“I’ll make sure. And I’ll make sure he knows that you’re an important friend to me, so he’d better not hurt you—not that I’d set you up with anyone I thought might intentionally hurt you.”

“You’re a really good guy, Carter.” She squeezes my arm. “I hope Teagan knows how lucky she is.”

“Eh, I’m the lucky one in that relationship.”

She shakes her head, her hair swaying across her shoulders. The tear tracks drying on her cheeks glisten in the light from the street lamps. “See what I mean? That’s something a good guy would say.” She lifts onto her toes and presses a kiss to my cheek. “I’ll see you around.”

I grab her hand before she can walk away. “Myla, wait.”

She shakes her head. “Don’t make this harder.”

“No . . . I wanted to say thank you. For everything.”

Her eyes are full of tears, but none fall. “You’re the worst kind of heartbreaker, Carter.”

I flinch. “I don’t mean to be.”

“I know. That’s exactly what makes you the worst. This would be easier if I could hate you. Even a little.” She pulls her hand from my grasp and jogs down the alley to the front of the building.

I lean back against my car and close my eyes.

“Did you mean it?”

I open my eyes to my brother, who’s walking toward me with his hands tucked into his pockets. I tense. I’m not ready for another lecture. Even if I fucking deserve it. “Mean what?” I ask warily.

“Everything you just said about Teagan.” Jake takes the spot beside me. We’re shoulder to shoulder, both looking up at the sky. “I’ll be honest—after you two disappeared upstairs earlier, I was worried, but you sounded sincere.”

“I am.” My voice cracks. “I’ve felt something for her for a long time, but I don’t know what to do about it.”

“You could try telling her.”

Jake and I turn to see Shay stepping out of the shadows by her car two spots down. Fucking seriously?

I sigh, exasperated but resigned. Never was there a better metaphor for my entire life than trying to have a private conversation and discovering two of my siblings witnessed it. “Is my entire family spying on me, or just the two of you?”

Jake holds out his palms. “I was taking out the trash.”

I turn to Shay. “What’s your excuse?”

“I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but you were dragging Myla into the alley when I got here, and I decided not to leave my car until you two were done talking.”

I sigh. I don’t really care that they both heard. I’m more upset with myself. How did my life become such a mess that I thought I was single and yet this week has felt like a series of bad breakups?

“Why don’t you, though?” Jake asks softly. “Tell Teagan, I mean.”

“Trust me, I’ve dropped a couple of significant hints today.”

Shay snorts. “Idiot. Women don’t like hints. We like kindness and consideration, but you still have to be direct. Believe it or not, we don’t like sitting around and dissecting what men have said to us.”