“You’re fun.”

  I squeeze her tighter. “You’re fun,” I argue.

  Tish rolls over onto her back to get a better look at me. It’s dark, no windows here obviously, but we adjusted to it before we even stumbled onto this bed.

  “What time is it?” she asks, twisting to give her back a stretch.

  Curious, too, I reach for my phone sitting on the bedside table. “Just after midnight,” I read aloud.

  “Good,” she hums. “Still time.”

  I abandon the phone and turn back to her. Feeling the strange pull on my dick, I slip the used condom off and drop it safely into the trash by the bed. “Still time?” I repeat.

  “Before I have to leave,” she says. “Before we have to go back to being... strangers.”

  “Not strangers,” I say. “Family.”

  Tish closes her eyes, pinching them. “Yeah,” she murmurs, swallowing hard. “Family.”

  I exhale, hoping to banish the thought completely, but it lingers beneath the surface, no matter how hard I try to forget.

  This was meant to get each other out of our systems, but I’m afraid we just made it so much worse.

  “Riley.”

  I glance at her lying next to me. “Yeah?” I ask.

  Tish pivots onto her side, facing me. “This really sucks.”

  I say nothing, unable to disagree or even offer any words of comfort. Because it does. This sucks. It really, really sucks.

  I kiss her instead. I roll my thumb along her cheekbone and her hand touches mine.

  I kiss her repeatedly until words themselves become meaningless. Until my cock grows hard and her body quivers with need and we immerse ourselves in one another again. All the while, we tell ourselves this will be the last time. This will be the time that wrings the last aching urge out of our bodies for good.

  But it’s all a lie. I know it. She knows it.

  No time will ever be good enough to be the last. No kiss will ever be satisfying enough to say goodbye.

  Morning comes in a blur; the night not nearly long enough. I awaken as I slept, with her wrapped in my arms, our legs entwined beneath the covers.

  I lean in close to kiss Tish on the cheek. As I do, her lips curl slightly. Still tempted, I move a hand along her body and cup her breast beneath the sheet. She hums softly, showing no sign that my touch is unwelcome, as she gently angles her head toward mine.

  We kiss once, twice, needing more. So much more.

  “Good morning,” she whispers, our lips touching.

  “Good morning,” I reply, smiling.

  A knock in the darkness and we stiffen.

  There’s someone at the door.

  “What time is it?” Tish asks.

  Truthfully, it feels like no time has passed at all since the last time she asked. As I break away from her to check my phone again, another knock echoes throughout the apartment. This one harder, more urgent.

  “Just before eight,” I answer, very annoyed by the interruption. “It might be Jake. He still has some shit stored down here.”

  “Hey, Junior!” A voice calls out from beyond the door. “You in there?”

  There’s only one prick in all the world who refers to me as Junior.

  Tish sits up straight. “Oh, fuck,” she says.

  11

  RILEY

  I’m off the bed in a flash. Before I can even flick on the light, Tish is already up and reaching for her clothes, too.

  “Fuck, fuck!” she says.

  “It’s okay,” I say. “I’ll get rid of him.”

  Another knock. Another impatient grumble. “Junior!”

  “I’ll be right there!” I shout back.

  Tish darts around in a panic, scooping her clothes off the floor. “Where’s my bag?” she asks.

  “On the table,” I say, pointing it out as I step into my pants.

  “I have to get out of here.” She grabs the bag, still very naked. “Is there another way out?”

  “No.”

  “Seriously? How is that safe?”

  “Bathroom,” I say. “Hide there. You should be fine.”

  Scurrying on her bare toes, Tish bolts toward the bathroom and closes the door behind her.

  Hoping Dad doesn’t ask to take a piss, I make my way to answer the door, tossing a black T-shirt over my head as I go.

  “There you are!” Dad says as I open the door. “What took you so long?”

  “It’s eight in the morning,” I say, letting him inside. “You woke me out of a REM cycle.”

  He scoffs softly, scanning the room for the first time. “Really, Junior?” he asks.

  “Really, what, Dad?” I ask, already recognizing that condescending tone.

  “This is why you left Big City Tech?” he says. “To live under a bar?”

  “Did you have a specific reason for stopping by, or did you just wanna bust my ass?”

  He faces me, his mouth sitting in a hard line, clearly wanting to keep on busting away. “You were awfully quiet at dinner last night,” he says. “Thought I’d give you the chance now to speak your piece.”

  I shrug. “I have nothing to say.”

  “Bullshit. You always have something to say.”

  “Not about this,” I say, very aware of the fact that we aren’t the only people here right now.

  “What do you think of her?”

  “Her?”

  “Tanya,” he says. “My fiancée.”

  “She seemed like a very nice lady, Dad. I wish you both years of lawfully wedded bliss.”

  He chuckles, his smile far from his eyes. “You’re angry at me,” he notes from my tone.

  “No, I’m not.”

  “Look, Junior, I get it,” he says. “The last thing I wanted to do here was blindside you with this.”

  I absently look toward the bathroom door. “Dad, it’s⁠—”

  “I know you’ve been holding out hope that your mother is gonna come waltzing back through the front door, but⁠—”

  “Dad—”

  “But she’s not,” he says, plowing over my protest. “She left us, Junior. She left me. After twenty years together, she broke my heart, and Tanya is the first woman I’ve met since willing to pick up the pieces. I don’t expect you to understand that. You’re too young to have had your heart broken and I sincerely hope you never do. You don’t have to like this. All I ask is that you accept it.”

  “Just like you accepted me dropping out of school and moving down here?” I counter.

  He looks me over, then nods. “How about we agree to try and meet each other in the middle?” he says, taking a breath. “Should be easier to do going forward. I’m moving down here, too.”

  I frown. “You hate small towns.”

  “Yeah, well, I love her,” he says. “And Pleasant Place seems less pleasant by the day.”

  To that, I nod. The place is full of memories I gladly left behind, too.

  “Tish.”

  I flinch. “Huh?”

  “Tanya’s daughter,” he says. “Tanya mentioned she sings.”

  In his pause, I shrug casually, pretending I don’t already know that. “Cool,” I say.

  “I thought that, maybe, it might be nice if the two of you played something together at the reception,” he says. “As a wedding gift for my new wife.”

  I nearly scoff. “I thought my music was a waste of time,” I say, quoting him directly.

  He touches his chest, then points at me. “Me. You.” He gestures into the empty space between us. “Middle.”

  I wave a hand, getting his point. “Fine. Do you have a song preference?”

  “Endless Love.”

  I wince.

  “I know,” he says, understanding. “But it’s a favorite of Tanya’s and I’ll owe you one.”

  “All right. I’ll... see if I can get in contact with Tish and set something up,” I say, thinking fast.

  “Well, she works at a diner. Bruno’s.”

  “I know it.”

  “Maybe start there. Or, you know, it’s Small Town,” he jokes. “Ask some rando on the street, they’re sure to point you in the right direction.”

  “I’ll do that.”

  “Thank you.”

  Dad gives the apartment another once-over, this time actually attempting to hide his shame. I wish I could say I stopped caring about that a long time ago, but truthfully, I’m not sure I ever will. There will always be a part of me desperate for his approval.

  Because… no matter how shitty he may seem sometimes, in the end, he’s the one who stayed.

  “Well,” he murmurs, taking a step back toward the door. “I’ll leave you to it, then.”

  “Dad.” This time, I put a little feeling into it as I say, “Congratulations.”

  He blinks to show surprise, then smiles. “Thanks.”

  We say nothing else.

  Once he’s gone, I lock the door behind him in case he doubles-back. As I do, the bathroom door opens and Tish steps out, her feet a soft whisper on the floor. She’s fully clothed now in her yellow sundress and white cardigan, her eyes wide and face stiff with worry.

  “Is he gone?” she asks.

  I nod.

  Exhaling the tension from her shoulders, she slips her shoes on. “That was close,” she says.

  I say nothing, the conversation still weighing heavily on my thoughts.

  Dad was right when he said I’d never had my heart broken before. I’m usually the one doing the heartbreaking. It’s infinitely more fun that way. I’ve never dared to open myself up to anyone enough for it to happen to me.

  Tish is the first person I’ve met that made me want to lower those walls. Now, I won’t get the chance.

  Does that count as heartbreak? Maybe. Maybe not. I guess I’ll know soon enough. Tish said she couldn’t take this away from her mother and, honestly… I can’t take this away from him, either.

  Feeling Tish watching me, her eyes no doubt full of questions now that she knows I lied to her when I said my mother was dead, I avert my gaze.

  “You should go,” I say.

  A shift of her feet on the floor. “I can stay awhile, if you want me to,” she says slowly. “If you want to talk, or...”

  Tempting for sure.

  “You should go,” I repeat.

  Our eye contact sends a sharp rush down my spine, awakening a need I hoped would be long gone by this morning, but it still radiates with the same warmth as the night we met, the night I first heard her sing.

  “Okay,” Tish says, offering a genuine smile that makes me feel absolutely wretched. “I guess I’ll, uh... see you at the wedding.” She shifts her handbag strap up her shoulder, takes a single step toward the door, then pauses. “Oh. He said something about us doing a song?”

  “Oh, right,” I say. “He requests Endless Love. You know it?”

  “Every word,” she says with a nod. “You?”

  “Nope. But it shouldn’t be too hard to learn by then.”

  “Cool.” She shifts again, clearly wanting me to ask her to stay. When I don’t, her shoulders slouch a bit, but she picks them back up. “We can get together later to rehearse or... we can just wing it.”

  “I can wing it.”

  She tenses again, then exhales. “Then, I’ll see you then.”

  “See you then,” I repeat, standing still.

  Tish leaves, pausing only briefly at the door to make sure Dad has left for good before walking out.

  As the door latches behind her, four soft paws come to rest on the kitchen counter beside me.

  “Meow,” Cat Jake says, the word dripping with judgment.

  “Yeah.” I offer him my hand and he rubs his head against it. “I liked her, too, buddy.”

  Yeah. I can already tell.

  If this isn’t heartbreak yet, it’s gonna be.

  12

  TISH

  One thing I’ve gleaned from growing up in a tourist wedding destination like Kiss County, it’s that no wedding ever goes off without a hitch.

  So when my mother and I took up the task of planning her wedding in just two days we prepared to keep our expectations on the floor.

  Small Town, on the other hand…

  They stepped up.

  By the time we’d talked to Reverend Pierce to book the chapel on the town square, the news spread. Within minutes, it reached the busybodies at the yoga studio and, by the next hour, people were stopping us on the street to congratulate my mother.

  “I’m so happy for you, Tanya!”

  “It’s about time!”

  “I knew that Kiss County magic would touch you someday!”

  “Bring him around for bingo! We’re dying to meet the lucky guy.”

  Her cheeks a bright shade of pink, my mother accepted their words with smiling grace. She’s always been shy, never one to stick herself out there too far, and the sudden flood of attention was no doubt overwhelming to her.

  Neither of us were prepared for just how far Small Town would go, though.

  By the end of the first day, Mika had gifted them the honeymoon suite at Two Hearts Inn for the week. Lottie volunteered her baking skills to make them the perfect three-tiered cake. Bruno faked a bit of disinterest before offering to cater the reception, which would take place at Sparks Pub — with an open bar.

  “Just remember where you started when you make it big someday, diva,” Jake teased. “All right?”

  With rolling eyes and a grateful smile, I agreed.

  In the rush to get everything prepared, I’ve barely had a moment to myself.

  Barely a moment to think about Riley.

  When he does drift into my thoughts, it’s like a slow crashing tidal wave threatening to knock me off balance. I push through it, not wanting to spiral too deep, not wanting to remind myself just how close I came to finding someone of my own.

  I thought it was finally my turn.

  Apparently not.

  People talk about how easy it is to fall in love in Kiss County, but no one ever talks about how easy it is to have your heart broken, too.

  On the morning of the wedding, we head toward the town square. Jewel-toned streamers line the streets, pointing the way toward the bright white chapel. People greet us excitedly as we pass, offering congratulations and well wishes for the journey ahead.

  “I’m so nervous!” my mother admits as we approach the chapel doors.

  “It’s all going to be fine,” I assure her. “Everything is...”

  My voice fades as I hear the gentle strumming of a guitar somewhere deep within the chapel, the song painfully familiar.

  It’s the song Riley and I sang together the night we met.

  How could such a simple thing make my heart twist so hard?

  Sitting on the front pew of the chapel, his head dipped with focus, Riley strums his guitar. The notes curl around me, threatening to sweep me off my feet as easily as he did.

  “Riley!” my mother says, her voice bringing the music to a sudden stop. “Was that you? You sound great!”

  He looks up, then down, his eyes only briefly touching mine as he sets the guitar aside and stands up. “Yeah,” he says. “I was just messing around, but thank you.”

  I bite my cheek, the sight of him in his black suit and sapphire blue tie making me weak in the knees. I rest a hand on the back of the nearest pew to prevent myself from falling over.

  “Is Richard here?” Mom asks.

  “At the moment, no.” Riley points down the aisle toward the exit. “Bruno had some last questions about the catering, so he left to go deal with it.”

  “Good,” she says, though her toes bounce with excitement. “Can’t have the groom seeing me before the wedding. It’s bad luck!”

  “I think that’s just the dress, Mom,” I say.

  “Is it? Well, in that case, I’m gonna go track him down for one last smooch. We’re getting married today!”

  I smile as I get out of her way. “Yes, you are.”

  With a happy squeal, my mother rushes off with her garment bag gently folded over her arm.

  Allowing myself one last look, I give Riley a nod. The air between us feels thick and heavy, like the moments before a thunderstorm, and I’m not sure I want to stick around and wait for the rain.

  “There are a lot of buttons on that dress,” I offer. “I should probably go so I can help her when she’s ready.”

  “Wait.” Riley steps forward. “I, uh... I was actually wanting to talk to you before...”

  Before the wedding.

  Before we become family and therefore never allowed to be what we could have been.

  I pause, but I keep my weight on my toes.

  Riley takes a breath, his eyes briefly scanning the chapel before he looks at me. “You look nice,” he says.

  I glance at my outfit; a simple yet elegant satin halter top dress that matches his sapphire blue tie. “Thanks,” I say. “You do, too.”

  He shifts on his feet, his hands slowly sliding into his pockets. “I just wanted to say that... I’m sorry I lied to you. About my mother.”

  I nod slowly. “It’s okay. I understand why you did.”

  He returns the nod, grateful. “It’s easier to just say she’s gone for good than to admit she hated you so much, she walked out.”

  “I’m sure that’s not true, Riley.”

  “I appreciate you saying that, but...” He swallows hard. “If she loved me, she would have stayed.”

  I bite my cheek, unsure how to reply. I never knew my father. I never had the chance to bond with him, so I’ve never known the pain of being abandoned by one meant to love me unconditionally. “I’m sorry,” I say, offering comfort.

  “It’s all right,” Riley says with a smile that trembles my knees. “If she never left, I may never have dropped out of school and moved down here. I may never have met you.”

  I snort. “Not sure us meeting the way we did was a good thing or not.”

  “It was,” he says. “Tish, it was a very good thing.”

  I look down, blush filling my cheeks. Before I can reply, Riley steps forward, the tips of his shiny black shoes in line with mine. His hand rises to my cheek and I inhale sharply, his touch unexpected.

  “Riley,” I whisper. “What are you doing?”