Looks it over, genuine interest in his eyes. “You somehow always manage to find more interesting things to read than I do.”

He thinks about that, an amused smile forming. “You calling me easy?”

Looks up from his book. “She said that I should. . .stop reading? Sounds suspicious to me.”

He looks skeptical. “Are you sure she didn’t ask 𝘺𝘰𝘶 to take out the trash and now you’re trying to shove that off on me?”

Glances over. “Are you here to save me from this book?”

“Hey.” He doesn’t resist her stealing the book. “Reading isn’t boring. I’m just struggling to get into this.”

“That’s not—” The book lands with a thud on the ground. “—what it’s about. Have you seriously never heard of it?”

“I guess that’s an accurate assessment.” Looks at her expectantly. “I sense a suggestion coming on.”

Spends his evening changing the oil in his car and his sisters’ cars.

Waves back. “What are you doing out here?”

Eyebrow lift. “What did you get her? Hopefully not perfume. The last time she got a new scent, I swear I didn’t escape it for months.”

“I’m assuming you don’t mean a palette full of paint.” He grabs a nearby rag and starts working some of the grease off his fingers.

He points to his face. “Do I look like I know much about makeup?”

“Glitter. On my eyes.” He scoffs, shaking his head. “I think you must have me confused with someone else.”

“I’m normally not covered in oil. Usually.” He shrugs and picks up another rag that had fallen off the car. “It had to be done.”

Pretends he’s following along fine. Gossip sometimes goes over his head since he doesn’t get invested in it.

“Right,” he agrees even though he doesn’t know what he’s agreeing to. “Wait, are you talking about your ex?”

Drives to the batting cages out of town by himself to release some built up stress.