Page 37 of Falling Back to You

Ironically, I’d known Paisley long before she met Greyson, and while I wish I could take credit for matchmaking them, that was all Juliet. Our love-cynic sister had a secret Cupid—if only she’d put that to work on me.

Actually, that might be terrifying. Considering she said my first blind date was happening this weekend in Nashville.

Could we start with the nanny first, Lord? Then figure the rest out?

Sighing inwardly, I headed for my truck. Noelle. She’d asked me to forgive her. Little did she know I already had. Heck, I wasn’t even exactly angry at her. More shocked than anything.

Okay, maybe a little angry, too. I could be emotionally mature and admit it. Mostly I wanted to know why? Every line of her goodbye note was etched into my brain. We’d had something special. And from the ember burning in my chest, I knew that spark hadn’t gone away. The pull between fanning the flame or keeping my distance was exhausting.

“Travel safe.” Greyson paused next to the truck as I hopped inside.

I hesitated before closing the door. “Just say it.”

“What?” he asked too innocently. He had the best poker face out of all of us thanks to his time in the Marines, but I knew him too well to be fooled.

Greyson was seven minutes my senior, and those minutes made all the difference. It gave him the lion’s share of the responsibility and maturity genes, while I was the fun-loving younger twin with a flair for the dramatic. He was an adrenaline junkie at one point—he had to be to handle the military—but even then, he was as steady as they came. Grey kept me level, and I kept him from stagnating into a mosquito-infested pond. He was Gandalf; I was Pippin. Teamwork at its finest.

He grunted. “You doing okay? With Noelle?”

“Honestly? I’m not sure.” I drummed my fingers against the wheel. Getting my brother’s opinion on my love life might not be a terrible idea. At least I could test the waters. “I think I might need to date again.”

“Noelle?” Greyson’s stormy eyes flashed in clear disapproval.

Okay, don’t step on that land mine. “No. Maybe.” I shook my head. “It’s stupid, right?”

He shot me a look that clearly said, You said it not me.

I could make an impressive pros-and-cons list for all the reasons why dating Noelle Shepherd was my most harebrained idea yet. But that didn’t stop me from actually thinking about the possibilities. Seriously, why was I cursed with so much optimism? I needed a dose of Greyson’s or Juliet’s sensible kill-joy attitude.

Greyson was quiet for a moment, weighing his words. I was used to it. Where I talked through things, Greyson processed internally before opening his mouth. “I think you’ve punished yourself long enough for what happened with her and Izzy. You deserve real love, Cal. It’s okay to move on.”

“I have Khia to think about.”

He nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets. “And the right woman will know you’re a packaged deal.”

I adjusted my ball cap. “I’m rusty. I haven’t been on a first date in, well, years.”

Greyson snorted. “You’ll figure it out.” With a wry look, he added, “Attracting a woman’s notice has never been your problem.”

I grinned. “We share a face, my guy, but Pais fell in love with your grumpy self, not me.”

“Get out of here.”

“Love you too, bro.”

He tossed a wave as I pulled out of the driveway. Once I left the Old Orchard neighbourhood, my phone pinged with a text and automatically connected to my speaker, reading it aloud.

JULIET:

Code red.

ME:

is something on fire cuz im the wrong brother for that. call shane

JULIET:

Worse. We have a nanny application.