Yeah. I’m not saying all that.
It makes me sound fucking insane.
“She’s a good person,” Nate adds. “She built her store—The Book Shop—from nothing. Takes care of everyone around her. She’s good people, bro.”
I huff out a breath.
“Yeah. I noticed.”
“And she deserves someone who’s not gonna treat her like a pit stop.”
That lands.
Hard.
Because that’s exactly what I’ve done before.
Too many times.
“I didn’t come here for a woman,” I say, more to myself than him.
Nate studies me, then nods once.
“Good.”
Silence stretches between us for a second.
“Besides,” he adds, a hint of a grin creeping back in, “if you screw with her, Adrianna will personally end you.”
I bark out a laugh despite myself.
“Noted.”
But even as the moment lightens, my gaze drifts again.
Right back to her.
Sunshine.
And for the first time in a long time, I’m not sure I trust myself.
Chapter Six
Hilary
Baby showers are chaos.
The good kind.
The pastel-wrapped, cake-smeared, “oh my God look how tiny these socks are” kind.
By the time the last guest filters out and the driveway empties of cars, the house looks like it survived a confetti storm.
Tissue paper everywhere.
Ribbons clinging to chair legs.
Half-deflated balloons hovering like exhausted witnesses.