out of the room. Love at first sight, the hero rescuing the damsel, or however she liked to tell it. Not so different from how she'd once rescued me from the debt collectors who'd cornered me in an alley.

But Josh, once he found out she was married, had turned her down flat, and that was exactly what lit the fire under Lily's need to win him over.

"Neil, I know why you're here." Josh spoke first, his voice trembling slightly even as he forced his spine straight. "I've turned Lily down every time. Please don't think so little of me. Love doesn't care who got there first, but I have my limits."

I looked at him and let out a soft laugh.

"What's so funny?" His temper flared.

"You. It's exactly how I looked five years ago."

Back then, I'd stood in front of Raymond with the same proud look on my face and sworn, "Lily and I love each other. Love can get us through anything."

I'd believed love was the sturdiest thing in the world.

In the end, I lost completely. So-called true love turned into the biggest joke I'd ever heard, worn down day by day under cold indifference and betrayal.

"Doesn't any of this make you angry?" Josh studied my calm face, a flicker of confusion in his eyes. "Lily loves you enough to fall out with her own family for your sake, and you..."

"I'm out of the energy for it," I said quietly.

I'd made scenes too, once. I'd even threatened to end my own life over it.

In the beginning, Lily found my jealousy endearing, said it proved I cared. But after enough of it, endearing turned into unreasonable, and caring turned into a leash around my neck. I'd watched the disgust build in her eyes, time after time, until there was nothing left in me to be disappointed with.

"So why are you here today?" Josh asked, hesitant.

"Someone asked me to come."

I was about to lay out Raymond's terms when the coffee shop door burst open.

"Josh!"

Lily rushed in, sweat on her brow, a look of panic on her face I'd never once seen there before. She ran straight to Josh and put herself between us, then rounded on me.

"Neil! Whatever you're upset about, take it out on me! What do you want with him?"

The stubbornness had drained out of Josh. His eyes had gone faintly red. He tugged gently at Lily's sleeve, his voice catching. "Lily, don't be angry at Neil. He probably just misunderstood us."

The pitiful way he held back whatever he wanted to say only made Lily's heart ache harder for him.

"Josh, you're just too kind for your own good."

She turned back to me, her eyes ice cold. "Neil, I'm the one who went after Josh. I'm the one whose feelings changed. None of this is his fault."

I looked at the disgust in Lily's eyes and the satisfaction tugging at the corner of Josh's mouth. My heart hurt so badly I could barely breathe, and I no longer had any desire to explain myself.

"If you care about him that much, then take him."

I picked up my bag and stood, looking at Josh one last time.

"Josh, I actually felt sorry for you, someone so young going through something like this. But I was wrong about you. Who I am today is who you'll be tomorrow."

Josh's face went pale for a second. Then, after a long moment, he lifted his chin and looked back at me, defiant.

I chuckled and walked away.

I left without looking back.

Behind me, Lily stared after me, and for one unguarded moment, something like pain surfaced in her eyes, something even she didn't seem to notice was there.