Page 25 of Rival Season
“What the hell, dude?” I look up at him in annoyance.
He taunts me with a grin before tossing it on the bench next to me. “Now that I have your attention, mind telling us what the hell’s been going on with you lately?”
I look from him to Noah, who nods. “Spill it, Matthews.”
Fisher crosses his arms. “We want to know more about what’s going on with you and a certain prickly downstairs neighbor.”
“We’ve been…hanging out.”
“More times than just last night?” Fisher prods.
“Yup.” No time like the present to get my new “dating Hazel” status out in the open, I guess. I wasn’t lying about not wanting to go out and hook up with random women, despite how doubtful Hazel is about that.
For years now, I’ve been trading feelings and commitment for meaningless flings—and if I’m being honest, it got old a while ago.
Which means this fake dating thing with Hazel really does work perfectly for me. because it covers my ass with the guys and gives me a break from a lifestyle I no longer want. Well, it’soneof the reasons why this arrangement works for me. The second is that, petty as it is, pissing off Chadwick is one of my favorite pastimes. And he deserves to be miserable after what he did to Hazel.
“Hanging out as in, she’s the reason you don’t want to talk to other girls lately?” Fisher asks, his question cutting through my thoughts.
“Maybe...”
As if on cue, my phone lights up on the bench next to me, and I reach for it, quick as a flash.
“Is that her now?” Fisher asks smugly, then points at me. “And no more bullshit lies about texting your sister, either.”
I don’t even bother to respond that I reallywastexting my sister during trivia. Instead, I nod, relieved to look down and seeBubblespop up on my phone. Finally.
“It’s her,” I confirm.
Noah swears. “Dammit, Ally was right.” Without missing a beat, he grabs his phone and starts texting her. “She’s going to be so smug about this.”
“About what?”
“She had a theory that you guys had a thing for each other. Said there’s a fine line between love and hate, whatever the hell that means. I didn’t believe her at first. I said she was delusional because Hazel’s always pissed at you.” He looks up from his phone and eyes me again. “And to be honest, I thought she annoyed you, too. Like Fisher said at dinner last night, you made it sound like she was a total stick in the mud.”
“I always thought she was hot,” I say with a shrug. “I guess after we got to know each other a little, I realized I misjudged her personality. I like her.”
“Clearly.” Fisher waggles his brows. “Until last night, you’d never invited a girl to stay for dinner before.”
“And you’ll hopefully be seeing a lot more of her around the loft from now on, because I plan to keep hanging out with her.”
“Nice. I’m really happy for you, man,” Noah says, and he looks so genuinely happy for me that I feel bad for lying.
Just for a moment, though, because then Fisher adds, “And it’s not like I need a wingman. I’m just as good when I’m flying solo.”
“Well, let me help you pregame your night at least. I'll go get us another round of beers.” I jump to my feet, my phone in my hand.
Noah smirks. “Tell Hazel we say hi.”
I flip him the bird, then start walking over to the bar. The second I’m out of eyeshot of our table, I open the text.
Bubbles
Sorry, I was making use of the headphones you gave me and didn’t hear my phone. But I’m good. Did you win your game?
Penn
Course we did. Please tell me Chad-dick was watching and crying into his crutches?
