Warner continues to watch me as he wears a deep frown. He’s still handsome, but the expression does not suit his face. Warner is meant to grin and laugh. Maybe he’ll find the next part of the story funny, even if I still can’t.

“What happened?”

A sigh from my soul leaks out, heavy and resigned. “I made the mistake of telling my brothers exactly why we broke up. They had a more intense reaction than I’d expected.”

“Why wouldn’t they? I’d be furious if someone cheated on one of my siblings.”

Taking a moment, I bite my own sandwich, only answering after I swallow. “Being angry is fine. Taking revenge when it wasn’t their problem to deal with was not.”

Even now, I wonder if there was a way I could’ve stopped them.

“Did they beat the guy up?” Warner asks.

“No. Thank the universe. That would’ve been a different level of horribleness. I hope I never have to bail any of them out of jail, let alone all four at one time.” I take a fortifying sip of my iced tea.

“What did they do then?”

Instead of answering right away, I stare at his sandwich until he gets the hint and takes an obliging bite.

“They rented a billboard.”

“A billboard? Why … oh no.”

“Oh, yes. My brothers decided that the best way to get back at the guy was to rent a billboard across from his apartment building and to have a massive sign put up, proclaiming, Billy Arnold is a lying cheater who”—and I feel the mortified blush creep over my cheeks—“lost the best thing he ever had.”

“Well, at least it was accurate,” Warner offers.

“It was humiliating,” I moan, choosing to ignore the flutters his words set off in my stomach. “The whole thing was over. I’d broken it off with him, and that should’ve been the end of it. No one needed to know that he’d screwed me over. That I had been stupid enough to date a guy who cheated on me.”

“Whoa, Zoey, no. No way. That does not make you stupid.”

I finish my sandwich, staring off into the distance. “I know, logically, that it’s not my fault. But still.” I can’t help another sigh, all long and lonely. “It was so disheartening.”

“You loved him?”

My food is gone, and needing something to do with my hands, I reach into my bag to pull out my almost-finished hat.

“I was going to.”

“Going to? What does that mean?” Warner stares at me, eyes intense with an emotion I can’t interpret. Probably curiosity.

I know, sometimes, I can be odd and that people might find my reasoning weird.