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I hope he’ll change the subject because thinking about the fact that my mom has probably cried at some point today over her only son not being there for Thanksgiving bums me out.
He senses I’d rather talk about something else because he says, “So, you and Margot tonight,” with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
I scoff. “Let’s just hope we’re both alive tomorrow morning.”
Matt lets out a bark of laughter before sitting up and resting his elbows on his knees to level with me. “I know you guys can’t stand each other, but it would be awesome if you got together.”
I give him a dubious look. “How so?”
“She’s my girlfriend’s best friend!” He gapes at me. “Do you know how much fun we’d have if you and Margot actually wanted to be around each other?”
I shake my head before walking across the room and patting him on the shoulder. “There are a lot of things I’d do for you, but that’s not one of them.”
I go to leave, but not before I hear him say, “Just think about it,” over his shoulder, still laughing.
I have thought about it. The problem? I don’t hate the idea as much as I should.
31
margot
“Thanks again for doing this,” Rae says as she gathers her things to bring to Matt’s room. “I owe you one.”
“You do,” I agree, even though I’m smiling.
She studies me. “And you’re sure about this?”
“Yes. Now, would you get out of here and go have fun with your boyfriend?”
She looks up from grabbing her phone charger out of her bag. “Try not to kill Jackson, okay?”
“No promises.”
She shakes her head with a laugh. “He’s actually a nice guy, you know. He’s not even annoying like Keith can be.”
“Or Emmet,” I say and make a gagging face.
Her eyes widen in agreement. “Or Emmet.” Pointing at me, she adds, “I did save you from him earlier, so maybe we are even.”
I sit on the double bed and look around the room. It occurs to me that we’re probably in Emmet’s old bedroom, and I squirm at the thought. “Yeah, thanks, but that was a few minutes. I’m going to be with Jackson all night.”
Like I’ve somehow summoned the devil, Jackson appears in the bedroom doorway, and I hope he didn’t hear me.
He’s looking between Rae and me like he may have interrupted something—probably because I clamped my mouth shut as soon as he walked up.
He leans against the door frame, his arms and ankles crossed. “Ready?” he asks Rae.
“Yeah,” she says, “Thanks for doing this.”
His eyes jump to me before he says, “No problem.”
When Rae walks toward the doorway, Jackson moves further into the room to get out of her way. She’s only two steps out the door when she turns around and stares at Jackson and me. After a long pause, she says slowly, “I feel like you two shouldn’t be left unsupervised.”
“We shouldn’t be,” Jackson says without missing a beat. “If anything happens, the blood is on your hands.”
She looks at me, uncertainty in her eyes, but I just mouth the word, “Go,” with a wave of my hand. She’d do the same for me, and I can handle Jackson. That much I know. Even though she doesn’t look convinced, she turns and heads down the hallway to the other room.
Then it’s just us.
