Chapter 2 Chapter 2

MAE

"No, no, no..." I quickly shook my head even though she couldn't see me. "Essie, you don't have to do that."

"We don't have a choice."

"Essie…."

"Mae."

I closed my eyes shut, running my hands over my hair.

“We don’t have a choice, Mae. Dad would hate to see you stranded in New Dallas when he has a fucking big-ass mansion.”

“Essie, still, I don’t want to be a burden…” I started, but she interrupted before I could finish.

“You don’t want to burden us anymore. I’ve heard that like a million times, Mae. I will call him.”

She hung up before I could refuse again.

I pressed my lips together. I thought I had escaped this, but somehow my heart still took a turn whenever he was mentioned.. my best friend’s father, Logan Sterling.

I had harbored a stupid crush on him since I was eighteen. I practically grew up in his mansion in New Dallas after my parents passed away, and he took me in like a daughter because none of my relatives would.

He paid my school fees without ever making me feel like I owed him anything. He showed up when no one else did. He made New Dallas feel like home again when I had nothing left of mine.

And maybe that was the problem.

Because somewhere along the way, I stopped seeing him as just Mr. Sterling. And I never told anyone what that turned into.

That was the first reason I left New Dallas when I got into Westvale University with Essie.

I told myself it was for school. For work. For independence. For a fresh start.

But the real reason was simpler.

I had spent too many years learning how to breathe normally around him.

I wanted to erase that. And now Essie was bringing me back to something I thought I had forgotten. Except I hadn’t because my body still shook tremendously whenever he was mentioned.

Not even thirty minutes later, I heard my name. Not my name the way he used to call it.

“Peach!” he shouted, and I stilled.

He was walking toward me, a huge grin on his face while waving. Oh my God, I forgot how to function. My heart slammed against my ribs so hard I thought it would burst.

He looked even more attractive after five years. Tall, broad shoulders, a fitted black coat. His hair was messy, but in that deliberately attractive way that made it worse, not better.

My stomach flipped violently when our eyes met, and I quickly looked away…those damn hazel eyes always did something to me.

My throat grew drier the closer he stepped.

This man was supposed to be my best friend’s dad. Not in the way my mind kept drifting toward.

Get yourself together, Mae.

“Hey, Mae..Mayonnaise…” he whispered, dragging out the second name the way he always did.

Apparently, he did it because it rhymed with my name.

Five fucking years, and it still didn’t erase anything. My heart was still doing that thing it always did around him.

I shook my head, avoiding eye contact by staring down at the floor while he stood right in front of me.

“You still call me that…” I said, my voice smaller now, fidgeting a little like a kid caught doing something wrong.

“Mae…Mayonnaise,” he repeated softly. “I think it’s cute, Peach.”

A small silence stretched between us—one I couldn’t explain.

“It’s been five years, Peach… and you still won’t even look at me.”

And then, gently, he lifted my chin so I had no choice but to meet his eyes.

My breath stopped entirely.