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Victor huffed out a laugh. “I know I should be. No. I am happy. You deserve to find love again. I want that for you. I just wish you could skip straight to that part without having to go on a bunch of first dates with assholes who don’t deserve you.”

Deserve.

That was the same word Dean had used.

Had he said the same thing to Victor? Is that why her brother used it just now?

Given how badly she’d misread what she thought was happening between her and Dean, she wasn’t even sure if he’d meant that, or if he’d simply said it as a way of making her feel less shitty.

She didn’t have enough dating experience to judge if he was just using one of the standard rom-com breakup lines on her.

It’s not you, it’s me.

I need to work on myself.

We should just be friends.

You deserve better.

Vivian was certain she would replay that damn breakup conversation at Pat’s Pub over a thousand times, analyzing every word and expression. Not that she expected to ever be able to truly make sense of what went wrong.

“Want to stay here tonight? I can call Belle, tell her to bring Pip over. We can make a big pot of soup and all veg in front of the TV. Pip’s been begging me to watch Moana 2.”

Vivian considered the invitation seriously. Part of her just wanted to go home, crawl into bed, and hold the mother of all pity parties. Not that she could. While Pip’s fever had broken, her daughter still had a nasty head cold.

She shook her head. “Pip’s sick. She’ll want to sleep in her own bed.”

“Then we’ll all hang at your house. Belle and I can sleep in her old room.”

Vivian appreciated the offer. “You hate staying there. Hate sharing a full-sized bed instead of the gigantic king in your room.”

“I don’t give a shit about that, Viv. I don’t want you to be alone,” Victor said.

She gave him a watery smile. “Good. Because I don’t want to be alone. I’m tired of… I’m lonely, Vic. I thought after Phil, I’d never want anyone else. I was fully prepared to mourn him for the rest of my life because he was my person. I didn’t expect, didn’t realize there could be…”

Victor’s expression softened. “You cared about Dean.”

She didn’t hesitate, didn’t bother to lie. Instead, she nodded. “I…yeah. It all felt so easy, so right, and for a little while, I was imagining a different future. I liked it.”

“The more you say, the more I want to drive to his house and beat the⁠—”

“Stop.” Vivian put her hand on her brother’s arm, forcing him to calm down. “I let myself get carried away, see things that obviously weren’t there.”

“For what it’s worth, I don’t think you were the issue.”

She frowned. “What’s that mean?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m talking out of turn. All I know is, he’s carrying around some serious baggage. And until he sorts out his own shit…maybe you guys should just go back to being friendly acquaintances.”

Victor scowled, clearly confused when Vivian started laughing. Because her brother had just hit her with all the rom-com breakup excuses.

Is this what they taught the boys in middle school physical education back when they used to separate the genders for sex ed?

“Viv?” Victor prompted, wondering at her sudden mirth.

“It’s not me, it’s him. I get it,” she joked.

Victor rolled his eyes when he realized what he’d said.