“What are you going to do, Nat?” Jillian asked, scooping more pasta salad into her plate. “House stuff?”

“I haven’t exactly decided yet.” Flashing Miles a murderous look, I reached for my wine.

“I’m trying to convince her to go on a road trip with me.” Miles smiled at me with gotcha eyes.

I continued glaring at him. Stop, I mouthed.

“A road trip, how fun!” Skylar squealed while everyone else at the table looked from Miles to me and back to Miles again, trying to figure us out. “Where will you go?”

“I want her to come stay with me in Detroit for a couple days. If she says no, I’m going to kidnap her.” He put an arm around my neck, his hand over my face.

Jesus. Could he be any more obvious? I shook him off, guzzled the rest of my wine, and looked around the table at the perplexed faces. My mother’s fork was stopped halfway to her mouth. Sebastian looked like he was trying not to laugh. And Jillian was blinking rapidly.

“Dan and I broke up!” I blurted.

“What?” said at least two women at the table, maybe three.

“When?” Jillian asked, her eyes wide.

“Last night.” I scanned the shocked, concerned faces of my family. “Look, it’s not something I want to talk about right now, and I’m not really sure if it’s permanent or just some time apart, but when I’m ready to talk, I promise to fill you in.”

“Are you OK?” my mother asked, her blue eyes concerned.

“I’m fine. And Dan’s fine. Everyone’s fine.” I gestured to my right. “And I have Miles here to take my mind off things.”

“Well, I think you guys are smart,” Skylar said. “You’ve never been apart for any length of time, not in ten years. You were just kids when you got together. It’s hard to know who you are as a person when you’ve always been part of a couple, don’t you think?”

“Yes. That’s exactly it.” I picked up my fork again, anxious to end the conversation. Jillian caught my eye, and I sent her a silent plea. She nodded.

“Sky, fill me in on wedding details. What’s new?”

Perfect. I shot her a grateful look, and she smiled.

It was good to know that no matter what changes in my life were ahead, I had my family, and they’d always be there for me.

Family was what mattered most. I could hold on to that.

“Want to come in for a while?” I asked Natalie as we walked back toward my house.

She scowled at me. “No. You and I are in a huge fight.”

I laughed. “Why?”

“Because you shouldn’t have said that stuff to my family. I didn’t want them to know about Dan yet.”

“Hey, I didn’t tell them about the breakup, you did.”

“I had to! You were running your mouth about me going on a road trip with you this week. Girls with boyfriends don’t take road trips with other guys.”

I shook my head. “That is why no one should be in serious relationships. Everyone should be free to take road trips with random people any time they want.”

“Well, I still haven’t decided if I’m taking one with you, so you better behave.”

“I’ll try. So what about tonight? Want to hang out?” I sort of hated how desperate I sounded to be with her, but I had all her attention for the first time ever.

She sighed. “I do, but I should go home. I have to get ahold of Michael and make sure it’s OK to take tomorrow off.”

“Ask him if he can cover ’til Thursday on his own.” She groaned, but I took it as a sign she was coming around. I slung my arm around her shoulders. “Come on. It’s gonna be fun! I can show you where I live.”

She looked up at me suspiciously. “Your apartment doesn’t have a sex dungeon, does it?”

“No, smartypants. I wasn’t even thinking about sex.” And I wasn’t—that was crazy, wasn’t it? That I’d have her to myself for three days, and I wasn’t planning on holing up in my loft and banging her endlessly? I mean, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping for banging too, but it wasn’t the only reason I wanted to get her to myself. I actually wanted to be with her.

Wait a second.

Just wait.

I slowed my steps as the harsh realization sunk in.

Was I…growing? Like…maturing? Emotionally?

No. That wasn’t possible. Guys like me took decades to grow up and have Emotions, didn’t they? One night of mind-blowing sex with the girl next door hadn’t turned me into an actual adult with Feelings, had it?

Maybe I should slow down.

“Just kidding,” I added quickly, taking my arm from her shoulders. “I’m always thinking about sex.”

“I know this about you. And yet I’m still considering your offer. What does that say about me?”

“That after years of suffering and deprivation, you are finally ready and willing to enjoy yourself.”

She sighed. “OK fine. You win. I’ll ask about taking three days off. But I need to go home. Do you want to drive me? Or should I take your car?”

“I’ll drive you. Pack up while you’re there, too. Then we can leave whenever we want.”

“Slow down, cowboy. I haven’t talked to Michael yet.”

“Sorry. I’m just excited to get you all to myself.” Oh, shit. “You know, for all the sex.”

Rolling her eyes, she thumped me on the chest. “You’re an animal,” she said. But she actually looked happy about it.

• • •

On the way to her house, she called Michael, her pastry chef, who was back from his long weekend and more than happy to manage the shop for her the next three days. She double-checked with both waitresses scheduled to work this week, and each said she would be glad to pitch in with extra hours if needed.

“See? Everything is under control,” I said.

“Seems like it.” She chewed the tip of her index finger. “And they can always call me if they need to.”

“Exactly. But they won’t. And you know what? This tells me you’re an awesome boss. You’ve trained them well.”

“Thank you.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m actually taking a little vacation. I haven’t—oh shit.”

“What?” I glanced at her and followed her gaze down the street. Daylight was just starting to fade into dusk, and I easily made out the red Mustang in her driveway and the burly douchebag in a suit getting out of it. “Oh, shit. What do you want to do? I can keep driving and we can pretend we never saw him, I can wait for you in the car, or I can walk you in. Your call.”

She eyed me. “If I say come in with me, can you manage not to get in a fight with him?”

“Possibly.” I pulled alongside the curb, noting unfriendly stance of said douchebag, who looked like he was ready to throw a punch. “But unlikely.”

“Oh, God. Please don’t, OK?”

But Dan was already stomping across the lawn toward us, chest first. In general, I’m a lover not a fighter, but I have a big enough mouth that I’ve gotten myself into trouble a few times. I took off my glasses just in case, popping them into the glove box under Natalie’s worried gaze.

Dan yanked open the passenger door. “Can we talk?”

“Not right now,” she said breezily. “Dan, you remember Miles. Miles, Dan.”

I leaned over her and smiled. “What’s up?”

He ignored me. “I really want to talk to you.”

“Well, give me a call at the end of the week.” She got out of the Jeep. “I’m going out of town tomorrow.”

Score! I thought, hopping out and following her up the front walk. Now please, please ask where she’s going and with whom.

Dan walked on the grass to get ahead of her. “Out of town where?”

“None of your business,” she said, pulling her keys from her purse.

We reached the front porch, and Dan stepped in front of the door. “Where were you last night? I came back to talk to you, and you weren’t here.”

She shrugged. “That’s none of your business either.”