Graham’s grin fell. “This whole time?” He looked at his wrist, then grabbed for his phone to get the time. “Deac, I left you there over two hours ago.”

“Oh, did she find a place to live?” Harlow asked excitedly.

But Graham didn’t respond, and when I spoke, it was directed at him. “You’re my best friend, I refuse to compete against you for her.”

“Compete—what?” Graham stammered.

“But I’m gonna give you right now to tell me if there’s something going on before I ask you to back the fuck off.”

“Whoa,” Knox said with a hesitant laugh. “What did we miss while we were gone?”

Graham looked floored. “What the hell are you talking about? Are we talking about Charlie? Little Charlie Easton?”

I winced. “Don’t call her that.”

Knox’s laugh boomed throughout the living room. “Oh man . . . this is rich.”

“What do you mean, compete?” Graham asked, confusion still covering his face. “What the hell would we be competing for when it comes to her?”

“You’re the one who is always checking on her, making sure she’s okay. You were the one who got her to dance at the wedding. You helped her find a place to live,” I added, going down the list of things I thought of on repeat. I would have asked about the date this weekend if Charlie hadn’t told me earlier that Keith had been her “date.” “Tonight I fucking walked in and you were kissing her.”

“Oh!” Knox hissed as Graham jerked back and clarified, “Her head. I kissed her head. Let me remind you that you kiss my sister’s head all the damn time.”

“And Harlow’s,” Knox murmured.

“Where is all of this coming from anyway?” Graham demanded. “You’ve been treating her like shit.”

“Yeah, no need to remind me; I do that enough myself.” I sighed roughly and scrubbed my hands over my face. “Look, I just need you to tell me if there’s something going on between you.”

He laughed hard once. “Deac . . . it’s Charlie. I mean, don’t get me wrong, some time in the last few years she’s grown up and she’s fucking gorgeous, but she’s still little Charlie Easton. She’s my brother-in-law’s little sister.”

I shook my head slightly. “Stop with the little thing.”

Knox huffed, his chest moved with his silent laughter. “I don’t know, I kind of want to focus on it. I mean, Harlow and I had to endure years of bullshit from both of you because she’s two and a half years younger than me, and Charlie is . . .” He trailed off, waiting for me to finish. When I didn’t, he guessed, “Five years younger than you? Six?”

“Four.”

Knox smiled knowingly. “How’s that crow taste, Deacon? Eat some more.”

“Man, I already apologized for that shit long ago.”

“Yeah, but I think you’re just now realizing how wrong you actually were to use her age against me.”

If that wasn’t the truth. I sat back in the chair, and mumbled, “Bitter. Tastes really fucking bitter. I’m sorry, for all of it.”

I knew from Knox’s expression that I hadn’t needed to apologize again, he was just enjoying tormenting me a little more than I already was.

“For the record,” Harlow said, speaking up to break the silence that had fallen between us, “I think Charlie is a very sweet girl, and I think her quiet would be the perfect balance for a guy like you.”

I sent her a thankful smile, but it fell when Graham said, “You know, Charlie isn’t the kind of girl you screw once or twice, then never talk to again.”

“I don’t know why people keep saying that, like I’m not already completely aware of that.”

Graham sent me a knowing look. “Because I know how you are, just as you know how I am.”

My head shook as I tried to figure out what to tell Graham, as I tried to figure out what was going on between Charlie and me at all. “This is different,” I finally said.

My phone chimed in my pocket, and without thinking, I pulled it out to look at who had messaged me.

My body locked up when I saw her name with a picture below, too small to make out on the lock screen.

Words.

I immediately opened up the messages on my phone, and stood from the chair to head for my room, but stopped when Graham’s voice ricocheted off the walls.

“Deacon, what the fuck?” He was pointing at the phone in my hands, his face set with a rage I’d felt all too often when I’d seen him lately. “This is exactly what I just meant! I know you, man! Is that Charlie?”

“No, she has my real number,” I said automatically, defensively.

From Graham’s expression, it was both the wrong and right answer. “I told you that Charlie isn’t the kind of girl you screw and then leave, but she also isn’t the girl that you keep screwing around on, either. You come home and try to start shit, demanding me to tell you about something that wasn’t even happening, and all the while you still have Candy? You get up and leave the second it goes off? I mean, thank Christ you didn’t put Charlie’s number in that phone, but are you kidding me?”

I didn’t know how to defend myself or Words to them, when I knew they wouldn’t understand. I wouldn’t even know how to explain it. Like everything else in my life lately, I was still trying to figure it out. One day, one message, one mind-blowing kiss at a time.

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Deac,” Knox said warily. “I’m all for you being with Charlie if it meant what we all thought it did just a couple minutes ago. But this?”

“No, this isn’t okay,” Graham finished. “You can’t do this to her.”

“Even if I could explain it, you wouldn’t understand. Just trust me, the last thing I’ll be doing is sleeping around on Charlie.”

“Deacon—”

“I gotta go.” I ignored Graham trying to call me back as I headed to my room. The entire time my body was vibrating with anticipation as I hurried to pull up the picture Words sent.

It was another shot of her journal, like I’d gotten a week ago. My eyes skimmed quickly over the top that was scratched out, then to what was written below.