Page 15 of Something like Desire

He cocks his head, and the soft glow of the lantern-lit path flickers in his eyes. “What’s the holdup then? What have you actually been doing to make that happen?”

This guy has some nerve.NowI get what people mean when they say someone makes their blood boil. I’m practically steaming. I swear there’s a visible cloud of rage hovering around me. That smug look on Zach’s face? I want to slap it off.

“Well, as a matter of fact, I’ve got an idea that makes your little karaoke stunt look like it was planned by a fourth grader.”

The edges of Zach’s frown turn up slightly in the vaguest hint of a smile. “Okay. Fine. I’m up for some new ideas. What’ve you got?” He leans his back against the wall and puts one foot up to rest against it.

I try to channel his confidence, slowly twisting one of my slightly frizzy, humidity-wrecked waves around my finger in what I hope is a coy gesture. “I’m curious...” I say coolly. “Do you know if they met online?”

“They did,” Zach replies. “On Via Match. Which seems like a site geared to middle-aged and older singles looking for hookups.”

Really, Mom?I hope that isn’t true.

“Wow, okay. That’s something.” I sniff and shift my posture, trying to regain my composure. I don’t want him to think he can get to me. “If they still have active profiles, we can catfish them and see if we can lure them into going on dates with other people. Then we expose the messages. Or even better—we set up fake dates with each of them and bust them face-to-face. Like, surprise! Caught you trying to cheat on the person you’re already cheating with.Bam.” I punch my fist in the air for added emphasis. So much for my attempt at being smooth.

Zach shoots me a surprised smile, then runs his fingers through his beard thoughtfully. I used to think facial hair on a man was messy, but his neatly groomed beard is giving me annoying, involuntary flutters.

“Huh,” he says. “Honestly, I expected to hate that idea... but it’s surprisingly solid. I can actually see it working. Neither of them seems to see cheating as wrong since they both think with their genitals.”

“Hey!” I cry. “Don’t talk about my mom like that!”

Zach rolls his eyes. “Do you expect me to tiptoe around the woman who left my mother a crying mess during a pivotal time in her career? My poor mom probably hasn’t showered in over a month.”

“Well, no, but at least try to tone down the nasty comments around me. I’m upset too but she’s stillmymom.”

“Fine. Noted,” Zach says. Then he looks at me with his smoldering dark gaze and it might be my imagination, but I’m pretty sure that he just checked me out. Talk about hot and cold.

The energy around us buzzes and I feel like I need to say something to shift the intensity. “Well, do you think we should each make a profile based on what we think our parent would be interested in?”

“I like it.”

“Okay, well, I’ll make a profile for my mom tonight and I’ll let you know how it goes, I guess.” I shift my weight from one foot to the other because this suddenly got a little bit awkward. We’re agreeing to team up on sabotage efforts but we’re strangers who know almost nothing about each other.

Zach’s dark eyes scan my face. “Do you mean you’re going back to your room to create this catfishing profile solo? It’s like eight o’clock. Are you tired?”

I shrug. “Well, no.”

“I don’t know about you, but I need a drink. Beach bar’s open late tonight. Maybe we can plan a little more. Up for it?”

“I wasbornup for it,” I say. He widens his eyes at me but doesn’t say anything, just turns around and heads back toward the beach. Oh god, that sounded so cringey. I try to compose myself yet again as Zach leads the way down the path.

Another margarita later, and we’ve created fake profiles: GardenPro6, a guy who looks vaguely like Brad Pitt and claims to love gardening to reel in my mom. And Walks&Wonder50, a woman who resembles Halle Berry and lists hiking as her passion to charm his dad.

“I’ll send him a message,” Zach says, already tapping away. “I’m also going to comment on something my dad wrote to make it look like he and Walks&Wonder50 have similar passions. Maybe this time he’ll go for someone with common interests other than just having a lot of sex.”

I raise one brow, unimpressed. “And I’m going to message my mom and appeal to her intellectual side. Your dad looks like the type who stares at himself in the mirror more than he talks to people.”

Despite the fact we’ve had this type of banter going on since we met, Zach’s expression hardens slightly. “You don’t actually know anything about my dad. Beyond his name.”

The air seems to literally cool between us.

I exhale slowly. “I was just kidding around.”

His fingers tap an uneven rhythm on the table. “Yeah, but maybe we’re getting carried away.”

I set my phone down on the table and meet his gaze. “Well, it seems like it might take a few hours before either of them write back. We might need to cause another fight between them so one of them feels like checking their profile for new matches. We’ve got time.” I rest my forearms on the table and swirl my drink slowly. “And you’re right, I don’t know much about your dad. Tell me about him then.”

Zach takes a long sip of his second margarita. “What do you want to know?”