“No worries. I’m like the twins earlier. As long as there are chicken nuggets…or fries.” I swiped one. “I’m all good.”

He smiled. A very good-looking, superconfident smile, and pulled himself on to the swing next to me.

I hated having this thought, but deep down, I knew he was exactly the kind of snack Dove would like. I mean, to be fair, that anyone with eyes would normally like too… Nope. I swallowed. I had to forget the accent, the smile, the confidence, and the, yup, bright-green eyes, and remember that Holly was more important than the challenge.

“You’re the dude from the house opposite, right?”

He nodded. “Sure am. Why? Have you noticed me?”

Wow, he didn’t come to play. “Nah. Just heard he was the kind of guy who would come creep on strangers.”

But Woody laughed. “Just like I heard the American internet girl filming around here liked to put guys like that through their paces.” He took his beanie off, flicked it out, and pulled it back on. Cute move—and he knew it. “So may I ask? Who exactly have you been hearing these terrible lies from?”

“Well, that would be telling…” I paused. I didn’t want it to sound like Holly and I, or even Ruby, had been talking about him. “It’s not Holly, though, if that’s what you’re asking.”

He dunked his fry in the ketchup. It was the size of a full potato.

“Why would I be asking that?”

He knew exactly why. But what did he think I knew? I had to be careful. “And it wasn’t your girlfriend either.”

I gave him a sweet smile—I wanted him to know I was on to him. He couldn’t play those games with me. And I definitely wasn’t finding out if he was single…was I?

“Don’t know what you mean.” He slowly chewed, not reacting at all. Maybe he and Meera weren’t a thing after all? “There’s nothing wrong with keeping options open. Until something great comes along.” I didn’t know how I felt about him smiling at me when he said great. “How is Hols getting on?”

He held out his fries. I took one even though it somehow felt like a truce. A confusing truce. But I had only heard one side from Ruby. Was Woody actually that bad?

“She’s doing great. Hardly heard from her, she’s been so busy.” Still, whatever was going on, I could still score some points for her. “And Nick. Blake…Dean. Allll those guys who knew she was coming. Honestly, ‘dying to arrive’ doesn’t even cover it. That accent? Kryptonite.” He didn’t need to know I’d mentioned my dead-inside brother and the rest of his band.

But Woody just held my eye contact.

“You mean the accent like mine?” Well, I’d messed that up.