“I mean, I knew from the first moment I saw him. He’s a good-looking animal, yes, and you could probably pull him off as a purebred golden retriever to anyone else, but judging every little detail is my thing. It’s what I do. Or what I always used to do, anyway.” He paused, doing his best to get the next part right. There was no denying that he was sometimes too good at that aspect of his life, especially when it came to his brother, but that was the point. He was getting better. He was learning. Ruby had taught him that. “But it doesn’t matter to me anymore. That’s what I’m trying to say. Lawson got a DNA sample and had it tested, but we tossed it out. No one has to know if you don’t tell them.”

A strange flicker crossed her face. It was similar to her look of steely determination, of her resolve to win no matter what the costs, and was a sight to behold. It was also scary as all get-out. They weren’t trying to one-up each other now. They were on the same side.

Right?

“So…you forgive me for lying to you about my job?” she asked, speaking as though from the end of a long, dark tunnel.

“Yes.”

“And you also forgive me for lying about Wheezy’s eligibility?”

“Can’t you see?” he asked, almost desperate at how distant she sounded, how far out of reach. “Of course I don’t care what you do for a living. Or what you said to get Wheezy into the show. It doesn’t mean anything—none of it means anything. Not after the things we shared, the things we did.”

She narrowed her eyes and studied him, distractedly scratching at her jawline with long, jerky movements. He wanted to tell her not to do that, to suggest that she take a Benadryl before those welts got even more inflamed than they already were—but he didn’t dare.

“And what if I asked you to let us win, me and Wheezy?” she asked. “Could you slip us a few extra points?”

“Probably. There are certain categories where we get extra leeway—”

“Or get us in good with Lawson and Eva?” she persisted. “Make sure they’re willing to throw the contest our way?”

“If it’s that important to you, I could talk to them, but…” Spencer glanced around, bewildered to find himself still standing on Mrs. Orson’s porch, still in the same world he’d been part of when he arrived. “What are you asking? You want me to cheat and let Wheezy win?”

“Yes. That’s exactly it.” She stopped scratching and dropped her hand like a deadweight. “And you’ll give it to me, won’t you? Just like that, no questions asked. Because we’re fucking? Because we fucked?”