your point. If and when the time is right, I’m not opposed to finding someone, but that doesn’t mean
I’m going to sign up for one of those apps or anything.”
She placed a hand on my arm. “Sweetie, I hate to be the one to tell you, but those apps have
replaced the bars for quick hook-ups. Only lonely fools log onto any of them hoping to make a love
connection.”
“And how would you know?”
“Just because I’m a mom doesn’t mean I don’t have needs,” she explained sweetly. I shuddered
before a knot formed in my stomach. Hell no, my baby sister was not using an app to meet up with
random dudes. No fucking way. Her fingers tightened around my forearm. “Stand down, soldier.
Remember what I said about not needing a knight to save me. Hell, maybe you do need to download
an app so you can fuck out some of this sexual tension.”
“I’m not having this conversation with you,” I ground out. I rinsed my plate and headed toward the
front door. “As fun as this has been, I’m going back to the flower beds.”
“Think about what I said, William,” she pleaded. “Eventually, you’re going to do everything I
planned to make this house my own, and then I won’t have anything to do other than talk to you about
your pathetic sex life.”
“Can’t fucking wait.”
Somewhere along the lines, my sweet little Vivvie had turned mean. I almost missed the girl who
called me, terrified to tell our parents she was knocked up. Now, I had to deal with a mouthy,
independent woman who had apparently made it her mission to see that I wasn’t sex deprived.
Wonderful.
2
COREY
I MADE A MENTAL LIST OF EVERYTHING I NEEDED TO GET DONE AS I TOOK THE STAIRS TWO AT A TIME.
Of course, the elevator was down for maintenance on a day when my replacement at the mall was
running late and I had a shift at the bar. Shit like this didn’t happen when there was nothing better to
look forward to than a night on the couch catching up on some of the shows I didn’t get to watch when
I had Willow. I was out of breath and gasping by the time I reached the fourth-floor landing.
Only two more floors to go.
I checked the time on my phone. Just over an hour before I was expected to be behind the bar at
