“Oh. That.”

Brad immediately puts two and two together. He nods slowly, and then says to Josh, “You ever washed dishes?”

Josh rolls his eyes and follows Brad to the sink.

I feel bad making him work, but I’d feel even worse if there weren’t any consequences to the thousands of dollars he cost me. I’ll let him do dishes for an hour and then we’ll call it even.

I mostly just wanted him out of my office so I could talk to Theo about him. I haven’t had a chance to talk to him without Josh in the room.

Theo is at my desk, stuffing papers into his backpack. I sit on the couch, prepared to ask him about Josh, but Theo speaks first. “You kiss Lily yet?”

Always about me, never about him.

“Not yet.”

“What the heck, Atlas? I swear, you are so lame sometimes.”

“How well do you know Josh?” I ask, changing the subject.

“He’s only been in school for two days, so not super well. We have a couple of classes together.”

“How’s he doing in that school?”

“No clue. I’m not his teacher.”

“I don’t mean his grades. I mean his interactions. Is he making friends? Is he nice?”

Theo tilts his head. “You’re asking me if your brother is nice? Shouldn’t you know?”

“I just met him.”

“Yeah, me too,” Theo says. “And you’re asking me a loaded question. Kids are mean sometimes. You know that.”

“Are you saying Josh is mean?”

“There are different kinds of mean. Josh is the better kind of mean.”

I’m not following at all. Theo can see that, so he expands. “He’s like a bully to the bullies, if that makes sense.”

This conversation is making me uncomfortable. “So Josh is… king of the bullies? That sounds bad.”

Theo rolls his eyes. “It’s hard to explain. But I’m sure it’s not surprising that I’m not the most popular kid in that school. I’m on the math team, and I’m…” He shrugs off the last word. “But I don’t have to worry about kids like Josh. When you ask me if he’s nice, I don’t know how to answer that, because he isn’t nice. But he isn’t mean, either. Or at least he isn’t mean to the nice people.”

I don’t speak up immediately because I’m trying to absorb all this information. I might be more confused than I was before this conversation. But it does make me feel good to know that Theo isn’t scared of Josh.

“Anyway,” Theo says, zipping his backpack. “You and Lily. Did it fizzle out already?”

“No, we’re just busy. I’m going to a wedding with her tomorrow, though.”

“You finally gonna kiss her?”

“If she wants me to.”

Theo nods. “She probably will as long as you refrain from saying anything cheesy, like, Look at the ships, let’s lock lips!”

I grab one of the couch pillows and throw it at him. “I’m getting a new therapist who doesn’t bully me.”

Chapter Twenty Lily

It’s challenging being the florist for a wedding and a guest. I’ve been running all day to make sure the flowers at the venue were set up the way Lucy wanted them. And on top of that, we’re closing early for the wedding, so Serena needed help getting all the deliveries completed and onto the truck.

By the time Atlas makes it to my apartment to pick me up, I’m not even close to being ready. I just received a text from him asking if he should come up. I’m sure he’s cautious because everything is so new with us, and he doesn’t know who might be here if he were to knock on the door, and if I’d want them to know Atlas is my date to the wedding.

I was hesitant to invite him to the wedding for that very reason, but I’m confident no one at Lucy’s wedding would even know Ryle. We run in different circles. And on the off chance they do know Ryle, and it might get back to him that I was with someone, the risk is worth the reward. I’ve been looking forward to this night since Atlas agreed to come with me.

Come up, I’m still getting ready.

Atlas knocks at my door moments later. When I open the door to let him in, my eyes feel like they might double in size like they do in the cartoons. “Wow.” I’m staring at him all dressed up in his black designer suit. He stands in the hallway for longer than I’d normally make someone wait before inviting them in because I forget basic things like hospitality when I’m in his presence.

He’s holding a bouquet, but it isn’t flowers. It’s cookies.

He hands them to me. “Figured you get enough flowers,” he says. He leans in and kisses my cheek, and I want to tilt my face just enough so that his lips land on mine, but hopefully I won’t have to be patient for much longer.

“These are perfect,” I say, motioning for him to enter. “Come in. I need, like, fifteen minutes to get dressed.”

I’ve been so busy today, I haven’t even had a chance to eat. I open one of the cookies and bite into it. Then, with a mouthful, I say, “I’m sorry if this is tacky. I’m starving.” I point toward my bedroom. “You can wait in my room with me while I get ready; it won’t take me long.”

Atlas is looking around, taking everything in as he follows me to my bedroom.

My dress is laid out on the bed, so I pick it up and walk to my bathroom. I leave the door cracked a bit so that I can talk to him while I change. “Where’s Josh?”

“You remember Brad from that poker night?”

“I do, actually.”

“His son, Theo, is at my house with Josh. They go to school together.”

“How’s he liking school?”

I can’t see Atlas, but he’s closer to the bathroom when he says, “Fine, I guess.” It sounds like he’s right next to the door. I slip the dress over my head and open the door farther. I chose a merlot-colored fitted dress with spaghetti straps. It has a matching shawl, but it’s still hanging in the closet.

Atlas looks me over when I appear in the doorway. His eyes journey up the length of me, but I don’t give him time to compliment me.

“Can you zip me up?” I give him my back and lift my hair, but I can feel him hesitate. Or maybe he’s soaking in the moment.

A couple of seconds later, I feel his fingers press against my back as he raises the zipper. It sends chills rolling over my skin. When he’s finished, I drop my hair and turn and face him. “I need to put on makeup.” I start to back into the bathroom, but Atlas grips my waist.

“Come here,” he says, pulling me until I smush against him. He admires my face for a couple of seconds, smiling appreciatively. Seductively. Like he’s about to kiss me. “Thank you for inviting me.”