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“She is. She would do anything for Mom. She’d probably take her place if she could.”

I nodded. I understood that. Maddy and I had that.

It was weird to think it, especially given the circumstances, but I was glad I met his mom. I wasn’t making plans with Justin. We’d be done once I left Minnesota. But for some reason, it was important to me that when he talked about her over the next few weeks, I’d be able to put a face to a name.

That she’d be able to put a face to mine.

I liked the idea of Justin talking about me to her, I realized. Of him talking about me to anyone. Being important enough to come up in conversation.

And then I realized that I’d actually feel hurt if I wasn’t. If I was just some fling for him that didn’t warrant mentioning to his friends and family.

But why would that bother me?

That’s essentially what this was—a fling.

I couldn’t care less about whether the guys I dated previously talked about me. Sometimes I preferred they didn’t. What was the point? I was going to move on and drift into their oblivion anyway, why even waste the time to tell their friends my name?

But I wanted Justin to think about me and talk about me. I liked that he planned things for me. That he spent so much time making his surveys and invites and picking out the perfect places to take me.

“Dreams” ended and then Peter Cetera came on with “The Next Time I Fall.”

Justin stood there with his hands in his pockets. He was supposed to kiss me.

I thought maybe he’d do it somewhere in Stillwater, but he hadn’t.

He took a step toward me, and my heart launched.

“Is it okay if I kiss you good night?” he asked, his eyes flickering to my lips.

“Yes, you may kiss me.”

I slid my hands up his chest. He smelled so good. I’d been leaning into it the whole evening. Something spicy and warm mixed with the scent of mint. Justin was so… familiar. Like I was dating a boy I grew up with and I hadn’t seen him in a few years and when I did, he’d turned into someone irresistible. Obviously that whole scenario was impossible. I knew nobody from my childhood. There was nothing before I moved in with Maddy. Just a smear of people and places and schools and foster homes. But I just knew without knowing that this comparison was the right one.

Maybe a wall that I usually had up was coming down a little—probably because of the circumstances of our arrangement.

Or maybe not.

Maybe it was just him.

Something about this made me feel uneasy. Like something scary was happening but I couldn’t explain what. But I didn’t have time to think about it because Justin was leaning in.

He cupped my cheeks in his hands, looked me in the eye. Then slowly, sensually… kissed me on the forehead.

The forehead.

I waited a moment for the real thing, but he stepped back. “Okay. Good night.”

I blinked at him. “That’s it?”

“You didn’t like it?” He smiled.

I gave him a look. “Really, Justin? A forehead kiss?”

“I’m told they’re all the rage. The female gaze and all that.”

“You are supposed to kiss me. On the mouth.”

He looked thoroughly amused. “We have time. I don’t have to do it right away. We have two more dates.”