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“You’re funny.”

“I know.” She grins. “House looks great. I can tell you’ve been working hard. That’s super cute, you wanting the place to be perfect for sweet Sally.”

I swipe the back of my wrist across my forehead. Any spare moment I’ve had this week, I’ve been prepping for Friday’s date night. Now that it’s Thursday evening, I’m in total panic mode. “You think it’s all right? I feel like I might buy one of those hand-held steamer things for the couch. Just in case?—”

“You want to bone Sally there? So you need it to be fresh and clean so y’all can get it dirty again, only in a different way?”

I let out a bark of laughter. “Well, yeah.”

She leans a shoulder against the doorframe. “I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that the two of you are finally together.”

“I appreciate that.” I push up to my feet and bendbackward, stretching my back. “Could you rub off a little on my brother? He still isn’t acting right.”

Mollie rolls her eyes. “I think Cash is being really annoying about this whole thing. I’m sorry. Trust me, I’ve talked to him a lot about it. He’s coming around. I think he’s being an overprotective monster because all these things he’s dreamed about for years are finally happening and he’s scared to lose it all again.”

Swallowing, I nod. “I get that. Just wish he weren’t such a dick about it.”

“Being a dick is kind of his style,” she replies with a smile.

I smile too. “And you like that because you’re always up for a challenge.”

“Well, yeah.”

“Can I ask you a weird question?”

“I love weird questions.”

“What made you decide to be with Cash? Like, what made you want to stick around? Not stick around Hartsville necessarily. But stay with Cash and figure out how to make it work even though y’all have wildly different lives.”

“Well, for starters, he’s great in bed.”

I laugh, the heavy feeling in my chest lifting. “The bleach already has me woozy. Don’t make me barf all over you.”

Her smile softens. “Honestly? I fell in love with Cash because I could be myself around him in a way I couldn’t with anyone else. He was patient with me, believe it or not, and he made me feel safe enough to explore parts of myself and my past I’d kept locked up. And because I opened up, he did too. The rest is…yeah, history.”

“How did you do it? Open up?”

Mollie swallows. “I guess being around Cash—he brought everything to the surface. I couldn’t keep it in anymore. I knew if I wanted to be with him that I had to show him my hand. I think he liked that about me, how I went all in.”

Makes sense.“Appreciate the poker references.”

“Thought you might.”

I ponder her words for a long beat, circling my fear that I’m ultimately not good enough for Sally. Not smart enough or courageous enough. “What do you think Sally likes about me?”

Mollie’s smile softens. She straightens, crossing her arms. “I think she adores everything about you, Wyatt. But most of all? I think Sally is a lot like me—we put so much pressure on ourselves to achieve, achieve, achieve. To get things done and get them done right, you know? But you’re like a release valve for her. You care about how she feels and pay attention to what she needs.” Mollie sighs. “My goodness, no wonder she’s obsessed with you.”

“She’s not obsessed.”

“Oh, Wyatt, but she is. I knew it the first time I met y’all that you were destined to be more than friends. The way you looked at her—the way she looks at you…” Mollie shakes her head. “It’s really romantic when you think about it, the two of you being friends forever before you finally took the leap. Most guys wouldn’t be nearly as careful.”

I have a lump in my throat and I don’t know why.

“Thanks,” I grunt.

“Do you know what y’all are thinking?” Mollie asks. “About what you’ll do after the holidays?”

I shake my head. “We don’t. Probably stupid of us to start dating now, but better late than never, right?”