It was unsettling how much his “joke” bothered me. I couldn’t shove it aside. If I hadn’t locked Dean in my office, it would have been him. Dean would have been the one going on dates with Parker. Dean, who was smart in the same way Parker was smart. And while I might have ended up being the better choice to woo her boss, Dean definitely fit in better with her true friends—with her life.

A twist of something deeper than jealousy hit me low in the gut. If I hadn’t locked Dean in the closet, would Parker have ended up with Dean instead? Would she have kissed him? Invited him into her body?

I couldn’t stand that I didn’t know for certain. I wanted to tell my stupid-ass insecurity to shut it. Parker liked me for me. That should be enough. But she’d been in love with a guy like Dean—lighter, sweeter. Not a big bruiser with a foul mouth. Maybe I was simply Mr. Good for Right Now, not Mr. Right.

God, I couldn’t believe I actually thought that. I sounded like a Cosmo article.

Dean’s goofy smile fell. “Hey, you know I didn’t mean that, right? It’s obvious that she’s really into you, Rhys.”

“I don’t want to have this conversation.” I glared at him. “When was it obvious?”

Damn it, I sounded needy as fuck.

Thankfully, my brother didn’t point that out. “At the bar. She couldn’t keep her eyes off you. I knew then you two would get together.”

Sighing, I sat back on the couch and pinched the bridge of my nose. “She’s great. I like her. A lot. But …”

“She has scabies?”

I dropped my hand and shot him a look. “Do you even know what that means?”

“It’s a condition that—”

“Forget I asked. She doesn’t have scabies. She has a dead first love.”

His eyes glinted. “Let me guess—she killed him and now you fear for your life.”

It was perverse that I wanted to laugh. I glared instead. “Would you cut it out? No, Deanie, he died. Hit and run. She hasn’t dated anyone since.”

Dean went pale and flopped back on his seat. “Jesus. That’s … harsh. And a lot for you to live up to, huh?”

“No kidding.” I shook my head. “How do I compete with someone she’s obviously built into a perfect paragon of young love?”

“Well, I mean, good sex has to help.” He narrowed his eyes on me. “You rocked her world, right? Left her good and satisfied?”

“What do you take me for? I’m not a chump.” I kind of loved Parker using that word earlier and felt a smile forming at the thought of her. “My woman was definitely satisfied.”