So maybe he had been dumped before. It sounded like he knew how to get through it.

“It’s okay, Barrett,” Harmony said. “Me getting dumped is definitely not your fault. I’m not as broken up about it as I should be, all things considered. So you’re safe here.”

Besides, looking at Barrett could definitely make her forget all about Levon and his prissy bathroom counter. She wondered how many items Barrett kept on his bathroom counter? She’d just bet not many.

She turned her chair toward him, determined to find out. “Actually, I have a ridiculous question for you, Barrett.”

He turned his gorgeous blue eyes on her and smiled. “Shoot.”

“How many items currently reside on your bathroom counter?”

Barrett cocked a brow. “Huh?”

Alyssa laughed. “Very good question.”

“I don’t get it,” Barrett said.

“We’re conducting a poll about men and their bathrooms,” Alyssa said. “Indulge us.”

Barrett finally shrugged. “Okay, fine. Uh . . . soap, of course. Toothpaste and toothbrush. Deodorant. Maybe a comb?”

Harmony smiled when Barrett struggled to come up with anything else. She knew he was an absolute male of the not-so-fussy-about-his-grooming variety.

He finally cast her a helpless look. “I don’t know. I’ve got nothin’ else. Did I fail?”

“Oh, no,” Harmony said. “You most definitely passed.”

“You should go out with Barrett,” Alyssa suggested, nudging Harmony. “He’s a nice guy, and he obviously doesn’t keep thirty-seven things on his bathroom counter.”

Barrett laughed. “Yeah, and Drake would kill us both. Well, he’d definitely kill me.”

The idea of it appealed, though. She’d had such a crush on Barrett when Drake had first introduced them all those years ago. And now? Hmm. Yeah, definitely appealing.

“What my brother doesn’t know won’t hurt him—or you. What do you say, Barrett? Care to take me out?”

Barrett was at a loss for words. Harmony was his best friend’s little sister.

Only she wasn’t so little anymore.

He and Drake had been friends since sophomore year of college and had bonded then. They’d celebrated when they’d both been drafted by Tampa. Both of them played defense, they’d been roommates in college, and they’d become friends. It had been that way ever since.

He’d been coming to Drake’s mom’s house ever since college. Harmony had been just getting out of high school back then. She’d only been a kid. Now she was a woman, with a career of her own, and she’d just been dumped by some guy obviously too stupid to know what a treasure he’d had.

She was beautiful, with dark brown skin, straight dark hair that teased her perfect shoulders and those amazing amber eyes. She had the kind of body any man would want to get his hands on, curves in all the right places, and that sweet, kissable mouth . . .

And he had no business thinking about Harmony at all because there was a code—no messing with your best friend’s sister.

Absolutely not. No. Wasn’t going to happen.

He pushed back his chair and stood, looking down at Harmony as if she was Eve in the garden and she’d just offered him the forbidden apple. “I know the rule, Harmony, and so do you. I think I’ll go check out what your mom made for dinner tonight.”

He might be tempted, but there was too much at stake. He was going to step away from the sweet fruit laid out in front of him before he decided to do something really stupid and take a taste.

Because going down that road would spell nothing but doom.

Two

After Barrett walked away, Harmony stared at his retreating form, confused as hell by what he’d just said.

“What was that all about?” Alyssa asked, pulling Harmony’s gaze away from Barrett’s fine ass.

“I have no idea.” She pushed back from the table. “But I’m going to find out.”

Mama’s house was much bigger than the one they’d grown up in. First thing Drake had done when he’d gotten his initial pro paycheck was buy their mother a new house. She’d objected, saying she liked her old one just fine, but Drake had insisted her old house was crumbling down around her. He hadn’t felt right about her staying in it, and she had finally relented.

Mama was a proud woman. She didn’t need anyone to take care of her. And for years, she’d been the one taking care of both Drake and Harmony. But their old house had been a wreck, so Harmony had been so glad Mama agreed to the new one.

There was a crowd around her brother and Barrett right now, and the last thing she wanted was to nudge herself in the middle of Barrett and Drake. Drake was overprotective and had been since their dad died when Harmony and Drake were young. Mama had raised them alone, but Drake, being two years older, had put himself in some sort of parental role, which had been ridiculous at the time, but after Dad passed, Harmony had felt lost and leaned on Drake for support. He’d been her closest ally and her best friend.

Until she’d turned fifteen and had fallen madly in love with Kellan Smith. Drake had done everything in his power to squash that romance.

In hindsight, a good move, but at the time she’d hated her brother for getting in the way of the love of her life.

Fifteen-year-olds often didn’t make the best decisions. Kellan had been fine looking, and had moves a young Harmony had never before been subjected to.