“Why would you need someone to do that?”

She gives me a small, patronized smile. “Because I’m not Alex-smart or talented. Living in his shadow was hard growing up. It still is sometimes. In high school I started dating Kale because he was the opposite of my brother and all his friends. The only thing he did was smoke weed and pretend to be on the debate team. He had zero ambition, and nothing has changed. I mean, the guy has half a university degree and works part time. He still lives in his parents’ basement and probably always will.”

“But you dated him for four years.”

“We were teenagers. He was consistent, and he liked me for me, not because my brother played professional hockey and he wanted tickets to games or introductions to players. He doesn’t even play sports, unless you count beer pong. Lily was dating Benji, and he and Kale were best friends. My parents thought Kale was harmless, and my mom figured I’d outgrow him. She was right.”

“Daisy still seems to love on him, though.”

“Only because I’m not with him anymore. We’d been friends for a long time. He was easy to be with. When high school ended, I figured it was a good time to move on. It was awkward at first with Lily and Benji still together, but eventually Kale started dating someone else, so it was better.” She sets her glass on the table and runs her hands down her thighs. “I shouldn’t have gone on that camping trip with him. He was on the rebound, and I knew it. But I also want you to know that decision was about more than the pictures of you and the hooker bunnies or making you jealous.”

“What was the point, then?”

“I love my mom. She’s a great person, and she has the best intentions, but I don’t want to become her.” Sunny sighs. “When you started calling, she was all over it working out between us, and not just because you’re a great guy, which you are. My mom likes her lifestyle. She likes not having to go to work every day and going to the spa and lunch dates with her friends. She figured I’d want the same, but I don’t.

“So part of going on the camping trip was me trying to figure out if I could handle this with you, especially having seen how hard it’s been for Violet. I don’t want who I am to be swallowed by who I’m with.”

That makes some sense. I like that Sunny has ambition and drive. She could coast along and sponge off her brother if she wanted—he’d definitely support her—but that’s not her MO. “I would never want that.”

“I know.” She shifts closer and crosses her legs so her knees touch the outside of my thigh. “I’m just explaining why I had such a hard time.”

“And you thought I was gonna fuck and chuck.”

“I know that’s not true.”

I stretch an arm out across the back of the couch. “It took a while for you to believe me.”

“It shouldn’t have. I should listen to my intuition over other people.”

“Three months of daily conversation and me coming to visit, even with parent supervision, should’ve been a dead giveaway.”

“You’d think so.” Sunny leans her head on my arm. “And then there’s the whole Project Sunshine thing.” Her nose brushes my skin, and she presses her lips to my bicep.

I wrap a tendril of her hair around my finger, avoiding eye contact. “There is that.”

“How long have you been putting that together?”

“A while.” I’m definitely not going to be totally honest with her. Not yet. After my first visit to Guelph, I knew I was looking at something more substantial than bunny action. By the time we got to the actual sexing stage, I was trying to figure out how to make the long-distance crap manageable and create a long-term life for us. But we’re not even officially back together, so I’ll keep that to myself until I’ve got some concrete evidence that we’re going to give this a solid shot at being something real.

“How long’s a while?”

“Does it matter? Will it change anything?”

Sunny uncrosses her legs and tucks them under her. “No.”

“So why ask?”

“I’m just curious.” She gets in close and skims my jaw with her fingertips. “You’re an incredible person.”

“Not really.”

“Yes, really.” Her lips hover close to mine.

I’m not sure what’s happening here. We were having a serious conversation and now all of sudden Sunny’s up in my space. At least she’s in jeans and most of her skin is covered, otherwise I’d be screwed.

“Miller.”

“Yeah.”

She settles her palms on either side of my neck. “I missed you.”

“I, uh—”

Her lips touch mine. “I missed talking to you. I missed hearing your voice. I missed knowing you were thinking about me. I missed being with you.”

“I missed all those things, too.”

Sunny slips her tongue into my mouth. I’m guessing this means we’re back together. She straddles my lap and wraps her arms around my shoulders, hands going into my hair.

“Um, Sunny?” I say around her tongue.

“Mmm?”

“Aren’t we supposed to be talking?”

She leans back far enough that her eyes don’t merge into one and she stops looking like a cyclops. “I thought we were done,” she says. “Is there something else you wanted to talk about?”