Cold air breezes around my body and my eyes flutter open. Drake and I are in much the same position we were when we fell asleep—curled around one another on the rug in front of the now-dead fire. Blindly, I reach around until my fingers curl around the edge of the blanket draped over the end of the couch. I give it a firm yank and use it to cover Drake and myself before snuggling back into the heat his body provides and drifting back to sleep.

The next time I wake, the sun is high enough that it filters in brightly through the windows, making me squint as I gain my bearings.

“G’morning, sleepyhead,” Drake says from across the room.

I stretch lazily before tying my hair up into a messy bun. “What time is it?”

He smiles at me, his eyes dancing with humor. “One o’clock.”

“What? You let me sleep the entire day away! What the hell?”

“You were pretty zonked out when I woke up. Figured you must’ve needed the rest.”

Biting my lip, I answer him. “Guess I did. Did you make coffee?”

“Does a cow have spots? Yes, I made you coffee, Azalea.” He turns to head for the kitchen, and I follow behind him. He passes me a steaming clay mug filled to the brim with coffee.

“Thank you. Hey, I have a few more questions—things we didn’t get around to talking about last night.”

“Okay, shoot.”

I take a few gulps of my coffee, hoping it’ll bolster my courage. “Kasey. Were y’all . . . did y’all . . .?”

Drake tosses his mug into the sink with a loud clatter before rushing over to me. Tunneling his fingers into my hair, he angles my face so that we’re eye-to-eye. “Oh my God, no. No, Azalea.”

“Not even once?” I ask, sounding small and brittle. I hate it. I hate this thread of insecurity rushing through me.

“Not even once. Not even a kiss. Kasey is like one of the guys to me. Swear it.”

“Then what . . .” I trail off, hoping he won’t make me ask any more questions about her.

“Jesus, Azalea. One day, I went out with the guys, and she was our waitress. I was still so mad over everything with you, and then all of a sudden, there you were.”

“Where? What?” I ask, confusion coloring my tone.

“Walking down the sidewalk with your girls. And you were smiling so big, like we hadn’t just imploded. You were laughing and checking out some group of guys, all but drooling, pointin’ them out to Seraphine and Magnolia.”

“No. No-no-no-no.”

“Yes. I have eyes, and I know what I saw.” I laugh at how sure she is, even though it’s totally not an appropriate time for laughter. “Something funny?”

“No, D. Please listen. I swear on my life, I wasn’t drooling over some guys. I was drooling over their dog.” Drake shoots me an incredulous look. “I mean it. One of the guys had the cutest little pug dog. He was a chunky little thing with black fur and a gnarly little underbite. If you don’t believe me, the girls will back me up. Myla Rose even mentioned that she’s been trying to talk Cash into getting a pup for Brody.”

“Holy shit.” Drake breathes the words more than he speaks them. “You’re for real?”

“Really real. That dog was so ugly, it was cute.”

“Well, hell.” He sounds so dejected, and it tugs on my heartstrings like no other.

“What does any of this have to do with Kasey, though?”

“Dammit, this was all so avoidable. She flirted with me the whole time we were at the restaurant, and she slipped me her number when we left. I wasn’t gonna call her, but the more I thought about you moving on, the angrier I got. I ended up calling her out of spite, and we quickly realized we had no chemistry.

“I mean, how could we? She isn’t you. After running into you and your parents, she asked about you, and I just broke down and told her all about us, and she came up with the plan to make you jealous.”

“Well, it freaking worked. Too well. Watching y’all together was like drowning.”

“I’m so sorry we hurt you. She’s a sweet girl. Honestly, even though I doubt you wanna hear this, y’all’d probably be great friends.”

I scowl at him before cracking a smile. “Maybe. Did you know she and Kelly came to see me the other day?”

Drake’s eyebrows climb into his hairline. “They what?”

“Yessir. They stopped by the salon to make sure of my intentions toward you.”

“Oh, God. I’m so sorr—”

I stop him with a hard press of my lips to his. “Not a problem, D. They were nice, and I know it’s just because they care about you. My girls would do the same for me in a heartbeat.”

“True that. Now, go get your cute ass ready. We have plans.”