“Tons. Drank his bottle, let me read him a story, then told me he was tired and forced me to cuddle with him until he passed out.”

She smiles, opens the fridge, and pulls out a few things. “I wonder if the next one will be half as easy as he is.”

“I’ll cross my fingers for you.”

“I appreciate that.” Lainey opens a tallboy and splits it between two glasses, then tops them off with grapefruit juice. She passes me a glass and drops down onto the other end of the couch. “RJ thinks you’re still angry with him.”

I shrug. “He thinks it’s always about him.”

Lainey nods and smiles behind the rim of her glass. “Often it is.”

I roll my eyes. “Not you too. Bishop isn’t using me to get back at RJ. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement, and we both get something out of it.”

“Mmm.” Lainey’s eyebrows rise.

“His man stick is pretty much broken. I’m not getting a ride out of this, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Lainey’s smile widens. “Well, that’s what your brother is worried will happen.”

“It’s none of his damn business who I ride.”

“I agree. However, he and Bishop have a bit of a standing rivalry, and you did just get out of a bad relationship, so his worry isn’t completely unfounded.”

I sigh and tip my head back, staring at the whirring ceiling fan. “I hate it when you do this.”

“Be reasonable?”

I roll my head in her direction so I can glare effectively. “Make me feel guilty for being mad at RJ. You weren’t there last night. He basically ordered me not to date Bishop, which is ridiculous, and that’s not even what’s happening, so his dramatics were totally unnecessary.”

She arches a perfect eyebrow, her chocolate eyes lighting up with mirth. “Oh, Stevie, who do you think you’re fooling here? Because it certainly isn’t me.”

“What are you talking about?” My voice is all pitchy.

“Bishop is a good-looking guy, and you two have been spending a lot of time together. Besides, I saw the way he looked at you.”

“And how does Bishop look at me?” I try to sound flippant, but really I’m curious as to what she sees, because at this point I’ve convinced myself that any flirting is all in my head and a result of Bishop’s raging testosterone and his inability to manage his situation.

“Like he wants to hold your hand.” She pauses, her smile widening at my eye roll. “And shove it down the front of his pants.”

I bark out a laugh. “Lainey!”

She shrugs. “It’s true. I’m sure he wants to do both things.”

“Well, he’s broken right now.” I motion to my crotch area.

“He won’t be forever.”

“There’s still nothing going on.”

“Yet.”

My phone buzzes on the table, and we watch the screen light up. I half expect it to be Bishop, messaging to ask again if I’ll still work with him, since I never really gave him a straight answer. It’s not Bishop, though; it’s Joey. Again.

Lainey motions to my buzzing device. “What’s going on there?”

“Nothing.”

“Based on the way it looks like you want to blow that phone up with your eyeballs, I’m going to go ahead and say I don’t believe you.”

“He still thinks we’re going to get back together.”

“Is that something you’re considering?”

“Absolutely not. I will never get back together with him.”

“Does he know that?”

I pause at that. I mean, it should be obvious, but I haven’t had this conversation with him yet. Up until now I’ve been avoiding it.

As if seeing my discomfort, she continues. “It can’t be easy to work with him.”

“I’m managing fine. I don’t see him that often.” I can avoid him for the most part.

“It’s okay if you’re not managing fine. You gave up a lot to come here, and things didn’t exactly go as planned.”

I sip my drink, trying not to let the visual of what I walked in on form in my head. “At least I didn’t move in with him and find out after the fact that he was screwing around on me.”

She gives me a soft smile. “That doesn’t necessarily make what happened between you any easier to get over, though, does it?”

My phone lights up with another message from him. I flip it over so I don’t have to see them. “No. Not really.”

“Well, for what it’s worth, I think it’s good that you’re spending time with Bishop, even if it’s for rehab.”

“Can you convince RJ to look at it that way for me?”

Lainey laughs. “I can try, but I doubt I’ll be successful.” She stares into her glass for a few long moments before she looks up at me, her expression soft and knowing. “Your brother carries a lot of guilt around with him. He has a hard time letting go of his past mistakes, and it manifests as concern and overprotectiveness. I know he needs to learn how to let things go, but I think you might need to do that too. He continues to punish himself for his past sins, even though who he was when he was first drafted to the NHL isn’t who he is now.”