Farrah’s expression turned sad. “But she doesn’t know Nathan like we do.”

“Yeah,” I whispered.

She cleared her throat. “Well, your mother is very sweet. I’ve always liked her. Both of your parents are great.”

“When I spent those two weeks with them, it made me realize how lucky I am to have them.” I immediately regretted saying that. “I’m sorry. That was insensitive. I just meant—”

“No, no, no. It’s okay. I had my parents for as long as I did, and I was very fortunate for those fourteen years.” She gazed out at the pool. “I can still sometimes hear my mother talking to me. It’s like I know the type of advice she would give me for certain situations, even if she’s not here. I don’t have the same connection with my dad. He was a little bit harder to read. But the fact that I can sometimes sense my mother’s presence when I need her is a good thing.” She turned to me. “Anyway…I’m really glad you were here tonight. It’s been forever since I had a chance to talk to you. I’m relieved you’re not mad after the awkward run-in we had earlier.”

“I don’t have any reason to be mad at you. I just want you to be happy.”

She shrugged. “I’m trying.” She looked down at her hands. “Listen…that promise you made me a while back…about not bringing girls here—that’s not really fair. If I’m going to bring Colton around, you should be able to bring whomever you want home.”

The idea of him being here unsettled me. It wasn’t going to be easy, but I had to support it because Farrah needed to move on from any ideas she had about being with me.

I arched my brow. “You sure about that?”

“Yeah… I can’t guarantee I’m not going to hate her, but I have no right to tell you how to live your life. Besides, it would seem a little strange to Nathan if you never brought anyone by. Don’t you think?”

Other women were the furthest thing from my mind right now. All I wanted was to taste Farrah’s lips again.

“Are you going to bring this guy to the next movie night?” I asked.

She blinked a few times. “Maybe. I haven’t thought about it.”

Deciding to be a jealous wiseass, I raised my brow. “Where will you sit?”

Her face turned red. “What do you mean?”

I was a total asshole for bringing it up, but I couldn’t help myself. “Are you going to try to sit next to me even if he’s there?”

Her face turned even redder.

“You picked up on my little leg game. Congratulations.”

“It was a bit obvious, yeah. Especially when your leg would accidentally press against mine.”

“Yeah…but you didn’t exactly move away when that happened, did you?”

“No, I fucking didn’t. And I should probably go to hell for that.”

“Well, we’ll always have movie night.” She winked.

My dick stiffened at the thought of being that close to her again. Farrah had no idea how much her leg presses had riled me up inside.

I moved the subject along before I got hard thinking about it. “Okay, so that’s how we’re gonna handle it? You bring your dude over, and I’ll bring girls over. We’ll pretend like nothing ever happened between us…move on from all the awkwardness?”

“I think so.” She bit her lip, not seeming sure.

I nodded, still feeling jealous. “Right.”

“Promise me something.”

“What?”

“Promise me you won’t avoid me from now on. I’ll do the same.”

I sighed, but I vowed to act like a damn adult moving forward.

I can do this. “That sounds like a plan.”

• • •

My promise not to avoid Farrah was put to the test the following week when Nathan informed me that his sister would be bringing her new boyfriend over for a poolside barbecue. I didn’t know why he used that term. Farrah had said things weren’t serious. Had something changed? Why the hell was I so damn invested in knowing?

Nathan and I were hanging out in the kitchen, preparing the food, when he started grilling me for information before Farrah arrived.

He sprinkled some spices over a tray of chicken wings. “You said you met this guy briefly, right?”

“Yeah.”

He wiped the excess seasoning off his hands. “What’s he like?”

I rolled some ground meat into a ball and patted it down hard—well, more like punched it. “He seemed nice. Respectful. I think she can do better looks-wise, but that’s me being shallow. I don’t have any reason not to trust him. I ran a background check on him. Nothing sinister came up. Lives over on Hyacinth—with his parents, which is fucking lame.”

Nathan rubbed the chicken. “He might be a loser.”

“Possibly,” I agreed.

“Thanks for looking into him. I’ll try to not give him too much shit, I guess, unless I have reason to.”

“I’m sure Farrah will appreciate that.”

Nathan washed his hands and took a beer out of the fridge. “If this dude is a decent guy, I don’t have anything to worry about, even if he does live with his parents. My concern with Farrah has always been that she’s going to end up messing around with the wrong type of person. She’s very fragile, even though she tries not to show it. After all the shit we’ve been through, she needs someone dependable. She couldn’t handle being cheated on. That guy she dated in high school broke her heart—didn’t cheat on her, but he dumped her before going away to school. Farrah needs to find someone who just wants to be with one person, someone who’ll treat her right and be there for her when she needs him.”