Page 108 of Only Between Us

Rosie blows a raspberry from her spot on the kitchen island. Shy nods. “What she said.”

“I don’t know about being into her,” I say truthfully. They’ve both hooked up with other people for as long as I’ve known them. “But you just gave her a look. Alook, Park.”

We watch Parker debate whether or not to deny it, but finally he deflates, groaning at the ceiling. “I really need to get laid. I’m giving Summer a look.Summer. We were in diapers together, for fuck’s sake.”

“What do diapers have to do with anything?” Shy asks.

I get to my feet and pick an empty moving box off the living room floor. “And why do you talk like you haven’t been seeing a new girl every week?”

Parker scratches at something on the couch. “I’m not fuckingthem. I’m dating them. Or trying to date them. I don’t know, I haven’t done this in a while.”

I pause, box in hand. “What do you mean, you’re dating them?”

Can’t remember the last time Parker seriously dated anyone. A flush creeps up from the neck of his shirt, and he grimaces at the coffee table.

“I mean, I’m trying to meet someone. Not that it’s going well, but can you blame me? My twin sister and childhood best friend got engaged a couple months ago. Summer’s bound to meet someone eventually, and you’re tricking Siena into being with you—”

“Hey—”

Parker waves me off. “She’ll go for it, don’t worry.”

“Yeah? You think so?” I look at Shy, who’s still staring at Parker with all the amusement in the world. “Will she go for it?”

Shy gives me a small smile. “I’ve known Siena most of my life, and I still can’t predict her next move. But I hope she does go for it—if anyone deserves to have a man bend over backward for her, it’s Siena. I think you’re perfect for each other.”

“I think so, too.” Empty box in hand, I head down the hall to pack up the last of Siena’s bedroom—the panties and bedside toys we’re going to have so much fun with the second she gets home tonight.

Before I can get there, though, my phone goes off in my back pocket.

“Pack your bags, Brooksy.” I haven’t heard Josh this pumped up in years. Not since the day he handed me a pen to sign my insane second contract with the Rebels. “You’ve got a Rebels training camp to crush.”

Chapter36Siena

“Jesus, Sum. What the hell did you put in these?”

Melody—the tiny blond woman known as Brooks’s first fake girlfriend—coughs into her fist after a gulp of her pink, sugar-rimmed drink. She turns watering eyes on her best friend as her fiancé, Zac, thumps her back.

Summer looks up from a glass she’s filling with more of the pink liquid. “What? We’re celebrating Brooks!”

“And we’ll all be passed out on his living room floor by eight o’clock at this point. Just what a guy who isn’t drinking right now wants to see.”

I shrug, arranging an assortment of lollipops into a glass. “Apparently, it’s my house now, too. And I say it’s totally fine.”

Lollipops arranged, I take in our handiwork: The candy covering the kitchen counters, jugs of the drink Summer dubbed the Summerita. A celebratory banner hanging above the dark cabinets.

The banner readsYou Did It!and has small graduation caps printed over it, but it was the best I could find on short notice. I’d barely turned off theopensign at Ship Happens when Brooks texted about his invite to the Rebels training camp in two weeks’ time. Iran out to the shops in my shiny new car, and had Summer rally his friends for a surprise party at my new home. Their friends Zac and Melody made the drive down from the city, and I’d snuck them all in to set up while Brooks went out for his evening run.

Timing for the news couldn’t be more fitting after our talk this morning. I’m ecstatic that Brooks has the opportunity to show off for the Rebels. He’s earned it.

But it means we’re one step closer to our goodbye, and that stings, regardless of how hard I tried to pretend this morning. Moving in with him will only make it worse. But if I have him for just a few more weeks, I’ve decided to go all in.

Soak him up while I can.

Shy materializes at my side just as Summer passes me a Summerita. She tries to pluck it from my hand. “Mom’s night out. Don’t make me fight you for that cocktail.”

“How old is your daughter?” Zac asks.

“She turned two a couple months ago.” Shy takes a long sip of her drink. “My parents are watching her overnight.”