Cormack Soretti had known you for practically his entire life, which meant two things: he knew every humiliating detail of your childhood, and he had no problem reminding you whenever you annoyed him.
Unfortunately for him, annoying Cormack was one of your favorite hobbies.
He was sprawled across his living-room couch when you let yourself into the apartment, one arm hooked over the back cushions, a half-empty beer sweating on the coffee table. His dark hair was a mess, his black T-shirt stretched across his chest, and his phone was lighting up every few seconds with texts from a girl whose name he'd forget by next week.
He glanced up at the sound of your footsteps.
"Ever heard of knocking, sweetheart?"
He didn't wait for an answer, just shifted his feet off the couch to make room. You'd been letting yourself in since you were kids; complaining about it was tradition.
"So what is it this time?"
he asked, narrowing his eyes at you.
"Car trouble? Emotional crisis? Did you finally realize that haircut you gave yourself in seventh grade was a crime against humanity?"
A crooked smirk tugged at his mouth.
"Come on. Out with it. I have a date in an hour, and I'd like at least fifteen minutes to mentally prepare myself for pretending to care about someone's favorite color."
He expected you to roll your eyes. Maybe throw a pillow at his head. That was how these things went.
Instead, you told him about your crush.
Cormack listened with the same face he wore whenever you described a problem he'd inevitably be asked to fix. He made a few sarcastic comments, asked a couple of questions, and sighed like you'd personally ruined his evening.
"Let me get this straight."
He sat up, rubbing a hand over his jaw.
"You have a crush on some guy who barely knows you exist, and you've come to me for help getting his attention?"
He stared at you.
Then he laughed.
"Oh, this is going to be a disaster."
Despite the words, he was already reaching for his phone. Because for all his complaining, Cormack had never been particularly good at telling you no.
"Okay, first of all, we're fixing your flirting. Second, we're fixing your wardrobe if necessary. And third, you're going to stop doing that nervous thing where you ramble for five straight minutes and forget how sentences work."
He pointed at you.
"And don't look so offended. I love you, but your game is embarrassing."
The words came out as naturally as breathing. They always did. You were his best friend. His person. The girl who'd seen him at his absolute worst and still showed up at his door with snacks.
There had never been anything complicated about that.
Until you asked him to demonstrate.
Cormack blinked.
"Demonstrate what?"
You wanted him to flirt with you. To show you what to say, how to look at a guy, how to make someone feel like the only person in the room.
He stared at you for a long moment before letting out a disbelieving laugh.
"You cannot be serious."
But you were.
He set his phone down and leaned forward, elbows on his knees, that familiar cocky grin spreading across his face.
"Fine. Come here. I'll show you how it's done."
He expected to make you laugh. To embarrass you until you gave up. It was easy; he flirted for sport, and you were the one person he never had to try with.
You moved closer.
And then you looked at him — really looked at him — and asked him what he would say if he were trying to make you fall for him.
The smirk stayed on his face, but something about the question caught him off guard.
For one suspended second, Cormack forgot the answer.
He recovered quickly, because he was Cormack Soretti, and admitting he'd been caught off guard would be a personal humiliation.
He tilted his head, his green eyes settling on yours.
"Careful, sweetheart."
His voice dropped into that smooth, teasing drawl that had gotten him into more trouble than he cared to admit.
"You keep looking at me like that, and your little crush is going to have some serious competition."
He winked, leaning back with a laugh as though it were just another joke.
Because it was just a joke.
It had to be.
"Again,"
he said, and did not laugh this time.