“Busy, and busy.” His youngest brother, Chris, had plans with his girlfriend. And Gabriel, his twin, was trying to catch up on math so he could apply for firefighter school in the spring.

“Come on,” said Quinn. “You know you want to.”

He did want to. A lot.

A lot more than he wanted to admit.

Too complicated. He shook his head.

“Come on,” said Quinn. “You could bring your textbook. Wear some glasses. He’d probably think it was sexy.”

Nick told himself to stop imagining it.

Quinn grinned. “Nicholas Merrick. You are blushing.”

“Seriously. Pool. Out back. Get ready to be all wet.”

“If you don’t come with me, I’m going to tell him to stop pining, because you’re not interested.”

“You are not going to tell him that.”

“Yes. I am. In fact—” She pulled out her cell phone. “I’m going to tell him right now.”

Her hands were flying across the keys. Nick was on his feet yanking it out of her hands before he even knew he was moving. She didn’t fight him.

Then he looked down at what she’d typed. Not a message to Adam. A message to him.

You deserve a break, too, Nick.

He sighed. “I don’t know.”

Her voice gentled. “I know you still like him.” She paused. “It’s not a date. It’s an hour in the studio.”

An hour watching Adam dance. He’d almost come undone the first time. But eager butterflies were hanging streamers for a party in his stomach. “All right. I’ll come with you.”

“Yay!” She clapped.

“You seem overly enthusiastic. Like you said, it’s an hour in the studio. Nothing might happen.”

“Oh, it’s not that.” She smiled sweetly. “Really, I needed a ride.”

Nick grabbed her and flung her over his shoulder. “That’s it. Pool.”

She laughed. “You’re excited. Come on. Admit it.”

He set her on her feet, but didn’t let her go. Up close, he could look into the blue of her eyes. She was very pretty, with enough curves to draw attention. She whined about being fat all the time, but dance kept her body toned and muscled.

After catching him with Adam, she’d offered to continue playing the role of his girlfriend. It let him keep his secret from his brothers, but it also kept her from going out and meeting a guy who would care about what she had to offer.

This whole setup was so wrong. “I hate using you,” he said.

“Do you want to have an epic breakup?”

“You deserve to date a guy who likes you.”

“So do you.”

Nick clamped his mouth shut and turned back to the path, slapping the next stone into place.

“We can stop if you want,” said Quinn. “I’ll go back to nightly screaming matches with my mother, you go back to screwing easy girls so you look like a total player.”