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It’s Brody. For a second, I think about ignoring him. But for how long? We live in the same house. Nova and Harry have been calling to ask about the date, but I’ve not taken their calls. I’ll call them back tomorrow.

“Come in.”

Brody opens the door, peeks in, and frowns. “Okay. This doesn’t seem like the face of a man whose date went well.”

“Nothing on Denise. It’s just me.”

“So the date didn’t go well?”

I shake my head. “No, but I don’t want to talk about it.”

Brows raises his arms. “I made food. If you’re hungry, you can help yourself.”

“Thanks.”

As soon as he leaves, my phone buzzes, pulling me from my thoughts. It’s Denise.

Now, this is a call I can’t ignore. I swipe to answer, forcing my voice to sound cheerful. “Hey, Denise.”

“Hi, Jack! Just checking in—how’s everything going?” she asks, her voice cheerful and bubbly, the kind that should be pleasant but only grates on my nerves right now. I don’t want to hear it.

“It’s fine. Fine.” My voice feels like it’s made of ice, and I know she can probably hear it, but she doesn’t seem to catch on.

“Good to hear!” She giggles, like she’s trying too hard. “And the headache? It was probably because of the noise, you know?”

“I know. I feel a whole lot better, Denise. Thank you.”

There’s a pause, where it feels like she finally catches on.

“You seemed a little distant during the event. Everything okay?”

I want to groan. I want to tell her that everything’s okay, but it’s impossible. I’m nothing if not honest. I hate to string a woman on.

“Denise, you’re a beautiful lady…”

She chuckles. “You know when a sentence starts like that, it usually doesn’t end well.”

“It’s not you, really, it’s me.” Ew. I sound so cliche right now. “I’m just battling a lot at the moment, you know? Mentally, I wasn’t able to get into the moment.”

Denise sighs. “Fine. I hope you find what you’re looking for, Jack.”

Before I can say anything else, she hangs up. I run my hand through my hair again, taking a deep breath. Great. I just royally messed up my first date in town. This seems like a great idea. I rub my hands over my face, trying to shake the frustration off. I feel my phone buzzing again, but I ignore it. I don’t have the patience for this right now.

The knock at the door catches me off guard. It’s soft but persistent.

“Brody, leave me alone. I’m not hungry.”

“I’m coming in.”

It’s not Brody. It’s Mia. The door opens and she walks in. My heart does a little flip, and I bury this beneath several layers of annoyance. Her eyes scan over me, but I can’t tell what she’s thinking.

“Hi, Jack.”

I try not to act like I’m annoyed, even though my blood is still boiling. My voice comes out more curt than I intend. “Hey.”

I thought she was here to talk about my visit to her shop and my hasty exit, but my irritation grows when she asks about the date.

“How did it go with Denise?” She smiles like we’re chummy friends.