So it wasn’t his girlfriend. Was it a hookup or were they truly just friends?

Funny how my mind had immediately gone there.

“Cool,” I said as Rachel introduced herself to Jessie.

“Hey, Nate, come give your cousin a hug.” Dakota waved from the other side of the kitchen island. Shane was slicing limes to put into her red concoction.

Four other people entered the condo. Rachel gave them all brief hugs and then turned to introduce them to us. “These are my friends from college.”

The two girls, a blond and a brunette, were petite and pretty; the two guys they were with towered above them.

“That’s Ella and her boyfriend, Quinn,” Rachel said. The brunette stuck her hand up in a wave and the built dude wearing a TSU baseball cap nodded in our direction.

“And that’s Avery and her boyfriend, Bennett.” Rachel pointed to the blond standing next to a guy whose wavy hair almost matched the color of mine.

“Actually, its fiancé, now.” Avery leaned forward to show Rachel the ring on her finger as her cheeks brightened with a wash of pink. Her boyfriend’s hand curled around her waist in an intimate gesture.

Rachel’s jaw went slack, while Ella beamed.

Rachel finally recovered and then whacked Bennett’s shoulder playfully. “So you finally put a ring on it, asshat.” Bennett grinned.

I could see how easygoing she was with these friends, and they seemed genuinely happy to see her. I couldn’t help thinking that Rachel’s fears were unfounded. Despite the lie she’d told them, I figured they’d welcome her back with open arms.

“Tell them how it went down, Bennett,” Ella said, as her boyfriend, Quinn, slid his arms around her waist.

An emotion I didn’t recognize slammed into my chest. All I could think about was how I longed to be as openly affectionate with Rachel. To reach for her hand. Pull her into my chest and kiss her neck. Put an end to all the secrecy.

But then I looked over at Dakota, who seemed reserved while meeting these new people. My sister wasn’t judgmental—she just took her time letting people into her world. Her standards were high, and I could tell she was still deciding what she thought of this group.

She probably wouldn’t speak to Rachel and me for weeks if she knew we’d been fucking around with each other behind her back. But somehow I didn’t even give a damn anymore.

The tatted-up girl named Jessie said, “Dude, you were a helluva nervous wreck that day. Got the whole shop in on it.”

Bennett laughed and ran his hand through his unruly hair.

“Avery was coming in to get a new tattoo,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. “So I had the whole thing planned.”

The dude was a tattoo artist. Cool, my kind of people. And he obviously worked with Nate’s friend. Back in the day, I may have even hit on a girl like Jessie. There was something sexy about a tattoo on a girl. A piercing, too. I knew just where I’d place one on Rachel.

Fuck, I needed to rein in my dirty thoughts before I had to excuse myself.

Bennett grasped Avery’s hand. When he kissed her palm she closed her eyes with a sigh.

I sure as hell hoped we weren’t going to have to be around a bunch of fucking lovebirds all weekend. I got it now, though, I really did. When you loved someone it was hard not to want to show it. And if Rachel ever agreed to be mine, I’d show her every single damn day. But shit, right now I didn’t want it thrown in my face every five minutes how much I couldn’t have her.

I looked over at Dakota and Shane, who were now standing on the periphery of the room, listening to the proposal story. At least they were still single. Nate, too.

God, since when had I ever given a shit about any of this stuff? I used to think it was stupid as fuck. That guys just put on a show to get into a girl’s pants. I’d never understood it. Until I fell for Rachel. And now she had me pussy-whipped, and we weren’t even dating. How in the hell had my world become so twisted?

Avery turned to Rachel. “I wanted to get a tattoo of that one quote I told you about a couple of months ago.”

“The one with the roots?” Rachel asked.

“Yeah.” Avery nodded. “It wanted it on my hip above the heart.”

“Cool,” Rachel said, taking a seat on the couch, followed by Ella.

“So I got the transfer paper ready to be applied to her skin,” Bennett said, smiling down at his girl.

“Dude, I would have been trembling at that point,” Quinn said, adjusting his cap. “Nervous as fuck.”

“Oh, I was definitely shaking in my boots,” Bennett said.

“Hold the phone,” Rachel said. “I don’t get that. You obviously know that the person you’re dating loves you, wants to be with you. Why do guys always get so nervous about popping the question?”

“Probably because we’re putting it all on the line. Our feelings, our pride,” I said, wondering where in the hell this foreign line of thinking was coming from. “When you ask someone to be yours, you’re talking about the rest of your freaking life.”

The whole room went silent and all eyes fell on me. Shane’s, Dakota’s, and Rachel’s, especially.

“Sorry. I guess that’s just how I imagine it would be.” I shrugged and shoved my hands deep in my front pocket. “Not that I know a damn thing about it.”

“Yeah, really, bro. How in the hell would you know?” Dakota said, laughing. “Your love life consists of bringing a girl home and then making sure she leaves by dawn.”

I felt heat crawl up my neck. Fuck, Dakota. Was I really as bad as she’d just made me sound? Normally I would have laughed right along with her. But today her lame-ass joke irritated the shit out of me.

“Leave him alone, D,” Shane said, coming to my defense. “He hasn’t brought any girls home since he’s been living here with you guys, has he?”

I could feel Rachel’s gaze on me like a wall of heat. I was afraid to turn in her direction. Afraid that my eyes would somehow betray me.

“The way Kai described it is pretty close, actually,” Bennett said, skating right over the awkwardness in the room. I could have kissed the dude. “So maybe he does know what that feels like.”

“Nah, just guessing,” I mumbled. “So, let’s hear the rest of this story.”

“Yeah, c’mon, I’m dying over here,” Dakota said, and I glowered at her.

She just glared right back. I was so going to slice into her when I got her alone.

“Anyway,” Bennett said. “I placed the transfer on her hip and then handed her the mirror to take a look.”

“I should have known just by how unsteady his fingers were,” Avery burst in. “Instead of the quote I was expecting, it said, Will you marry me, in bold black letters.”

Bennett bit his lip and looked down at his feet. Like he’d heard the story told a zillion different times but was still uncomfortable sharing it.

“Holy crap, asshead,” Rachel said. “Did you fall over or what?”

“To say that I was shocked would be an understatement,” Avery said, kissing Bennett on the cheek.

“Whoa, dude. Nice one,” Shane said, giving Bennett a fist bump.

“So then he dropped to one knee,” Avery said, grabbing for her guy’s hand. “And the rest is . . . private.”

“Yeah, so private, they didn’t want anyone disturbing them for the next hour,” Jessie said.

Everyone laughed.

Rachel propped her feet up on the ottoman, looking more relieved than she had all day. “So, when’s the big date?”

“We haven’t decided any of that yet,” Bennett said.

“We’re just hanging out, going day by day.” Avery sat on the other side of Rachel on the wraparound sofa. She pushed down on the cushion and looked around at the space. “Nice place, by the way.”

“Thanks,” Dakota said, handing out plastic cups. Shane went around the room pouring everyone a glass of Sangria. We did a toast to Avery and Bennett and then to new friends.

We spent the rest of the hour talking and getting to know one another. Bennett asked where I had my piercings done and whether I had any tattoos. I told him about the tattoo shop in town I frequented and the body-modification expert I trusted to put holes in my skin. He asked whether I’d ever considered getting ear gauges and I told him it wasn’t my thing.