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“He’s a tank who longs to be a gazelle.” Aster laughed, and Brynn’s gaze skipped from Aster’s eyes to her lips and back again.Do not stare at her mouth, no matter how good a mouth it is.Just because they’d kissed, once upon a time, did not give Brynn permission to go there now. Aster rolled her lips in, right on cue. Could she sense the trajectory of Brynn’s thoughts? Did she have them right back?What? Stop it. No.

“You okay?” Aster asked with an easy smile. Since when did she have aneasysmile, and why was it now affecting Brynn’s knees? Aster had moves now?

“Yeah. Yes. Sorry, I got lost in the flurry of activity around us.” She gave her head a shake to clear it.

“Right,” Aster said. “I was actually wondering if we could steal some quiet time to talk. Just us.”

Brynn didn’t hesitate because in this moment, she wanted nothingmore in the world than to talk to Aster, catch up, and hear all about her time in Boston. In fact, she couldn’t wait. “I have time now. We could—”

“There you are.” Arms were around her waist from behind, and a kiss was placed on her neck. She watched as Aster’s eyes went briefly wide.Micah.What was Micah doing here? And why did this exchange leave her a little mortified. She shoved it aside. Questions for later.

“Hi,” Brynn said, turning in Micah’s arms. She frowned and searched her face. “I don’t understand. I thought you were staying in the city.”

“I thought so, too, until my four o’clock canceled and I packed a bag.” Several inches taller than Brynn, Micah stood behind her, her arms still around Brynn’s waist in what felt like an obtrusive grip. “Happy to see me?”

“Yes, yes. Of course I am.” She remembered to brighten. Because she washappy.

“Now we can do the shopping and the strolling that you like. Want to?”

“Yes. But first, I want you to meet someone, okay?” She gestured to Aster, who stood waiting, her face noticeably blank. “Micah Henderson, meet my good friend, Aster Lavender.”

“Oh, you’re one of the Lavenders. I’ve met several of those. Violet’s one of them, right? You have lunch with her.” Brynn nodded.

“I’m the last in the sibling lineup,” Aster said.

Brynn jumped in. “She’s been studying culinary arts in Boston. Her food is out of this world. I’m telling you—”

“Amazing. It’s so fantastic to meet you. I think we’re going to stroll. You enjoy yourself.” Micah laced her fingers through Brynn’s and gave her hand a squeeze. Brynn watched as Aster’s gaze fell to their hands. Why did Brynn feel a little sick? “Shall we?”

That was Micah. Never one to dawdle when there was something on the to-do list. She briefly tried to imagine Micah reading a book on a bench in the town square, but the image was near impossible to conjure. She couldn’t shake the feeling that Micah’s competitive side had fueled their abrupt departure. She didn’t love that. But Micah wasn’t in her life for great big bursts of love. Micah brought other very valuable qualities to the table. She couldn’t forget that.

Brynn turned to Aster, who immediately raised a conciliatoryhand. “Oh. Hey, it’s okay. We can catch up later, right?” But the spark behind her eyes was gone, and the confidence she’d arrived with was, too. Brynn felt that loss all over.

“Okay, because I need to hear all about little Dill and how he’s doing. And Boston. And you. And the food. The books.”

“You will.” Aster stayed right where she was and watched them walk away. While Brynn was aware of Aster’s eyes on her, she resisted the urge to look back.

As she and Micah walked the festival hand in hand, she tried for glimpses of Aster. She didn’t like the way their encounter had ended, unfinished, dangling, if that was possible. She saw Aster once at the cider stand, Marigold’s arm slung around her shoulders, and Aster laughing at something her sister said. A pang of jealousy struck. She wished for a moment she was there laughing with them. She wondered now what had been said. But the sight of Aster laughing made her smile. She’d missed it.

“What’s got you all lit up?” Micah asked, rubbing her shoulders from behind. “Is it because I surprised you? It is, isn’t it. I knew you’d like that. You should have seen your face when you saw me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so surprised.”

“It was a huge shock. Yeah,” Brynn said, meeting Micah’s bright blue eyes. Behind them, Sage and Tyler walked together, heads down in what looked like a serious conversation. Uh-oh. Tyler, upon returning to town, had vowed to keep Sage at arm’s length. After being home two months, she’d let the truth come falling from her lips.

“We slept together that first week I was home from Chicago.”

“The first week? You two are like magnets.” They had been sitting on the floor of Tyler’s living room late one night after binging a couple of Jennifer Lopez movies because Tyler thought she took on kickass characters they could all look up to, and Brynn harbored a longtime crush. Equal-opportunity viewing.

“I couldn’t explain it if I wanted to,” Tyler said. “But you’re right. There’s this undeniable pull. He’s my person who happens to be so hot that it makes me angry.”

“But I thought you were done with the complications of your will-they won’t-they status?”

“Because I’m weak, and because he’s Sage Lavender, sent to Earth to torture me with all I can’t have.”

“Oh no.” Brynn frowned, already nervous for her friend, who she knew to have the kindest heart.

“I was humiliated and hurt after that first time when he ghosted me, but this time was different. The sex was something out of a novel, and Brynn, he didn’t run.” Taylor touched her head, eyes wide. “I’m not sure what to do with that.”

Brynn exhaled in relief. Maybe Aster wasn’t the only one who’d done some growing up. “Well, that’s something.”