Page 12 of Mr. Match

But the heart wants what the heart wants.

And my heart wants Oliver Shrike.

The timing is perfect. I couldn’t have planned it any better if I tried. It’s dumb luck that Oliver saw those videos today. They’ve been up there for weeks. It’s dumb luck that no one else deleted them before I got this far.

I get an idea. Something that might speed things up a little. So I go back out to the living room, grab the camera and tripod, and then set it up in front of the tub.

He put on a show for me, maybe I should return the favor?

Chapter Five - OLIVER

“What exactly does that mean?” I ask Pax. I’m sorta still pissed off about him dating my sister, but I can’t be a broody bitch about it forever. Might as well get over it now.

Pax gets up from his chair and walks over to the window, scrubs a palm up and down his unshaven face, and then puts his hands in his pockets.

I look at West, who’s looking at me. We both shrug.

“Pax,” I say. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“He didn’t say.”

“Give me your best guess.”

“He’s supposed to kill me, Oliver,” West says. “Finish the job. Liam Henry got his ass handed to him on a silver platter. He’s justifiably pissed off. He thinks I still have that treasure and he wants it.”

Pax turns away from the window very slowly. He trains his gaze on West and asks, “Do you still have it?”

“I told you I didn’t. It’s still in that cave. I can’t fit in there.”

“But you have a kid now, right?”

“What?” West says, his eyes narrowing.

“Come on, Pax,” I say, letting out a long breath.

“Come on what?” Pax says, turning to me. “Does he or does he not have a kid just the right size to swim down into that cave?”

“It’s not that easy, you dumbass. What do you think I’m gonna do? Throw Ethan into the ocean and say, ‘Hold your breath, kid. Find that underwater cave, wiggle your way into it—there may or may not be air inside there so you don’t die—and then grab as many gold coins as you can, and bring back up to me so we can repeat that sixty more times and get our money back?’”

“Sounds like you put a lot of thought into this,” Pax deadpans back.

West lunges at him, but I grab his arm and hold him back. “Don’t,” I say, looking into his eyes. “Don’t feed him, man. He’s fucking with you.”

“I’m dead serious,” Pax says.

“Look,” I say, still holding on to West. “Let’s just have a drink—”

West jerks his arm away and says, “Fuck that. It’s not even noon. If you fuck-ups want to get drunk before lunch, go ahead. But I’ve got a family to think about.”

West straightens his shirt and walks out, jumping down the stairs two at a time.

“Hey,” we hear him say on the third floor. “Let’s go, Tori. I told Ethan we’d take him ice-skating in Broomfield today.”

I look back at Pax. “Smooth, motherfucker. Real smooth.”

Pax shrugs and takes a seat in the chair in front of my desk. “You and I both know he’s lying about that gold.”

“I never said that. All I said was that I can understand why Liam Henry thinks he got fucked over.”