“Yeah, everything’s fine …” Nash chuckles, a crease of confusion pulling between his brow. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

Harley glances at me with a questioning look, but all I can offer him is a slight shake of my head, quickly averting my eyes. I stare down at my hands, cracking my knuckles.

“I’m happy for you guys,” Nash says, moving forward and wrapping an arm around both Harley and me. “It’s about time.”

About time? I swing around, one of my eyebrows quirked slightly higher in confusion. “What’s about time?” I study Nash, waiting for an explanation and his eyes flit from me to Harley, and back again. But before he can say anything, Harley interrupts the moment.

“I’ve gotta go. I have to stop in and check on the bar to make sure it’s all okay.” He rolls his eyes, continuing, “There’s this new girl. She can’t even pour a damn beer. I don’t think she knows how to close off the register.”

Nash nods, removing his arm from my shoulders so he can pull Harley into a manly embrace. The two share a hug, complete with a couple of friendly back slaps and a few murmured words I’m not privy to. Pulling away, Harley looks at me, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. “Um, d-did you want a ride home … babe?” he asks through gritted teeth, adding the pet name as an obviously forced afterthought.

Nash watches closely, his eyes slightly narrowed.

“Yeah.” I shrug, smiling at Harley as sincerely as I possibly can through the guilt and shame eating at me from the inside.

“Y’all didn’t come together?”

I gulp, at a loss for words as Harley looks from me to Nash and back again before fixing his eyes to the ground while rubbing his stubbled jaw, clearly waiting for me to speak first.

“Oh, I-I—” I speak up with the first thing that comes to my mind. “I had a late customer consultation,” I lie. “I’ve been commissioned to make a sweet sixteenth birthday cake for the mayor’s daughter,” I add, as if to further validate my excuse, and for a moment I don’t even know who I am anymore. Does the mayor even have a daughter? I have no idea.

“But—” Nash pauses, his brow furrowed as he looks away a moment before meeting my eyes once again. “But you were here before Harley.”

Shit. I think for a moment. He’s right. I laugh with a casual shrug. “Yeah, but you know Harley.” I glance over my shoulder at Harley, careful to avoid his eyes. “He probably got sucked into some replay of a football game from five years ago on ESPN.”

Nash laughs, nodding and smiling between the two of us, and I can feel Harley glaring at me as I exhale a breath of relief, ignoring him. “Well,” I say with a weak smile. “Goodnight.” I step forward, placing a quick peck on Nash’s cheek. But as I go to move away, he holds me a little tighter, so close, and when I look into his eyes I find something I wasn’t expecting deep within his intense gaze.