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“That’s what it looks like to me,” his voice goes solemn.

“I can’t call Maman and accuse one of her babies of doing that. She’d never believe me,” I mutter with a shake of my head. It would only cause more problems. Daniella is the backbone that keeps people in line. She picked up that role as soon as things fell apart in the family.

“Maman. That’s your mother?” He glances at me with narrowed eyes.

“Yeah,” I answer warily.

“Does she always talk to you like this?”

I take the phone from him when he offers it to me. He has our minimal chats scrolled up to months ago.

Maman: Don’t you dare interfere with Asher’s One. I heard you’ve been pestering him to meet her. Don’t ruin this with your clinging.

I blink, reading it out of context for the first time. She sounds downright hateful. I know she’s that way because of her overprotective stance on Ash. Poe doesn’t.

“She’s really protective of him,” I look up at Poe’s slow-building scowl. “She’s that way with all of us.”

Why do I feel like I’m lying?

“And you still haven’t met her?” He pushes gently.

“Maman has some stupid idea that I’m jealous,” I roll my eyes. “Ash knows better. He’s just busy having fun for once.”

He doesn’t have a response to that, which makes me more nervous. It’s getting harder to defend them when he doesn’t give me anything to argue with.

“What does she mean? His one?” His brows furrow.

“You’re gonna laugh, and I need you to hold that in.” I give him a fierce stare. “My family believes in a soulmate. Instant connection. Forever love. All of that. We call it the One. We really shouldn’t, now that I think about it. Suzette has three soulmates.”

His brow goes up in surprise, but he brushes that off without comment. “You would be the first person to throw a party at something like that.”

“I may have thrown confetti in his face the day after he told me about her,” I try not to smile at the memory of Ash’s deadpan expression covered in yellow ducky confetti. “He said I made him deaf when I screamed in his ear about the frosting and sprinkles she comes with. The other men in their poly group. Perfect balance for little bro.”

“ThatI can see. Not jealousy.”

How does he see me so clearly while everyone else doesn’t? It seems wrong somehow.

“Yeah. He tells me about stuff that he doesn’t want to get back to Maman. She suffocates him with her hovering. I’m not too surprised I haven’t met his One yet. He’s overprotective.”

His brows start furrowing again.

“Why does your mother say you’re forcing your way in?”

I glance down at the messages. Where did he read that? I scroll up a little more and find it.

Maman: Suzette is perfectly fine with her three men. Stop trying to force your way into her group. They have four people already. They don’t need five.

I swallow hard. “They think I’m too pushy. I’ve realized it’s true. I’m still dying my hair blond to fit in, and everyone knows it. I act like a fool.”

“What’s the real color?” He eyes my dark roots as if the answer isn’t obvious.

“Brown,” I roll my eyes. “Plain old brown.”

“I’d like to see it.”

I give him a dirty look. “Iwouldn’t, and that’s what matters.”

No way do I want that haunting me every time I look in a mirror.