I take a long drink of my beer. “I didn’t sleep with her.”
“Good, because I like her, and I don’t want you to break her.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “I like her, too. And I also want to keep her heart in one piece, which is part of the reason I’m holding off on the physical stuff.”
One of his eyebrows raises. “This is new.”
I spread my arms wide. “This is the new Randall Hamilton—therealRandall Hamilton. I hope you’re prepared to get to know me.”
“I already know the real Randall Hamilton,” my brother says, “and I like him. I just haven’t seen him in a long time. Welcome back.”
“It still blows me away when you know the perfect thing to say.” Ash has never been much of a talker or dispenser of life wisdom, but he’s changed over the past month or so since Leslie came back into his life. “I like the new Ashley Hamilton, too.”
“Look at us being adults,” he says.
“It’s weird.” I grin at him.
“It truly is. Now, tell me what happened with Wendy.”
I tell him most of it.
“You really didn’t kiss her?” he asks.
“It took the strength of a small army, but no.”
“How long do you think you can keep that up?”
I sip my beer as I think about the answer, but mostly I think about Wendy’s full pink lips, which gives me my answer. “I don’t know, but I’ll admit it adds an interesting element to the relationship.”
“That’s one way of looking at it.”
“You don’t agree with my decision?”
“I think it’s a great decision, because you’ll have much more time to talk to each other if your mouths aren’t otherwise engaged. Holding off can be a good thing, but it’s going to be a challenge.”
I groan. “Tell me about it.”
“Did you talk about how often you’re going to see or talk to each other, since you don’t want this relationship to take over your entire life?”
“No.”
“You’d better do it soon.”
“I will the next time we talk.” I pause. “Do you and Leslie limit your time together?”
“We do.”
“Really?” I’m surprised by his answer, because it seems they’re always together.
“Yep. Three nights a week, we do our own thing—spend time with friends, chill out at home, do a hobby, whatever.”
“How did I not notice that?”
“Because you’ve been off … cuddling … with Wendy.”
I laugh at the look of distaste on his face. “Have you ever said the word ‘cuddling’ before?”
“Never. It felt strange coming out of my mouth. I don’t want to say it again.”
