And he could be pretty laid back too.

“Can’t a guy visit his kid brother?” Evan asked once she’d subsided.

“Not if he insists on calling him kid brother.”

“You should realize by now he only does it to annoy you,” Kelsey said. “Where’s Candace?”

“Off somewhere smoking up. Or mainlining. Or she might be getting coffee across the street. Where’s Alex?”

“At Mom’s,” Evan said. “We’re having the rare date night…though they might get more plentiful the closer we get to moving. She’s trying to soak up all the baby-time she can.”

“And so you come by to…get your name tatted on Kelsey’s ass? Ev on one cheek and an on the other, right?”

Kelsey was turning redder than her cherry-red sweater, covering her mouth in her laughter. Evan shook his head. “You are all kinds of wrong.”

“Hey,” Starla piped up, “I just had an idea. You should name your next baby boy Kevin. It would be like a combination of both your names.”

Brian’s upper lip curled. “That’s lame. God, you’re lame, Star.”

“We actually thought of that before we settled on Alex,” Kelsey said, putting her hands on her hips in mock offense.

“That’s because you’re both sappy dorks.”

“Ha. You talk smack, but we’ve all learned how sappy you can be too. It’s only a matter of time before you have Candace’s name on your ass,” Evan said.

“Can I say for the record that I always throw out very strong hints to my clients that they should not tattoo a significant other’s name onto their bodies? It’s their skin; they can do what they want. But I don’t care how long they’ve been together or how solid it looks. It never fails they’ll be back here a few weeks later, sobbing to me that they want it covered up. Sometimes I swear you need to be a licensed counselor to go into this business.”

“Aw, come on, Bri,” Kelsey said. “You wouldn’t get a tattoo of Candace’s name? Even a little one? I know you would.”

He grinned. “Oh, I’ve already got it, but it’s somewhere you can’t see.”

“Too much information, Brian,” Evan said as the room erupted in sounds of disgust.

Brian put a hand over his chest. “On my heart.”

This time the gagging sounds were even louder.

“That is the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard!” Kelsey cried over it all.

“Are you slackin’ off or what, dude?” Brian asked Evan. “Here I am, having to give your wife her romantic thrills and all.”

“Don’t let him snow you,” Evan said, drawing Kelsey close to his side. But even he had a grin on his face.

“I always knew Brian was a closet romantic,” she said. “I called it a long time ago, didn’t I? It just took the right woman to bring him out.”

Evan dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose, smiling down into her eyes. “Isn’t that all it ever takes?”

“All right, get a room. And no more talk of me being romantic in here.” Brian plucked at the front of his T-shirt. “I have an image to uphold.”

Ghost had sat watching the rampant mushiness in speechless dismay. Macy’s words in the car the other night came back to haunt him, when she’d said that sometimes things work out. He wished he could believe that for himself. Looking at the two relationships represented here, Brian’s and Evan’s, he could almost have hope. Of course, both of them were still in their infancy stages in the grand scheme of things. But he was beginning to realize he would be more surprised if Brian and Candace didn’t work out than if they did. In all the years he’d known him, Ghost had never seen his friend this way. And if Evan and Kelsey ever busted up…well, it would shake up the entire town.

He’d never felt deserving of it himself. He considered himself a confident-enough guy, but what in the ever-loving f**k could possibly be so appealing about him that another person would want to spend the rest of her life with him? He didn’t get it. Like Gus, he was f**ked up, only in different ways. And look what Gus’s girl kept putting him through.

Candace and Macy took that moment to sweep in the front door, both laughing about something, but Macy’s vibrant smile faltered a bit when she saw him. Not in disappointment, though. Her eyes brightened. He didn’t know why or how, but he got the impression her heart had leaped into her throat. His had. Or maybe he was just f**king delusional where she was concerned. Nonetheless, he returned what smile she managed for him.

Kelsey and Candace rushed into a hug, both trilling with delight at seeing each other. Macy greeted Kelsey and Evan warmly, but Ghost didn’t miss her gaze sliding over to him every few seconds. Because he couldn’t stop looking at her.

Her cheeks, all flushed with the bite of cold. He remembered them flushed from arousal. Her bright hazel eyes—maybe he’d put the light there; it hadn’t been there the first night he’d seen her before their interlude in his car.

She was one of those girls who remarkably had a different hairstyle every time he saw her. Sometimes curly, sometimes long and sleek, sometimes in a variety of stylishly sloppy updos. Tonight it was simple—one dark sweep tucked behind both ears under her off-white knit cap. Her ears were slightly pink too, and what he wouldn’t give to take her home and warm her up…

Goddamn, she was out of his league.

“He was talking so sweet about you just now,” Kelsey said as Candace moved to Brian’s side and handed him the cup she’d brought in from across the street.

“Was he? He can be pretty sweet when he wants to be.”

Brian sipped his coffee and hugged his girlfriend to his side. “I might keep her around for a while. As long as she acts right and doesn’t give me too much lip. She’s all right to look at, you know.”

Candace smacked him on the chest. “So nice to know I’m wanted.”

“Weren’t you thinking of getting your master’s and going for the LPC, Candace?” Evan asked. “There you go, Brian. You said you needed a counselor in the parlor. You’d have one.”

The others laughed, but all at once, the atmosphere seemed to shift. Candace became very interested in the remaining contents of her drink, and Brian dropped his arm from her shoulders and promptly rubbed the back of his neck. Ghost cocked an eyebrow. Brian had hinted at a little bit of stress regarding Candace’s future career goals, but he got the feeling now that Evan had just inadvertently dropped a major shit bomb right between them.

“I’m exploring options,” she said carefully and looked up at Brian. He smiled at her, and the weirdness seemed to evaporate somewhat.

Ghost made a mental note to take Brian out for some one-on-one time.

As the lovey banter was resuscitated, he kept trying to figure out how in the hell he could get Macy off to the side without becoming a part of it all. His chance came when Brian decided he wanted to show everyone what he was working on. For all her hang-ups about ink and piercings, Macy loved to look at the artwork, so she followed the group. Ghost fell into step right on her heels. She was wearing some of those jeans with bling on the ass. As if he needed more reason to look there.