For three years in a row, Forbes had included my law firm in their top recommendations in the Los Angeles area. Business was booming, which was why we were moving into a larger office this week.

I was getting the keys to the place later today. It was a week of changes for all of us.

“TMZ and Hollywood Reporter don’t care about lawyers.”

“Well, no, but you could date an actress. Or a model. Someone cool. You’re definitely great-looking. Moms check you out all the time. I don’t get why you’re single. Being single sucks.”

“Language, April.”

I glanced at Peyton in the back seat. She was humming a song to herself, oblivious to our conversation.

I hid my smile, focusing on the road. I liked keeping the girls in the dark about how active my dating life was.

But then I replayed her sentence in my mind, zeroing in on a particular detail. Being single sucks, she’d said. How would she know? She hadn’t brought boys home yet. April was a great kid, but I sensed that my laid-back, anything-goes parenting style wasn’t going to work as well in her teenage years as it had for the past five years.

“You have a boyfriend?” I asked casually, trying to sound more like the cool uncle and not the overbearing uncle. April was a beautiful girl. Both girls resembled my late sister tremendously, April especially. She’d inherited Hannah’s dark brown hair and eyes. Peyton had her mother’s hair but her dad’s eyes.

“Considering it,” April said nonchalantly. “I can’t wait to invite new friends over to our apartment. They’ll be psyched. Everyone loves our flashy place.”

“Girlfriends?”

April narrowed her eyes, pointing a finger at my chest as if she wanted to stab me with it. “Oh, no! You do not get to police me. I can have any kind of friends.”

“Yes, of course, you can have any friends you want. But I would like to know who you bring over. If you're bringing boys, we will need some rules.”

She raised a brow. “Really? And you think I’ll listen because you’re a fancy lawyer?”

“April, you know I don’t like policing you. But I’m the adult here, and even though you’re old enough to make decisions, I’m responsible for you. Rules aren’t to encroach on your territory but to keep you safe. We’ll have to compromise on things.”