He was possibly right about that, and it wasn't the first time Anye had heard it, but it wasn't an option. She'd accepted that, and eventually he would, too. She raised an eyebrow at him at his next statement as she slipped her key out of her shorts pocket without having to look. "You're wrong about that, too," was all she said on the matter. She had been hardened in recent years, and someday soon he'd learn that to his frustration.
"Now be quiet in case Bekah's sleeping," she told him as they neared her front step. "We can stop in the kitchen but then we're heading straight up to my room." She unlocked the front door, not looking back to see if he'd object to that destination. Anye was a lot of things, but she could never be called stupid. They weren't hanging out anywhere that he could get away with slipping away in the night. As far as a woman's schemes to get Nick Shannon in their bedroom, Anye's was at least the most well intentioned.