Nice of you to create my entire dating history.

Next, I turn to Joe. He is still looking at me with something between sheer indifference and confusion. I’m weak at the knees. Of all the scenarios I’ve run in my head about what would happen if we ever met again, this situation has never come up. Rightly so. This is torture. The stuff nightmares are made of.

I tentatively reach for his hand. I’m shaking. My palm is clammy. I feel like a prisoner who’s been caught trying to escape their cell. Our skins touch. I nearly jolt. His hand is warm and dry. Big. His eyes are on mine. Blue and cool and utterly unreadable.

“Lynne, right?” Joe/Seph drawls. The first words to come out of his mouth. His voice cracks through me like whiplash. He remembers. Oh my God.

“And you are Seph?” I ask pointedly, gathering my wits.

“That’s what my family calls me.” He is polite, but he’s by no means the same guy who kissed me six years ago like the world was ending. “Drive was good?”

“Sure.”

He turns to his dad, seemingly done with our conversation. “I’m getting a Guinness.”

“Make it two, punk.” Brad chuckles.

“Anything for you, D?” Joe/Seph asks, jerking his chin toward his older brother. Dom shakes his head, watching the two of us alertly. He must’ve picked up on the off vibes between us. “I’m saving myself for the eggnog. I’m trying to convince Lynne to have some.”

“Not in this lifetime, buddy.” I smile. My cheeks feel as stiff as clay.

“Why don’t we all get a drink? I’m sure Lynne could use a glass of something too.” Gemma herds us all into the kitchen.

I can’t stop myself this time. “It’s Everlynne. Or Ever. Dom’s the only one who calls me Lynne, really.” I don’t know why I’m telling them this. It’s not like this would win Joe over. And it’s not like there’s anything to win over. I’m with his brother now. Case closed.

And then it hits me. I slept with his brother. I slept with two brothers, six years apart. They make up 66.67 percent of my sexual partners. Since the only other partner I’ve slept with was Sean.

I guess you could say you’re a Graves digger, I hear Pippa cackling in my head. Pippa. I want to call and tell her what I’ve just found out. I need her advice.

It doesn’t help that Joe and I could have technically been together right now. That I cut it off suddenly, viciously. After I came back from Spain, we texted every day, all day. The last text exchange we had was unassuming. I still remember it by heart.

Joe: Thinking of cutting my trip short.

Ever: Interesting.

Joe: Is it?