“Screwed up, huh? You have to swear you’ll never tell anyone, Adam. Promise me.”

“I promise.”

“Not even Grant.”

“Especially not Grant.”

They shared a smile that made Adam a tiny bit grateful for Sasha’s betrayal. Without it, he wouldn’t be having this unexpectedly special moment with this adorably sweet and surprisingly sexy woman. “I was always so concerned about hurting their feelings that I faked it rather than let them think they weren’t satisfying me.”

“Have you ever, you know, by yourself?”

“Ugh, I think I just died of embarrassment.”

“Have you?”

“Yes!”

“So you know you can.”

“Yes.”

“Interesting.”

“What does that mean?”

“At least I get now why you’ve got meaningless sex on your bucket list.”

“Exactly.”

“Except…”

“What?”

“You had genuine feelings for Grant and Cal, but couldn’t get there. What makes you think it’ll be better with someone you don’t care about?”

Her big brown eyes flooded with tears that made Adam feel like an ass for asking the question.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“I have to try. Don’t you see that? If I don’t try, how will I find something better?”

Since Adam didn’t have a good answer to that question, he didn’t say anything. He stared up at the ceiling for a long time, and when he looked over at her again, he saw that she’d dozed off with tears staining her cheeks. Those tear streaks made him sad.

The cell phone peeking out of her hip pocket caught his attention.

Moving slowly and carefully—and without taking the time to change his mind or consider the ethical consequences of what he was about to do—he withdrew the phone without waking her. Luckily it wasn’t password protected, which he’d have to talk to her about at some point. He accessed the settings and programmed it so he could check her location at any given time.

Even though his conscience strongly objected, he’d made a decision during the enlightening hour he’d spent with her. If anyone was going to help her go a little crazy this summer—in bed and out—it was going to be him. Now he just had to convince her to let him while making sure his brother never, ever found out about it.

Owen got Holden changed, fed and settled in his crib. The little guy looked up at him with big, trusting eyes that made Owen weak in the knees with love. After helping to raise his six younger siblings, he’d never pictured himself acting like a dad to someone else’s kid. But now he couldn’t imagine life without the little guy.