I drop Lacey off at her place as the sun is rising into the sky.

She leans against me as I lead her up the stairs. She's slow about taking out her keys and unlocking her door.

She turns around and looks up at me. "I'm going to be dead at work today."

"I'll make sure to keep you up."

Her cheeks flush. "You will." She rises to her tiptoes and presses her lips against mine. "That was perfect, Mal. Thank you."

"You were perfect." I help her out of her dress and shoes and into her bed. "You're supposed to scout locations with Rafe next week."

"Yeah."

"I'll pick you up Monday at eleven A.M."

"A.M.? You want me to be ready in the A.M. after this?"

"You're off Monday."

"Still."

"You have dinner with my parents Saturday."

"That's a perk?"

"I'll make it worth your while."

She looks up at me with a wide smile. "How's that?"

"You don't trust me?"

"No, I do."

"But you want to fantasize about it."

"Maybe." Her eyelids flutter closed as she nestles into her pillow. "Mal… I… I'll see you soon."

"Until then." I make sure her alarm is set on her cell then I lock the door behind me.

* * *

I don't go home. I go straight to Ethan's place in Newport Beach.

He answers the door with a sleepy yawn. "It's not even morning."

"It's almost eight," I say.

"Fuck off." He tries and fails to rub the tired from his bright eyes.

It's rare my brother looks this tired.

With Violet around, he doesn't frown like this.

"Is that Mal?" Violet calls from inside the apartment. "Don't mind Ethan. You must know how grumpy he is in the mornings."

"I'm a rock star. I don't do mornings." He pulls the door open and motions come in.

"Yeah, honey, I know. You're a big, important rock star," she teases from the other room. "I'm making a cup of tea. You want one?"

"Sure, thanks." I lock the door behind me.

Ethan looks around the small apartment like he's confused as to how he got here. He takes in the posters of B-movies above the bookshelf of DVDs. The expensive sound system. The sleek leather couch. Violet's Kindle on the coffee table. His acoustic guitar leaning against the wall opposite the couch.

Fuck, does he still sit on the couch and play for her the way he did when they were barely eighteen?

He must. He still looks at her like she lights the sun.

Violet steps into the room. She's in a work outfit—a snug crimson dress with a black cardigan over her shoulders. She looks to me. "Everything okay?"

Her green eyes are earnest. Why wouldn't they be?

She loves Ethan with her entire heart.

He loves her back with his.

They have no idea their engagement eats at me. They have no idea some ugly part of me would rather they be miserable than I be alone.

I swallow that part down. "Ethan told you about our dinner?"

"Yeah." She smiles. "It's really nice, throwing us an engagement party."

Ethan shoots me a cutting look. "Yeah, it's nice. Too bad Mom and Dad will be there."

"Ethan." She looks to me. "Really, Mal. It's sweet." She moves close enough to give me a hug. "You need anything from me?"

"Just your attendance," I say.

She smiles. "We'll be there." When the teakettle whistles, she nods to the kitchen. "One second."

Ethan sits on the back of the couch.

He looks to me and raises a brow. You were doing something interesting last night.

I look back. Maybe I was.

We stay quiet as Violet comes back into the room with two cups of tea and hands one to me.

She looks between us. "Still peas in a pod." She leans down and plants a kiss on Ethan's lips. "I have to finish makeup. I'll get out of your hair."

He presses his forehead to hers and mumbles something I can't make out. Judging from the way she turns red, it's something dirty.

God, they really are fucking cute.

She struggles to pull away. After another round of goodbyes, Violet takes her tea into the bedroom. I only get a glimpse of its purple walls before she shuts the door. The room really does scream Violet.

No doubt Ethan screams Violet in that room most nights. I've certainly heard the two of them fuck from the other room at our place, or on the tour bus, or backstage, or in the hotel room next to theirs—let's just say, they're loud.

The tea is perfect. Jasmine. Soft. Floral. Like Lacey. She's still burned into my brain. It lessens the sting of losing my little brother to an engagement. No, it twists the jealousy to something else.

Instead of wanting my family back together, all in one place, I want what Ethan and Vi have.

I want to love someone with my entire heart.

To trust them with every part of me, not just my body.

Ethan smiles. "You smell like sex."

He's right. I shrug, like I'm not intoxicated by the way Lacey is lingering on my body.

"You never smell like sex."

"And?"

"Nothing." His smile gets wider. "How is she?"

"Spent."

He laughs. "Of course." He looks to the closed bedroom door. "I assume you aren't here to brag you got laid."

"No, I keep that to texts."

"I know."

"I won't bring up the dinner Saturday if you promise you'll play nice."

"I will, but Piper—"

"I know."

He pushes off the couch. "We done with that? Cause I want to go back to the part where you smell like sex."

"What about it?"

His grin gets goofy. "You have this look in your eyes."

He does too. There's something normal about it. My little brother is asking me about sex. We missed that part of our lives. I was too busy taking care of everything.

"You tie her up?" he asks.

"You suddenly develop an interest in bondage?"

"Not suddenly." His smile widens as his gaze goes to the door. "I do whatever it takes to make Vi happy."

"Wherever you can."

He laughs. "Well, I can't help how much I love hearing her come."

"You're so romantic."

"I know."

I need to hold onto this feeling. "You want to come over and play?"

"You really have to ask?"