A knot of unease formed a tiny ball in my belly. How did he—­? Okay. I was being stupid. James or Miriam could’ve told him my name. It also could’ve been the Silvers.

I needed to stop being an idiot.

Glancing at my purse, I also needed to stop being a baby and text Reece. But first, I needed sweet tea.

After making myself a glass, I flipped on the TV and turned it to the HGTV channel. Property Brothers marathon for the win. Grabbing my cell out of my purse, I took it with me to my studio room.

No sooner had I headed down the hall, when the phone rang while I held it. I glanced down and cursed when I saw that it was Dean. Part of me wanted to hit the reject button, but I forced myself to answer the phone.

“Hello?” My voice sounded as flat as a sheet of paper.

There was a beat. “Roxy?”

I rolled my eyes. Who else could it be? He called me, and I answered. As soon as those thoughts wrapped up, I felt bad. Dean hadn’t done anything wrong. “Yeah, it’s me. I’m getting ready to . . .” I looked around the room frantically, trying to come out with an excuse. “To . . . take a shower.”

I winced. Jesus. God. I sucked.

Dean laughed softly in my ear. “Well, thank you for planting those images in my head,” he said, and I cringed. “I don’t want to keep you. I just wanted to know if you were free tonight?”

“Dean,” I sighed, wanting to bang my head off a wall. Instead, I pushed my glasses up to the top of my head. “I actually do have plans tonight—­”

“What about tomorrow?”

I leaned against the wall, closing my eyes. “Dean, I’m sorry, but I’m not really interested in a second—­”

“I know we didn’t have the greatest first date, but I think we hit it off,” he insisted, and in my mind, I could almost see him blinking as he spoke. “And I think if we have another date—­”

“I’m seeing someone else,” I blurted out, and that wasn’t a lie. Not really.

His inhale was heard through the phone. “What? Since when?”

“I’m sorry. You’re a great guy. It’s nothing personal—­”

“What the fuck, Roxy?”

My eyes popped opened as I pushed off the wall, stiffening. I’d never heard him cuss before. Not that I had sensitive sensibilities, but hearing him talk like that was jarring.

“You’ve been seeing someone else?” he charged on. “Don’t you think you could’ve told me that in the beginning? I wouldn’t have wasted my time with a slut.”