There’s plenty of food and alcohol, activities for the kids, and music by which to dance. All freakin’ great, except here I am sharing it with my bud Ryker—no offense—rather than a beautiful yet dorky brunette whom I’m missing terribly.

“So where’s Kate?” I go ahead and ask Ryker. No sense in beating around the bush. Sutton sort of let it drop about ten minutes ago that she’d be here. I wasn’t sure if she would be, but Sutton confirmed it and I didn’t even have to ask her.

Now that I think about it…it’s almost like she was taunting me with the information.

“She’s coming with a friend,” Ryker says neutrally. “So she’s coming separately.”

A friend? What kind of friend?

Suddenly panic and doubt fill me. “Just put me out of my misery, dude,” I plead with Ryker. “Is she bringing a date?”

“No clue,” he says with a careless shrug. “Didn’t ask.”

Of course he didn’t ask. He wouldn’t get personal like that.

So now I sit here, on pins and needles, with my eyes scanning the crowd looking for Kate. More important, looking for the person who will be with her, because that may definitely change my perspective on things.

I don’t know what I’m going to do about Kate tonight. I haven’t thought it through, but I’m thinking mainly I just want to approach her, maybe make some small talk, and ease into things. Then maybe I can call her up later and invite her to coffee. Sort of a slow easement, definitely low-key, so I don’t spook her off.

“There she is,” Ryker says as he points a finger with the hand that’s still holding on to his beer.

My head snaps in that direction and those feelings—of peace and rightness—settle in just by looking at her. She’s wearing a pair of fitted jeans along with some type of pale pink lacy top that has a lightweight cardigan over it. She’s casually beautiful with her hair hanging loose, bangs hovering just over her eyebrows, and those glasses that I’ve come to adore on her. I know she doesn’t need them all the time, but I would bet my left nut she’s wearing them because she’s nervous at this party and they still serve as a shield for her.

Then I notice her “friend.” Tall, lanky, with close-cropped blond hair. Ordinary-looking dude, I guess. One I could lay out flat if I wanted to, but where he has the advantage over me is that he’s the one standing next to Kate and I’m not. He’s the one who has his hand pressed to her lower back as they weave through the crowd over to where the kids are. That’s not my hand there.

Fuck. It’s a date, isn’t it?

“Does that look like they’re on a date?” I ask Ryker, nudging him with my shoulder.

Before he can answer, Sutton says from my left as she walks up, “Who’s on a date?”

“Zack thinks Kate is dating that dude over there,” Ryker says as he points their way.

“Oh my God,” Sutton exclaims with excitement. “They’re adorable together.”

My hands curl into fists.

“They are kind of cute together,” Ryker says in agreement.

Fury starts coursing through me.

“She’s so sweet,” Sutton says with a dreamy sigh. “She deserves someone who will treat her like a princess.”

“Enough,” I snarl at both of them, and it’s not lost on me when both of them turn their heads away to try to hide their snickers. “Quit fucking around and just tell me, Sutton…is she on a date?”

She turns to look at me and her eyes narrow. For a brief moment, I have the sudden urge to cross my hands over my crotch to avoid an impending strike. “I’m not sure you deserve that answer.”

Fuck.

“I’m taking it Kate has filled you in on what’s happened between us,” I grit out.

“She has and you’re an ass,” Sutton says, and sniffs.

“Agreed,” I tell her. “So just tell me what I need to know so I can work on fixing this.”

Appraisal of me…cold and calculated, then Sutton gives me a small smile. “No, I believe that’s just a friend of hers. Some guy named Mark. They went to school together.”

The dude whose couch she crashed on before becoming Ben’s nanny. Relief floods my senses, particularly as I see that Kate is now sitting down with Ben, Violet, and Ruby and playing with them, her “friend” Mark sort of standing there stupidly watching. She’s completely ignoring him and I want to yell out across the yard, “Yeah, fucker…she’s not into you.”

That relief is short-lived when the band strikes up Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” and her “friend” leans over to whisper in her ear. Then she’s standing up, giving him a small smile, and he’s leading her out to a grassy area in front of the band to…dance?

Oh, hell no.

I push my beer into Ryker’s chest and he takes it from me. I start across the deck, but Sutton’s hand on my arm stops me. “No bloodshed in my home, Zack.”

“We’re in your yard,” I snap at her. “It will seep into the ground. Easy cleanup.”

She chuckles and gives me a squeeze. “No bloodshed on my property, then. Be nice. Kate won’t take kindly to you bullying her friend.”

“Friends don’t dance to this song,” I tell her pointedly.

“Probably not,” she says with a twinkle in her eye. “So you better hurry.”