Page 39 of Prickly Pair
By the time I finished, Levi and Dallas had both stopped chewing, and Mateo had his hand on top of his head, his expression unreadable.
“So yeah,” I said. “Who the fuck is the third guy?”
Mateo planted his hands on his hips, then turned around, pacing a few steps away. Levi ran his fingers through his hair, clearly stressed. And Dallas stared at me, until finally, I growled.
“What?”
“You’re an idiot,” Levi said. “A fucking idiot.”
“You’re the third guy,” Mateo said.
“No,” I said. “No. I can’t be.”
“Yeah. You are,” Dallas said. “Why do I let you do my taxes exactly? How are youthisunobservant?”
“This is like our relationship with Avery all over again,” Levi said. “Where the signs are right there, but you keep fucking missing them.”
“Or he’s not missing them, he’s just an idiot,” Mateo finished. “You’re the third guy. Evie has liked you for a really long time. She constantly flirts with you. And I think all of us have been waiting for you to see it.”
“Why wouldn’t you say anything to me?” I hissed.
The three of them fell silent, but Levi shrugged. “You would have argued.”
“Yeah,” Dallas said. “Something like that.”
Mateo grabbed another slice of pizza and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “So . . . Matthew and Nick.”
“Nick,” I growled. “I hate him. I wish she wasn’t interested in him.”
“He seems cool,” Dallas said. So much for being on my side. My temper shot up and I glowered, but Dallas snorted. “Like he's not the asshole I thought he was when we were kids.”
“I never had a problem with him,” Levi said. Was he fucking joking right now? “That was all on you.”
“He stopped by the fire department the other day and introduced himself, then asked if he could borrow a wrench to fix Evie’s oven. Let us all meet his cat. So . . .” Mateo trailed off. “I like him.”
“He’s the worst person for Evie,” I snarled.
“Well, bud, you don’t really get to make that choice,” Levi said.
“All right, Minnesota, cool it with calling me bud,” I said. I crossed my arms. “Seriously. The resort is going to be a problem.”
“I don’t think it will be,” Levi said. “You’re worried about it competing with Whynot Stay, right? But he’s already planning to encourage people to check out local businesses too, and some folks will want to come into town and stay somewhere other than there. I don’t know. He seems to have good intentions, and I agree, the cat is super cute.”
A fucking mullet. A fucking cute cat. Fucking tattoos. Afucking nine-inch pierced dick.
I hated him.
“He’s an asshole,” I said. “I don’t know why he’s even back in Whynot.”
“Okay so, I have some insight,” Mateo said.
“Oh god. Is it the insight I have?” Dallas asked.
“Possibly. I’ll go first. Avery told us that Evie had a knock-out date like two months ago and now suddenly that date is back in town. That has to be Nick. Which we already knew since Evie said she’d just date Nick and Matthew.”
“Yeah that’s what I had, and are you okay with that?” Dallas asked. “Matthew and Evie? Given your crush on Matthew.”
My cheeks turned red. Maybe I wasn’t as sneaky about my feelings as I thought I was. “I really like him. I . . .”
