Brooke Is Hit On By [Spoiler] While Steffy Stands Her Ground With Thomas

Having run — not walked — over to Steffy’s house on the assumption he’d be allowed to hang out with son Douglas anytime he pleased, Thomas immediately encounters roadblocks. Steffy and her husband aren’t about to simply step aside and let him parent his child as he sees fit. Apparently not having been paying attention to the fact that Steffy signed off on his being booted from the family business, Thomas is somehow shocked — shocked, I tell you! — by her stance.

“No one is keeping me from Douglas,” declares Thomas. “I love him too much!” Steffy says that she wants to set boundaries with her brother. Thomas points out that it’s one thing for his sister to throw her weight around at the office, but not when it comes to his son. When Thomas becomes upset at the idea he’s being kept from his son, both Steffy and Finn point out that this is a result of his own poor decisions. “She didn’t force you to call CPS on yourself,” points out Finn, adding that Steffy didn’t make Thomas lie, either. “You have no idea how much mom, dad and I wanted to believe that you’d changed,” she says, adding that time and again, she’s defended him, only to learn he’s screwed up again.

For his part, Thomas says he hates how things are. Steffy insists he shouldn’t make things worse. “How? By asking to see my son and tell him how much I love him?” Despite understanding how he feels, Steffy will not let him see his son. “Douglas choosing to live with me and Finn? It’s what you did.”

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When Steffy remains determined not to budge, Thomas says that when she got custody, he assumed it would be the next best thing to him being able to raise his son. He never anticipated her being the one to put up roadblocks. (By the way, “roadblocks” is clearly going to be one of those words we use as a drinking game in this storyline.)

As Brooke and Taylor’s lunch at Il Giardino continues, they’re approached by the waiter, who says that Deacon had to leave but asked that he take special care of the ladies. He then turns on the charm, hitting on Brooke so hard it’s surprising she doesn’t fall over. Taylor notices and teases her friend. “He is serving decadence to you!” says the brunette, while the blonde points out that the guy is much younger… and is probably looking for a really good tip. “There’s a joke there, but I’m not going to say it,” quips Taylor. (Biting my tongue… if Taylor can be strong and not make a “tip” joke, so can I! Maybe… )

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Brooke suggests that the guy flirts with everyone, but Taylor notes he didn’t flirt with her. This sets off one of their lovefests, with each complimenting the other. Taylor suggests that Brooke should do what she’s done in the past: follow her heart. “Actually, that’s a roadmap to a lot of trouble and heartache, and Ridge was always at the center of that,” sighs Brooke. Taylor agrees, saying that’s why they’re moving on.

The waiter approaches again, and the women find out his name is Paul Hollister, but “Hollis to my friends.” Taylor has a field day with the fact that “Hollis to his friends” is clearly digging Brooke.

For the first time in ages, we get a Wyatt sighting. Oh, wait, no, it’s just the voice of Darin Brooks telling us who today’s Bold & Beautiful is being brought to us by. We then cut back to Taylor, who says that you don’t have to be a World Renowned Psychiatrist — which she is — to know when a guy is all up in his feels, and Hollis-to-his-friends definitely is… Brooke points out that neither she nor Taylor wants a man in their lives. For now, they’re happy being friends. And the next thing you know, they’re holding hands…

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… and I simply refuse to believe that the writers aren’t either heading toward a Brooke/Taylor romance or at the very least teasing the audience with the idea! Taylor says people will never understand the darkness they had to go through to get to this light. Hollis approaches with Brooke’s credit card and says something weird happened and the receipt didn’t print. But if she gives him her phone number, he can send it to her.

Brooke does… and Taylor points out that he just smoothly got her number. Brooke says it was just for the receipt, but Taylor playfully snaps, “Stop with the innocent act!” Seconds later, Hollis sends the receipt… followed by a message saying Brooke should call if she ever needs anything and a “smirky emotion” which Taylor Googles and learns is “the perfect flirty emoji.”

At the beach house, Steffy worries about whether she and Finn did the right thing. She wants nothing more than to do what Liam and Hope did: provide Douglas with a good home for however long he is with them. She tells her hubby that Thomas has always been jealous of her on some level, especially after she became co-CEO with their father.

We then cut to Thomas, looking out the window forlornly. He remembers better times, spent with his son (including a quick flashback to Thomas at his hottest — in the firefighter’s outfit — and Douglas at his cutest — in that puppy dog costume).

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And the show actually surprises the heck out of me. While I expect Thomas to kinda creepily vow that he won’t let anyone stand between them, he instead quietly vows to become the father his son deserves. “We’ll get back to the way we were,” he says. “I’ll be the father I always should have been. Modest. Caring. I’ll be the father you deserve. I promise!”

Next on The Bold and the Beautiful: Taylor is once again caught in the middle of a bad situation..

Brooke does need a new love interest… and here’s our suggestions for who that should be! 

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