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“Thanks,” I murmured to him, only to turn back to Maverick and reach out to help him up.
He slapped my hand out of his way and pushed to his feet so he could demand, “Who the hell is this Patrick Mahomes-looking motherfucker that’s trying to keep me from going into my own house?”
Wow. He thought I looked like Patrick Mahomes? Finally! Someone had noticed who I’d been styling my hair after. That was so Mah-awesome. Though, to be fair, I was probably a shade darker and not nearly in as good of shape as the famous quarterback.
“Interesting fact about me and Mahomes,” I said conversationally, lifting a finger. “He has a white mom with a black dad, and I’m the opposite. Black mom, white dad. Cool, huh?”
Maverick furrowed his brow my way, then spun to the woman. “Connie?”
“I have no idea who he is,” she cried, lifting her hands free of all culpability.
Trick heaved out a sigh before wincing and confessing, “Sorry, Mav. He’s with me.”
Wait. Why was Trick calling him Mav like they knew each other? Wasn’t he supposed to be sneaking around behind this guy’s back?
“Okay,” Maverick said slowly, still eyeing me suspiciously. “So why the hell was he blocking my way into the house?”
“Uh...” Trick squinted as he scratched the back of his head. “Yeah. Sorry, I got nothing there.” Turning, he lifted his brows my way. “Cress?”
“I…” Blinking at all three pairs of eyes focusing on me, I began to think—you know—maybe I’d read this whole situation wrong. “Well, I…” I motioned toward the sexy god to my right, then toward Trick and addressed him. “Wasn’t I supposed to be your lookout guy for him?”
“My lookout guy?” He shook his head. “For what?”
“Well, I thought you and Hot Constance were—” When all three of them sent me similar stares of outrage, I paused. “Sorry. Connie. I meant, Connie. But I thought you and she were, you know, hooking up together, and you didn’t want to get caught by her boyfriend.”
I added that final part with an apologetic cringe toward Maverick.
“You what?” Trick cried.
Maverick lifted his brows and shook his head before saying, “Connie is my sister.”
“And my lab partner,” Trick added. “Neither of us is hooking up with her.”
Oh…
Well, that actually made me feel better. I hadn’t been too comfortable with thinking of my boy Trick as being a cheater. But now that I knew he wasn’t—Whew! Thank God.
But just to make sure, I glanced his way. “So you weren’t trying to sneak in some sexy times with some other guy’s girl?”
“No!” Trick cried, crinkling his nose in disgust over the very idea. “Why would I do that, and why would I have you play lookout if I were? Jesus, kid. You’re killing me here.”
“Okay, then.” I nodded before adding, “Whoops, my bad. But wait.” I shook my head, confused. “What was the whole warning thing about, then, when you said to beware of Maverick?”
Maverick whirled to frown at Trick. “You warned him to stay away from me?”
“Yeah, I mean…” Trick cleared his throat uneasily. “He just got out of a relationship and is all raw and vulnerable. And you…” He waved a hand over Maverick. “You’re a bit lacking in the sensitivity department.”
The big, rough guy only narrowed his eyes harder.
But Trick didn’t catch on that he should tread carefully or he might get hurt because he added, “You’d break his heart faster than that dweeb Derek did. And besides, I figured he was too chipper and perky for your taste, anyway.”
“As if that would even matter.” I snorted, hitching my thumb toward Maverick. “This guy’s as straight as an arrow.”
“No, I’m not,” Maverick said as if I were an idiot for ever thinking otherwise.
I whirled toward him and gulped. “You’re not?”
In that second, I swear my entire life changed.
