It meant a lot. It also meant that she wasn’t entirely alone. She knew she had Jake, but he was like a brother at this point. An overprotective, obnoxious one.

You have Finn . . .

Even if she had no idea what to do with him. Although she’d had plenty of ideas the other night.

It turned out that dancing and singing karaoke in front of a crowd with Finn’s eyes on her had been shockingly arousing.

Which apparently had been obvious. Haley had given her a knowing glance at the bar. “You look hungry,” she’d said.

“Oh, no,” Pru had told her. “I’m fine, I had a plate of chicken wings.”

Haley and Willa had laughed.

Even Elle had smiled.

“You’re not hungry for food,” Elle had informed her, with Curly and Mo nodding their heads in agreement. “You’re hungry for a good time. With our boy Finn.”

“Well that’s just . . . a bad idea,” she’d finished weakly. She looked at Willa and Haley for confirmation of that fact.

“Hey, sometimes bad ideas turn out to be the best ideas of all,” Willa had said. “Just do it. Have some magical sex. And whatever happens, happens.”

What would happen is that Pru would screw up one of the only good things she had going for her right now. “Just do it? That’s your big advice?”

“Or in this case, him. Just do him.”

Pru snorted.

Willa had turned to Elle and asked, “Think she’ll follow my sage advice?”

Elle studied Pru’s face carefully. “Hard to say. She’s cute and sharp, but she’s got some healthy survivor instincts. That might hold her up some.”

“Stupid survivor instincts,” Willa had said on a sigh.

And Pru agreed. She had some survivor instincts, and they often got in her own way.

“For days a cloud of glitter has been following you around,” Jake said, startling Pru back into the here and now.

“I went to Karaoke the other night,” she said. “Rocked it too.”

“But you can’t sing,” Jake said.

“I can totally sing.”

He snorted. “And the glitter?”

“It was Nineties Night. This required copious amounts of glitter, which apparently is like the STD of the craft supplies. Once you use it without protection, you can’t get rid of it.” Pru looked down at herself. “Ever.”

“Even Thor’s wearing glitter,” he said. “You’re messing with his manhood.”

“Real men aren’t afraid of glitter,” she said.

“Real men are terrified of glitter.”

At the end of the day, Pru collected her dog from Jake’s office, where she found him asleep sprawled on top of the desk.

“Seriously?” she asked.

“He likes to see what’s going on,” Jake said.

And Jake liked the company. She’d almost feel bad about taking Thor away when she’d moved but oh yeah, it’d been Jake’s idea for her to go. “I hope he got glitter all over you.”

“Hell no,” Jake said. “Glitter doesn’t dare stick to me. But you’ve got some on your face.”

She couldn’t get rid of it. She’d already sent Elle an I-hate-you text. Twice.

“We’re going to have to forfeit tonight’s game,” Jake said. “We’re short a player. Trev’s out with mono.”

She and a group of Jake’s other friends and employees played on a local rec center league softball team. Jake was their coach. Coach Tyrant. “Who gets mono at our age?” she asked.

Jake shrugged. “He’s a ship captain, he sees a lot of action.”

“I’m a ship captain,” she said. “I see no action.”

“And we both know why,” Jake said.

Not going there. “Don’t forfeit,” she said. “I’ll find us a player.”

Jake raised a brow. “Who?”

“Hey, I have other people in my life besides you, you know.”

“Since when?”

She rolled her eyes and ran out. Well, okay, she didn’t run exactly. Thor refused to run. But they walked fast because she had an idea, one that would further her plan to bring Finn more fun.

Of course she’d deviated from the plan a couple of times now, starting with allowing her lips to fall onto his—not once but a holy-cow twice—but she’d decided to give herself a break because he was so . . . well, kissable.

And hey, now she knew that his mouth was a danger zone, she’d just steer clear. Her inner voice laughed hysterically at this, but whatever. She could do it.