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If someone asked me what I expected for the day, the idea of my best friend bringing my ex-girlfriend back from the liquor store wouldn’t have even been on my radar. I haven’t seen her since we broke up five years ago – a break up that was far from civil, mind you.
“Mav? A minute?” I nod toward the side of the yard.
He smirks. “Sure. You can help me get the keg from the car.”
I follow him out to the driveway, doing my best to bite my tongue until I know we’re out of earshot. Finally, the coast is clear.
“Okay, are you out of your mind? I mean really. Have you lost brain cells recently?! Why the hell would you bring her here?!”
Maverick chuckles. “Why not? I’ve seen the way you’ve been lately. You need to get laid.”
“And you thought Liv would be the answer to that?!”
He shrugs. “Well, no. I was originally going to hire
you a hooker, but then I saw her at the store and thought ‘eh, close enough’. Come on man, she’s always wanted you. It’s not even like getting her in bed would take any effort.”
I take a deep breath, forcing myself to think before I speak. If I don’t, I may end up spilling everything. Such a big part of me wants to scream in his face that I have gotten laid recently, and that the only girl I want in my bed is McKenna. But this is not the time, nor the place, for that kind of conversation. Especially not when the fate of her and I is so unknown.
“Look, I appreciate your concern for my sex life, but please – worry about your own dick.” I tell him, putting the keg down behind the tiki bar.
As I’m walking away, Maverick calls after me. “My dick is doing just fine. My woman takes care of me!” He laughs as the words leave his mouth.
“Nice.” Tatum deadpans from the back door. “Real nice.”
Olivia giggles as she stands by the pool. What did I ever see in her? I slip inside and pull Tatum with me. The second the door shuts behind us, I slam my fist down on the counter.
“Your boyfriend has lost it.”
She puts her hands up. “Hey, he was your best friend before he was my boyfriend. I will not take responsibility for his crazy.”
“Fair enough.” I grab a beer from the fridge and pop it open. “What the hell am I going to do? I need to find McKenna, and I can’t do that with Mav forcing Olivia down my throat.” My eyes widen. “Oh god, Roman’s party. She can’t find Olivia here. She can’t.”
“Okay, relax. Mac isn’t coming to the party.”
“She’s not?”
“No. She told me she didn’t want to put you in an awkward place, so you don’t need to worry about that. Stay at the party for a couple of hours, satisfy Maverick’s weird need to involve himself in your sex life by talking to Liv, and then go get your girl.”
Everything she’s saying makes sense. I just hope I have the patience for it. “Okay.” I nod. “Okay, yeah, I can do that. It’s only a couple hours.”
FOR THE 20TH TIME since she got here, I pry Olivia’s talon-like nails from my arm. This girl has serious boundary issues, even more so than I remember. Just like every time before this, she loosens her grip, but keeps her hands on me. It’s as if she’s trying to announce her claim on me to every other woman here. Too bad for her, there isn’t a single part of me that doesn’t already belong to someone else.
“I cannot believe the two of you managed to work things out.” Leigh, another blast from college’s past, says to Olivia and me.
Nearly choking on my beer, I shake my head. “Oh, we’re not back together.”
Liv winces but then plasters a fake smile across her face. “Not yet, anyway. We just reunited today, but who knows what will happen.”
I do. Getting back with Olivia is not, and never will be, an option. If I didn’t think it would make Maverick suspicious as hell, I would’ve kicked her out the second she showed her face. There is nothing I want less than to be anywhere near this chick. I just need to wait for Rome to get here, then I’ll be able to go find McKenna – the only one who matters.
“Brooks!” Maverick shouts from where he stands behind the bar. “You need another?”
Glancing down at my cup, I notice it’s almost gone. I nod and down the rest of it. Mav brings me another full cup. I thank him and then quickly guzzle half. If I’m going to deal with another ten minutes of Olivia, I’ll need a lot more beer.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’re trying to get drunk.” She teases and then brings her lips to my ear. “And I know how handsy you get when you’re wasted.”
Her words almost make me throw up in my mouth. I don’t miss the way Maverick chuckles next to me. Fucking asshole. He knows damn well how relieved I was when her and I broke up. She was never meant to be more than a little fun in the sack. His thought process is obvious though. She’s basically a guaranteed lay, but I’d rather fuck a cactus.
