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“What was that, Ben?”

“Okay, okay. It won’t happen again.”

“You’re fucking right, it won’t.” I release him and stand back as he lumbers to his feet. As he backs away from me, I wave and flash him another grin. “See you tomorrow, Benjamin.”

“Jesus, dude,” Smith says as I get back to the table and sink into my seat. I shrug.

“What? I couldn’t let him get away with that. Besides, I just gave us the perfect cover for coming back here every day.”

He shakes his head. “Where the hell did you learn that move and can you show me how to do it?”

“The Marines and no,” I answer with a laugh, feeling lighter than I did when we first arrived. My phone pings from my pocket and I pull it out, frowning when I see the notification from the dating app I signed up for.

“Everything okay?”

I glance up and nod before shoving the phone back in my pocket. I can’t believe I actually signed up for that stupid thing and that I still haven’t deleted it. “Yeah.”

“You sure?” he asks, his face knitted in concern. I sigh.

“I drank too much the other night and signed up for a goddamn dating site.”

He grins and leans forward. “Did you now? Any luck?”

“No,” I lie, thinking of the message from a woman named Shiloh I just got. He laughs.

“You fucking liar.”

I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter cause it was a dumbass idea and I’m not going to go through with it.”

“Why not?”

“‘Cause like I said, it was just a dumb idea that sounded good after a few too many beers.”

“Yeah,” he agrees, leaning back again. “But you just said you wanted the wife and the family and all that, right?”

I nod.

“So, you’re never going to find it if you don’t try.”

I roll my eyes. “Like you tried? Or Storm? Or Kodiak? You all met your wives because of luck.”

“Dude, just give it a shot. There’s a coffee shop literally right across the street,” he says, pointing out the window and I glance over my shoulder, eyeing the little cafe. “Just pop over there and get coffee with her. It’s like thirty minutes out of your day.”

I flash him a glare. “Just let it go.”

“No. I’m serious. Give it a shot. Maybe she’s the one.”

“You sound like a goddamn girl right now, you know that?”

He shrugs. “All I hear you saying is that you’re scared and maybe you should shut up and listen to me cause I know how good it is on the other side of that mountain you’re too afraid to cross.”

Motherfucker.

I want to come back with a snappy remark but his words hit a target I didn’t even realize I’d put up and I sigh as I lean back in my chair and fiddle with the silverware next to my plate. Jesus Christ, what the hell am I doing? I’m thirty years old and I’ve been single for the last ten goddamn years because of one dishonest woman.

“You’re an asshole,” I growl as I pull my phone out of my pocket and he laughs.

“I’m okay with that.”