“You’re not pathetic. Actually, I envy you a little.”

“Because I’m a mess?” Zach asked dryly.

“No. Because you’re not afraid to be a mess.”

“It’s not exactly a conscious decision, you know. I’d much rather just be cool and get the girl.”

“You want to be cool? Try talking to her.”

Zach sighed. “Can’t I just text her?”

“No.” Cade pointed emphatically. “No texting. If two people like each other, they should be able to sit down and have an actual conversation, the way normal adults do when they want to get to know one another better.”

Zach raised an eyebrow. “Dude . . . it’s just texting.”

Right. “Regardless, you’re going to have to figure out some way to have a conversation with this girl. So if she makes you that nervous, you need a battle plan. Start off the conversation with something she likes. Something you know she’s interested in.”

Zach considered this. “I think she likes poetry. I once heard her talking to Ms. Stevens after class about how she’s written some poems herself.”

Cade clapped his hands. Bingo. “It’s perfect. If you have trouble talking to this girl, find another way to let her know how you feel. Maybe get her a book of poetry.”

“I’m a sixteen-year-old wide receiver. I know option routes and screen passes. I don’t do poems.”

“You will if you want Paige Chopra to like you. Sounds like you need to up your game for this one.” Cade grinned as Zach made a big show of rolling his eyes. “Just keep it simple, tough guy. Try T. S. Eliot.” He chuckled at Zach’s look of surprise. “Don’t look so shocked. I took a poetry class as an elective in college. I’d heard that the professor gave everyone who showed up an A.” And he’d also heard from a fellow football player that the poetry chicks were hot and arty and got big-time turned on whenever a guy showed his “sensitive side” by discussing poems—all of which he could confirm as very true—but that was an anecdote for a different day.

“I’ll think about it.” Zach took a sip of his shake. “What about you? I know you’re not married. Are you seeing anyone or anything?”

An image of Brooke sleeping in his bed popped into Cade’s head. Then a second image came to mind, of her giving him the “text me” speech at his front door. “Nothing serious.”

“Really? ’Cuz you paused there.”

If one more person commented on these damn alleged pauses . . . “Just eat your lunch,” Cade said.

With a grin, Zach threw Cade’s words back at him. “If you’re having trouble talking to some girl, maybe you need to find another way to tell her how you feel.”

“I know how to talk to her just fine.”

“Maybe you’re not saying the right things, then.”

“Can we change the subject?” Cade ran his hand through his hair. “You’re sixteen years old. Trust me, relationships get a lot more complicated when you’re an adult.”

“Is this a friends-with-benefits situation?”

“Aren’t you a little young to know about friends-with-benefits situations?”

“I didn’t say I was partaking in them myself,” Zach said. “But shockingly, yes, I have heard of scenarios in which adults engage in intercourse without riding off into the sunset together.”

Cade tried to decide how best to sum up the situation with Brooke. “There is a woman. We are friendly. There have been benefits.”

“Do you like her?”

Cade gestured with his burger. “Of course I like her. She’s, like, the smartest, wittiest, woman I’ve ever met. And hot, too.”

“Yeah, I can see why you’d be confused about that,” Zach said. “Smart, witty, and hot. Sounds like a real complicated situation to me.”

Okay, fine. To youthful, unjaded ears, it probably did sound odd. Cade tried a different way to explain. “She and I are on the same page. We’re just keeping it casual.”

“Hey, you’re an intelligent guy, you obviously know what you’re doing,” Zach said. “But casual or not, if this girl’s that great you probably need to follow your own advice.”

“What advice is that?”

“Up your game.” That said, Zach took a big bite of his cheeseburger.

Cade thought about that. Up his game? Pfft. If he had been thinking he might want to try to change Brooke’s mind about their just-having-fun situation—which obviously he did not, since no man of sound mind and body ever messed with a just-having-fun situation—maybe then he’d worry about upping his game.

He scoffed. “You’re a teenager. What do you know?”

“I’m wise beyond my years,” Zach said, his mouth full of burger.

Cade laughed, a warm feeling spreading across his chest. Asshole or not, Noah Garrity had managed to do one thing right by him.

He’d given him this.

* * *

BROOKE BLINKED, REALIZING that she’d been staring out her office window for several minutes.

She sat at her desk, pen in hand, allegedly with the purpose of reviewing the revised employment contracts that Sterling’s outside counsel had sent her. She still had six contracts to review, yet she’d been having trouble staying focused. Not usually a problem she faced.

It was just after noon, and outside her window she could see couples strolling hand in hand along Michigan Avenue, and women walking with oversized bags while enjoying a leisurely day of shopping. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had one of those. Normally she was so busy, she targeted a specific store and got in and out as fast as possible.