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“Whoa.”

“Yeah, there’s a reason Ace wants to meet this guy.”

“How do you know him?”

“He taught me tax law basics at Princeton before I left.”

“Are you the kind of nerd who still talks to teachers?”

Easton laughs. “I guess so.”

“So am I,” I admit. “But only three of them. The ones who really taught me the most.”

“Really?” He turns to face me. “Interesting.”

“Well, not lately, I guess. I haven’t had much to tell them about.”

“You could tell them about winning runner-up in the jingle contest.”

I shrug.

“But you won’t, because you didn’t win.”

“Sometimes it’s hard when people really think you’retalented,” I say. “Harder than if they just thought you were nice.”

“I get that,” he says. “Expectations can be the worst.”

“Exactly.”

When I hop out of the car, I notice that Easton’s jogging around to my side. His smile’s a little sheepish. “I wasn’t sure whether opening your door would be corny.”

“My dad—Dave does it all the time.”

“Why don’t you call them Mom and Dad?” Easton asks. “Unless that’s a rude thing to ask. Emerson does.”

I sigh. “It’s not much of a first date topic, but for now I’ll just say that my family’s very complicated, and I have to be careful what I say and to whom.”

His brow furrows, but he doesn’t press further. He does, however, offer me his arm, like we’re characters in a period piece.

“Do people walk arm-in-arm these days?”

His shoulders droop a bit. “Maybe not.”

“Who cares?” I slide mine through the crook in his elbow. “Maybe we’ll start a new trend.”

“If we’re starting new trends, my stylist will want you to wear very specific things.” He’s smirking, so I know he’s teasing. Probably.

It’s a good reminder that as much as my grandfather can be overbearing, people do watch Easton. I’ll have to see how bad it really is. Because right now, his visibility feels like his only flaw, and that scares me. There must be other substantial problems with this guy that I haven’t found yet.

A perfect guy is great in theory, but I don’t believe he exists, and if he did, there’s no way he’d like me. I’m as flawed as they come.

“Oh good.” As we approach the house, Easton wavesat someone. It’s a guy I’ve seen before, and it finally hits me where. He’s Elizabeth’s employer. She did mention the event was for a friend of her brother, and the first time I met Easton was at this guy’s video game party. “Ace.” Easton tosses his head at him.

Ace smiles at me. “And you must be Beatrice, Emerson’s sister. Right?”

I nod. “That’s me.”

“You two do not look even a little bit alike,” he says.

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