Jamie: Yes. All kinds. Especially fancy kinds.

Simon: If you’re driving all the way up to Virginia Tech, research the area. Find someplace local that has a unique specialty. Pick a separate place for dessert. A local bakery or something. Be intentional. Not like you happened upon it and picked it because it was on the way. She’ll appreciate that you planned ahead and gave thought to what she might like.

Jamie: Got it.

Simon: And talk about something other than soccer.

Jamie: For real?

Simon: In fact, talk about everything BUT soccer. Books. Music. Movies. Politics. Philosophy. No sports.

Jamie: Ugh. I’ll try. But I’m not making any promises.

Chapter 14

Late September was not supposed to be warm. It was fall. Officially, on the calendar and everything. And yet at 9:00 a.m., it was already seventy-five degrees. I shrugged out of my sweater, realizing I’d probably end up carrying it around all day anyway, and opened my front door, tossing it back inside onto the couch. I wanted to need it. Stupid North Carolina. It always hung on to summer as long as it possibly could.

Jamie waited for me at the bottom of the stairs. We’d only texted briefly the night before. He’d gotten in after midnight, too late to have much of a conversation, but he’d promised he’d pick me up at 9:00 a.m. sharp for my birthday . . . for whatever it was he had planned. He leaned up against his jeep, looking all cool and stud-like. California looked good on him. He’d been gone less than a week, but somehow he’d managed to get a nice tan and what I swear looked like actual, for-real highlights. I reached up and touched his hair. “Did you . . . ?”

He shrugged away like he was embarrassed. “It looks stupid, right?”

“No! I wasn’t saying that. It looks nice. I just didn’t know you were a salon kind of guy.”

“I’m not. But Byron’s sister was at the beach house where we all stayed, and she owns this salon, and she thought it would be a good idea. I didn’t want to be rude about it, you know? She did Katie’s hair too while we were there.”

So Katie had gone to California with Dave. Technically she was a little more invested than I was, what, with an engagement ring and everything, but it still stung a little that she’d managed to make the trip while I’d stayed behind. Also, five days at a beach house sounded very different from five days of hanging out in a hotel while Jamie worked. “I wish I’d been there.”

He reached out and put his hands on my waist. “Me too.”

“Byron. He’s the head guy? The merger guy?”