Mitch looks like he wants to pry some more, and if he does, I might fold like a house of cards. Because at this point, my feelings for Brenden are almost overriding my common sense. But mercifully, right then, Elise and May appear from around the side of the house.

“Hey, Mitch,” May greets him as she climbs the porch steps. “How’s Delilah?”

Mitch lights up. “She’s doing great! I think she was just going through a bit of a teenage angst phase, but she’s back to herself now.”

“That’s good, I’m glad,” May says, like the sweet girl she is. Acting like this man and his damn chicken are perfectly normal.

“Okay, I’ll be out of everyone’s hair,” Mitch tells us. He waves the container of sugar in front of himself. “Just needed to borrow something, and Brenden’s boyfriend here was nice enough to get it for me.”

I almost groan but manage to hold it in. The way he calls me Brenden’s boyfriend is so exaggerated again that he might as well have winked at me. And does he not understand the concept of borrowing something? I don’t think he intends to bring the sugar back. But I’m not going to point that out to him, because I just need him gone.

May looks like she wants to laugh. Instead, she tells Mitch to have a nice day, and then says, “Come on, Grandma,” leading Elise inside the house.

My alfredo sauce will be ruined if I take much longer getting back to it, but I need to give myself a minute out here to breathe. At least now I don’t need to worry about Mitch spotting my truck overnight, because he knows what’s going on. Sort of. But I’m seriously doubting his ability to keep this a secret.

As I’m standing alone on the porch, Brenden’s car pulls into the driveway, and my heart does a flip inside my chest. Even though he’s managed to bring chaos to my otherwise normal life, I can’t deny that seeing his face still lifts my mood. Every damn time.

He gives me a questioning look as he gets out of the car and comes up the porch. “What are you doing out here?”

I quickly fill him in on Mitch barging in and how I had to tell him we were pretending to date.

His expression turns pained. “Oh god, he’s gonna tell everyone, isn’t he?”

“I don’t know. Probably not on purpose, but maybe by accident.” I’d like to assure him that Mitch will keep his mouth shut, but I can’t lie.

He groans and steps closer, burying his face against my chest.

Wrapping an arm around him, I rub his back and tell him, “It’ll be okay.”