“They're just friends." This time it came out a little sharper. If I squeezed the mayo any harder, it was likely to explode. "She's helping him learn control."He waggled his eyebrows at me. The thin silver barbell above his right eye danced. "Control? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”

“That will give me time to hang out with Finley." His thin eyebrows waggled. "Show her what a real man can do with Legos.”

“When she reached the button of his jeans, his hips jerked and he squeezed his eyes closed, hoped he wouldn’t make a fool of himself and lose it the second she touched him. He hadn’t done anything like that in ages, not since high school, but Nia shattered his control like nothing else.”

“Look, you came all the way out here to help me. The least I can do is give you a place to stay. But my dad will be there, so…”“So we have to be quiet,” he whispers, waggling his eyebrows comically.I just smile. I neither confirm nor deny that there will be more sex. But there will be. If he tries very hard at all, there definitely will be.”

“You’ll be fine. I won’t let you drown.” His lips quirked, like he found her terror entertaining. All the pent up anger, grief and fear fought for supremacy inside. She couldn’t control what came out of her mouth. “And I’m supposed to trust you? Are you kidding me?”

“I don't want to. Believe me. But I can't help it. Rose said in time, I'll learn the control to keep his feelings out, but I can't do it now. And he has so much, Sydney. So much feeling. He feels everything so strongly— love, grief, anger. His emotions are up and down, all over the place. What happened between him and Rose . . . it tears him apart.”