THEY DIDN’T GET any better when he arrived home to find less than half a cup of coffee left in the pot. When he discovered midway through his shower that Cam had obviously used most of the hot water, he decided that just made it all perfect.

Then he stepped into his room, a towel slung around his hips, and found Seth sitting on the side of his bed.

Definitely perfect.

“Hey.” Seth eyed him steadily.

“You’re up early.”

“I thought I’d maybe go in with you for a couple of hours.”

Phillip turned to pull underwear and jeans out of his dresser. “You aren’t working today. You’ve got your friends coming over later for the party.”

“That’s not till this afternoon.” Seth lifted a shoulder. “There’s time.”

“Suit yourself.”

He’d expected Phillip to be steamed. He had a thing for Sybill, didn’t he? Seth reminded himself. It had been tough to come in here, to wait, to know he’d have to say something.

So he said the single thing that was most on his mind. “I didn’t mean to make her cry.”

Shit, was all Phillip could think. He yanked on his Jockeys. He wasn’t going to get out of this. “You didn’t. She was just due for a cry, that’s all.”

“I guess she’s pretty pissed off.”

“No, she’s not.” Resigned to it now, Phillip pulled on his jeans. “Look, women are hard to understand under the best of circumstances. These circumstances pretty much suck.”

“I guess.” Maybe he wasn’t so steamed after all. “I just sort of remembered some stuff.” Seth stared at the scars on Phillip’s chest because it was easier than looking into his eyes. And because, well, the scars were so cool. “Then she got so whacked out about it and everything.”

“Some people don’t know what to do with feelings.” He sighed, sat on the bed beside Seth, and was bitterly ashamed of himself. He’d blasted Sybill right between the eyes because he hadn’t known what to do with his feelings. “So they cry, or they yell, or they go off and sulk in a corner. She cares about you, but she doesn’t know exactly what to do about it. Or what you want her to do about it.”

“I don’t know. She’s . . . she’s not like Gloria.” His voice rose a pitch. “She’s decent. Ray was decent, too, and I’ve got—they’re like relatives, right? So I’ve got . . .”

Understanding came quickly and squeezed his heart. “You’ve got Ray’s eyes.” Phillip kept his voice matter-of-fact, knowing Seth would believe him if he said it right. “The color and the shape, but that something that was behind them, too. The something that was decent. You’ve got a sharp brain, just like Sybill. It thinks, it analyzes, it wonders. And under all that, it tries to do what’s right. What’s decent. You’ve got both of them in you.” He nudged Seth’s shoulder with his own. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“Yeah.” The smile bloomed. “It’s cool.”