“I’m just keeping it real.” I turned my attention back to my phone.

ME: Actually, it might be your problem.

HALLEY: Why?

AVA: Why?

ME: Noah just told me that Preston said that Leo is coming back soon. He already has a bromance with Preston which means he’ll have one with Noah if we get together.

HALLEY: Shut up, you’re already together.

AVA: I don’t care if Leo has a bromance with the President. He can bromance who he likes.

ME: You’re forgetting something.

HALLEY: Aaaahahahahahaahahahaha

AVA: What?

ME: If Leo’s coming back, so is Ethan.

AVA: OH BALLS

I burst out laughing.

“What?” Noah craned his neck to see my phone.

I turned it around. “Ava.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Halley thinks we’re together?”

“Seriously? Her dream world is the part of that conversation you want to focus on?”

“Yeah. What did you say before that?”

I tried to move my phone out of his reach, but not only was I backed against the island, he was taller than me. Which meant he had arms that were a lot longer than mine. Which meant he grabbed my phone.

He scrolled, his eyebrows shooting up again.

“Your eyebrows are going to end up stuck to your hairline if you keep raising them like that.” I snatched my phone back before he could stop me.

“It’s you. You make me raise my eyebrows.” He tapped me on the nose. “You think about the possibility of us being together?”

Oh, God.

This was The Talk, wasn’t it? The one that two people with a mutual attraction had when they were getting ready to define their relationship.

“Well, I’m standing in your kitchen in one of your old t-shirts after spending two nights in a row with you, so I’m hardly thinking about how to murder you, am I?” I paused. “Actually, hold that thought. I might need to do that if you keep looking at me like that.”

“Looking at you like what?”

“Like you want to have The Talk.”

He gripped the edge of the counter again and leaned forward so that his eyes were eye-level with mine. “Maybe I do want to have The Talk, Reagan. Maybe I have feelings for you, and I want to tell you so we can decide how to move forward.”

Oh, boy.

I swallowed. This was it, wasn’t it? The moment I’d imagined. The one where he told me he felt the same as I did and we could decide what to do about it.

“Well, let’s get this straight right now.” I held up one finger, leaning back. “I’m not walking out of this conversation as your girlfriend. We haven’t known each other long enough to be boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“Completely agree,” Noah said, surprising me. “As far as it goes, we haven’t spent a ton of time together, either. We’ve talked a lot, which counts for something, but we do need to spend more actual person time together.”

“You’re kidding me, right?”