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She blinked and color washed over her cheeks. “If you talk like that, people will think you care.”

“I do care. I missed movie night with the girls.”

“All because Mark texted?”

“And Atticus offered to watch them. All I heard was that you were here and seemed upset. That’s all I need to hear.”

“Are you following me around?”

“Yes.”

Jade raised her eyebrows.

“In a sweet way. Not a creepy one.”

She laughed. “It could be either at this point. I don’t care.”

“Are we going to keep dancing around the point?”

Jade blew out a breath. “Can I?”

“If it makes you feel better.”

She finally took a swig of her beer and tapped her chin. “Good. Then what would you do if I were here for a hookup? Would you be jealous if I was?”

“You’re hunting down the compliments, aren’t you?”

“Always.”

I huffed out a laugh. “Yes. I would be jealous. Very much so. Next question⁠—”

“Hang on.” She held out a hand. “I wanna bask in the idea of you being jealous. Were you like this when I hit on that other guy?”

“You mean Kevin?” I asked.

“His name is Kevin? I didn’t even remember. How did you know?”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “I may have . . . looked him up.”

“You’re so cute when you’re jealous.”

“And you’re cute when you’re hiding something.”

“You’re really not letting that go, huh?”

“Nope.”

“Do you remember when I used to want to see the town in its heyday?” she asked.

“Yes, I do.”

“You know, it’s better than I imagined.”

“Good.”

“Most of us here don’t trust it to last.”

I paused. “But you have that grant thing, right?”