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“Thank god I didn’t smash you over the head with a frying pan. I thought I was being robbed.”

“Burglars don’t normally stop for a shower.”

“The running water is the only thing that saved you.” She smiles. “It’s good to have you back.”

I wish I could tell her that it’s good to be back. Being at Ben’s is way easier than I imagined it would be. It doesn’t hurt that it’s a freaking penthouse and is five thousand square feet. But it’s more than that. I like the way he makes me coffee every morning and greets me with that grin that tells me he thinks I’m incorrigible and irresistible at the same time. I like feeling like he’s near me. That he’s everywhere.

“I’ll be back permanently on Monday.”

“So Ben is going to help you with Boston?” she asks.

“Well, I’m not planning on being in love with him by the end of the week, so the deal is he’ll help me if I’m not. You don’t think he’ll back out, do you?”

She shakes her head and leans against the doorjamb as I fix my hair. “I don’t think so. Honestly, I only suggested it because I thought he’d just give in. I didn’t expect him to actually have you live with him.”

“Huh,” I reply. “I didn’t know that.”

“He’s stubborn,” she says. “But I think he’ll keep his word.”

I think so too, but I don’t say anything. Because I don’t know if last night was really just a time-out or whether it changed everything.

“I wonder if he agreed because he likes you.”

Images of the night before flash through my brain.

“What do you mean?” I ask, picking up my mascara.

“Why else would he agree to you living with him?” she says. “He could have just shut you down and said no.”

I shrug. “Men. You know how they like a challenge.”

“Maybe.” She turns to leave and then swings back. “I’m going over to Worth’s tonight. A few of us are going.”

My stomach flips at the thought of missing out. “Who?”

“Jack and Iris.”

“I haven’t seen them for the longest time.”

“I know. And Byron and Rosey. A few others.”

I sigh. “What’s the big occasion?”

“I’m not sure there is one. Although you never know with this group.”

Worth’s group of friends have been like family to Poppy and me since I can remember. Now that they’re all partnered up with wives and girlfriends, we don’t seem to see them in a big group very often anymore. They travel so much, and Byron and Rosey spend a lot of time in Colorado.

“We should go to Colorado again,” Poppy says.

I nod. “Yeah, maybe.” If Ben comes through and I manage to get the Boston site, there won’t be much time for trips to Byron’s private member’s club in Colorado.

“You’re making your FOMO face. Why don’t you come tonight?”

“What’s my FOMO face?”

“The face you make when you’re missing out on something. You’ve made the exact same expression on a regular basis since you came out of the womb.”

“I have not,” I say, irritated by the idea that I still do childish things. It’s not just Worth I have to prove wrong, it’s Poppy too. Even though she says she understands, and Worth gave up so much for her too, she’s still not the baby of this family, the one everyone has the lowest expectations of.