"I did. But it was my fault. I gave her the control." I paused. "That's not exactly true. I didn't have to give her control because she always had it. Our relationship started before we were born, and she was born first, which made her the oldest. She never let me forget that."

"By a few minutes, I'm guessing."

"Those few minutes were all it took," I said with a smile. I finished my last bite and wiped my mouth. "Thanks for dinner. I should pay you."

"You can buy the next one."

I liked the idea of another dinner. I liked the idea of spending more time with Kade. But at the same time, I felt like we were coming perilously close to the edge of a cliff, and future time was not guaranteed.

"You just lost your smile," Kade said, his gaze turning speculative.

"Just thinking how impossible it is to make future plans when the future seems very unpredictable."

"Well, I've always thought too much planning is a bad idea anyway, even when it's not life and death. Sometimes, you just have to make choices as they come and roll with the consequences."

"I'm getting pretty banged up from all the rolling. So are you," I couldn't help pointing out. "You have a nasty bruise on your face."

"Doesn't it just make me look hot?" he teased.

Butterflies danced through my stomach at his words. "I don't think I need to tell you that you often look hot. You already know that." I cleared my throat and then got up to take my empty plate to the kitchen. "Are you done? I'll put the leftovers in the fridge."

"I'm done," he said, bringing his plate to the sink. "And I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, Brynn."

"You didn't," I said, not quite looking him in the eye as I put the cartons in the fridge. I wanted to get out of the kitchen, because he was way too close, so I left the dirty dishes in the sink and walked over to the couch.

I should have picked one of the chairs, I thought, as Kade sat down next to me a few minutes later.

"You're still uncomfortable," he said, a knowing gleam in his eyes.

"It's been an uncomfortable day. I had a rough conversation with Dani earlier."

"Oh, yeah? About Rachel?"

"Yes, and about the orchestra job. I told her I was going to take it."

Surprise and approval mixed in his gaze. "That's good. How did she respond?"

"She was hurt, angry, and disappointed. She told me to do whatever I wanted because I was going to do that anyway. Then she hung up on me."

"Did that make you want to change your mind?" he asked.