“She’s my best friend.” My stomach burns.

I look over at Casey. “One of these days, she’s going to stop waiting on you to make a move,” he says. “Then what are you going to do?”

“She isn’t waiting for me to make a move,” I say. “She doesn’t look at me like that.”

“Idiot,” he says, and the back door opens with Kallie coming out.

I get up, walking to her. “Where is she?” I ask.

“She is sitting inside drinking water with my father,” she says, and I walk inside and see that she is sitting at the island with a bottle of water in her hand.

“Hey there.” She smiles at me when she turns her head. “I was coming out to find you.”

“Were you?” I ask, slipping on the stool beside her.

“I was,” she says softly, our shoulders touching. Billy walks out of the kitchen, leaving the both of us. “It’s a lot less awkward than I thought it would be.”

“I told you that it would be okay.” I nudge her shoulder with mine, and she gets off the stool. I turn, putting my back to the counter.

My legs are open, my feet wide, and she walks between them and puts her hands on my shoulders. She’s never done this before. “You are always right,” she says, stepping closer to me. My hands go to her hips. “We should have a bet.” Tease me, yes, touch me, yes, joke with me, yes, but flirt with me, never.

“Oh, yeah?” I say, my mouth getting dry. “What would you bet?” I ask her.

“I can’t tell you that.” She giggles. “But you would have won, and I would have lost.” She shrugs her shoulders. “In the end, I would have won anyway.”

I’m about to ask her what she means and bring her even closer to me. I’m about to do things to her I have only dreamed, but the door opens, and Ethan comes in. “I’m leaving, Mom,” he says, not even batting an eye at our intimate position.

“What time is it?” she asks, and he shrugs.

“It’s already after eight,” I say, and her eyes go wide. “We should get going also.”

“We should,” she says, and I get up, my hands not moving from her hips, she turns in my arms now and I hold one hip tight to make sure she doesn’t stumble. We walk out with Ethan and say goodbye to everyone. Billy hugs her with the promise that he will be coming by the bar when it opens to give her the secret sweet tea recipe.

She nods at him, smiling. I slip my fingers with hers, and she holds me as we walk to the truck. “That sweet tea was good,” she says, giggling.

“How much sweet tea did you have?” I ask, opening the door for her.