“What do you mean?” I asked.

She shrugged. “You cleaning up his apartment is really playing into those traditional gender and economic roles.”

“Except for the fact that I can’t be conforming to a gender role because I have no idea how to clean.”

“Good point,” she said, lifting up her cup of peppermint tea to take a quick sip.

And during all this, Shay had continued to stare at Tyler’s picture on my phone with a goofy grin on her face. An inclination I understood, but it was starting to make me a little uneasy. Possibly jealous as well.

Shay turned the phone screen toward Delia. “Did you see his dog, too? Men are a hundred times hotter when they love dogs. That’s legit math. From a math teacher.”

I couldn’t help but brag about him a little, because it was one of the facts I knew from my Tyler brain file. “He rescued that dog, Pigeon, from an abusive home. I mean, I guess it was actually the shelter who rescued her and then Tyler adopted her, but still.”

Shay nodded. “I was wrong in my calculations. He is now ten thousand times hotter.”

“He’s like a real-life Captain America,” Delia agreed. “He should have his own ticker-tape parade.”

“I’ll be grand marshal,” Shay said.

“I think the fact that we’re all so gaga over him means we should probably be dating more,” I said.

Shay shook her head, disagreeing with me. “I date plenty.”

“I mean guys you go out on more than one date with.”

She rolled her eyes at me and in apparent retaliation announced, “I feel like Tyler Roth is in need of a deep dive.”

I said, “No,” and reached for my phone, but she ignored me. Delia grabbed her own phone and started tapping on it. “He hasn’t posted anything on Facebook in years. No account on Twitter that I can find.”

Shay showed her my phone. “But look at the stuff he’s posted on Insta. He not only adopted his dog from that shelter, but he volunteers there, too. Speaking of volunteering, he’s involved with this coffee company that donates its profits to building homes in Guatemala. He actually flew out there and helped build them. He really is Captain America.” She hesitated slightly to suck in a deep breath of appreciation. “Oh, look, he does the cutest thing. He takes pictures with his dog and Photoshops famous sites behind them. Like the Eiffel Tower, Colosseum, the Statue of Liberty. He says she’s too nervous to fly but he wishes he could show her the world. That is the cutest thing ever. And he hashtags them all with #ohtheplacesyoullgo.”

“That’s enough,” I said, reaching for my phone.

Shay tapped the screen thoughtfully, ignoring my hand. “Maybe he’s too kind.”

“Too kind?” I repeated. Was that even possible?

“Yeah. You know the type that’s so nice and helpful that he winds up being taken advantage of.”

I didn’t know him well enough to know whether or not that was true. It could be. But he seemed so strong and confident and sure of himself that I had a hard time imagining it.

“Personally, I think you should marry this guy immediately,” Delia announced. “Now on to LinkedIn to check out his employment prospects.”

That was enough. “This feels too much like invading his privacy. You guys should stop.”

There was loud male laughter from the other side of the room, which put an end to the search as we turned to see Tristan Ramon and Owen James laughing loudly. Tristan waved slightly at Delia, who pretended not to notice. While both men were tall, Tristan had dark-black hair and dark eyes and Owen was his polar opposite, with dirty-blond hair and light-brown eyes. The two men had both started five years ago and had become best friends. Because the academy had only been open for about ten years, Millstone had a disproportionate number of young teachers. Which wasn’t an issue until it was.

Like with Owen and Shay’s rivalry. Where Tristan just seemed emotionally stunted in how he went about wooing women by teasing them, Owen was not like that. He and Shay legitimately despised one another.

Owen nodded his chin at Shay and asked, “Why are you smiling so much? Did your huntsman finally bring you your stepdaughter’s heart?”

That got Shay to put my phone down and I snatched it back before she realized what she had done. “Look who decided to grace us with his douchedom.”

“Eloquent and charming as ever, Ms. Simmons. But I think I’ll head out because, thanks to your predictability, I already know where this is going.”

“Maybe grab a handbasket on your way out and see where it takes you,” she invited, her arms crossed over her chest. I wondered how long it would take him to figure that one out. He was a smart guy. I was betting he’d get it eventually.

With a shake of his head, Owen left. Tristan followed behind him, sporting a sheepish and apologetic smile.

“Assault should be legal against people like him,” Shay muttered under her breath, adding a word that sounded suspiciously like “pass goal.”

I figured my best bet was to distract her, so I waved my phone back and forth in front of her. “I was planning on trying to move in today.”

It did the trick and she leaned forward and said, “I have two questions. One, can I help you move in?”

“Of course.” I was hoping she’d offer because I had a lot of clothing.

“Great. And my second question—does Tyler have another extra room?”

CHAPTER FOUR

Shay was suitably impressed by everything at Tyler’s place—the doorman (Gerald) who greeted us, the swanky elevator, the view from the balcony, the state-of-the-art kitchen, my large and luxurious bedroom. “Your room is the same size as my whole apartment!”

I didn’t say anything, but trust me, I knew.

She stuck her head in Tyler’s room and I caught a glimpse of Pigeon’s tail before she hid under the bed. “Come on. We need to get me moved in.” I tugged on Shay’s arm and closed his door. While I was just as curious, I didn’t want to infringe on his personal space and stress Pigeon out any further.

Bringing up all my junk, even with Gerald’s help, was a slow and tedious process. I tried to tell myself I was getting a great workout, given that I could no longer afford to see my personal trainer.

We were close to being done when I heard Tyler’s voice call out, “Madison?”

The sound of my name on his lips sent weird shivers up my spine. Shay and I were still in my room, dropping off boxes. We exchanged glances and before I could mouth the word behave to her, Tyler rapped on my open door and stuck his head in.

“Oh, hi! I didn’t realize you had company. I’m Tyler.”

Shay stood there, motionless.

“This is Shay, my best friend.”

“Great to meet you.” He smiled at her and then focused his gaze on me. “Hey, I’m going to go change and then I’ll come help you with the rest of the boxes.”

“Sounds good!”

When I heard his door shut, I said to Shay, “I’ll give you the same advice Frederica gave me. Close your mouth, sweetheart.”

She recovered much more quickly than I had. “Are you kidding me right now? I mean, you told me he was better looking in real life but . . . how much is a soul going for these days?”