The door yanked open, and Trex burst through, looking around and seeming relieved when his eyes settled on me.

I smiled at him, resting the fist of my free hand on my chin, the other still blatantly telling Watts to fuck off.

“Hey,” Trex said, huffing. “This is it? This is why I risked a reckless driving ticket?”

“Is she uh…?” Watts began.

“Of course!” I said, finally letting my arm fall to my thigh. “I must belong to him because I’m not interested in you.”

“Who said you weren’t interested in me?” Watts said.

“Me,” I said. “Twice.”

“Watts,” Trex said, shaking his head. “You don’t wanna rock this boat.”

“Is she your sister?” Watts asked.

Trex and I looked at each other. I was half Armenian and tanned by almost a lifetime in the desert sun, my dark hair brushing my shoulders in air-dried waves; Trex was a white boy from Kansas. We couldn’t have looked more different.

“Seriously?” Trex asked, just as baffled by Watts’ conclusion as I was.

Watts sat. “I’m just trying to figure you guys out. Maybe you’re adopted, I dunno.”

“We work together,” Trex said.

“Trex,” I scolded. Watts needed exactly zero information about me.

“Didn’t you notice the wedding band?” Trex asked. “She’s married, man, beat it.”

Watts looked down. “It’s on her middle finger.”

“Does she look like a conformist?” Trex asked.

Watts shrugged and stood. “She’s fucking beautiful. If she doesn’t want guys thinking she’s single, maybe wear it on the correct finger.”

I glared at him. “Or believe me when you walk up and the first thing I say is go away.”

“You’re right. I apologize,” he said. He nodded to Trex once then walked away.

I used the bottle opener to pop open the top of the beer in front of me and took a swig.

“Why do you wear it on your middle finger?” Trex asked.

“I lost weight after Matt died. It doesn’t fit on that finger anymore.”

“Get it sized?”

“No. Matt picked out this ring. It stays the same as he remembers it.”

“Must have been hard for you to move here.”

I shook my head, wishing smoking was allowed inside. I put an unlit cigarette between my fingers to help. “That part was easy. I couldn’t look at that apartment one more day. I didn’t realize it until I got the letter. Then I couldn’t pack fast enough.”

I glanced over at Watts. He was talking to his buddies but happened to look over at me at the same time. Darby began to walk toward us then saw Trex’s hand on mine. She turned on her heels and returned to Zeke, standing with her back to us.

“Shit,” Trex said, standing.

“What?”

“You know what she’s thinking. Go—”