“Yeah, it was like that for me, too, with my brother. The thing is, if I hadn’t been through all that, I never would have become friends with Yun. She’s organized to the point of being maddening sometimes, but—I don’t know—somehow I recognized she’s that way to stave off vulnerability. Me, I shut people out. She gets meticulously organized. And I’m telling you this because earlier tonight you didn’t seem to care that my closest friend at this stage of my life is a woman, and I appreciate that.” He flipped his hand over, locking her fingers in his. “But I also want to lay all the cards on the table and make sure you don’t have any questions or concerns about it.”

Olivia’s top teeth dug into the side of her lower lip, and she sat up a little straighter. “No questions really. I mean, I hope that if there was anything unresolved between you, you’d tell me. You don’t seem like the type to play games that way.”

“Thank you, and I’m not. There’s nothing unresolved because there’s never been anything like that between us. When I met her, she was dating this guy her mom was crazy about. I guess Yun’s mom is a lot like her, because she’d all but planned out their life for them. The way Yun tells it, her mom’s pretty much been planning out her life since she was a kid. It just took Yun awhile to realize it. Which is why tonight when she said she was ready to try something new, it meant something.”

He traced his thumb along the soft skin of Olivia’s hand and underneath her wrist. “But regardless, I can’t remember ever seeing her as anything but a friend. By the time she broke it off with that guy, she was more like a kid sister who was a hundred times smarter than me than anything else. And that wasn’t an exaggeration earlier; I really do credit her with helping me get through vet school. I did pretty good in undergrad just winging it, but somehow I never acquired study skills.”

Olivia smiled and let out a little huff. “I suspect you’re being hard on yourself, but it’s awesome you have a friend like that. And thank you for telling me about her so openly. There are no worries here.”

“That’s what I was hoping to hear.”