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Exhaling a breath of irritation, I shut the dishwasher and plant my hands on my hips. “Well, having to spend my day dosed up on Benadryl so that I wasn’t a walking, talking snot catastrophe does put a slight damper on the day.”
He visibly cringes, then he pulls his hands out of the sink and wipes them on the dishcloth draped over his shoulder before turning to me, looking contrite, “I really am sorry about that. If I’d known you were allergic, I never would have done that, Mac, I promise.”
My resolve falters at the genuine sincerity in his tone, and I bite my bottom lip as a feeling of shame flushes my cheeks over my own stupid prank today.
“I’m sorry too. The game I played with Violet and the flowers was pretty messed up. I just—”
“I’m not mad at you for that,” he cuts me off with a scoff.
My eyebrows lift in surprise. “You’re not?”
“No, of course not. In fact, I think it’s a real shame that she thought theOreferred to a name.”
“Well, what else would it be?”
He gives me a pointed look. “I think we both know the answer to that, don’t you?”
“Ah no, I don’t,” I draw out, frowning at him in confusion. “I think you may need to enlighten me on this one.”
He scratches his chin while actively searching for his words before releasing a pensive sigh. “Look, I know I’ve been a bit of an ass over the years.”
“Ass is putting it mildly,” I mutter, and his eyes narrow into slits.
“It takes two to tango, you know,” he points out with a stern look before relaxing his stance and continuing. “Look, let’s not get into that right now. It’s obvious that theOwasn’t the initial to a name but actually the symbol for a hug. And, unfortunately, Violet didn’t pick up on that.”
I blink at him. “Huh?”
“Look, you don’t have to keep up this charade, Mac. Not with me. It’s pretty damn obvious what all this is about, and to be honest, I’m surprised I never saw it before.”
“Saw what?”
“The hidden meaning behind you singing that song last night? The flowers to Violet?” He pauses, then gives me an expectant look, and my brows furrow deeper. “You totally have a thing for her, don’t you?”
My head jolts back, and I nearly swallow my tongue.
What the ever-loving fuck!
He’s completely lost his mind.
I stare at him, utterly dumbfounded for a moment as I try to wrap my head around what’s happening right now. But when I catch the glimmer of the amusement flitting across his emerald orbs, the realization that he’s totally fucking with me right now has me wanting to kick myself for not catching on sooner.
Damn him.
Well if that’s the game he wants to play, then challenge accepted.
Folding my arms across my chest, I straighten my posture and flash him a sly smirk. “Why? Are you jealous?”
Something indistinguishable flits across his features as a hint of pink stains his cheeks. And the sight of it has both my eyebrows lifting in surprise. “N-No,” he blusters. “Why would you ask that?”
“I don’t know.” I eye him off skeptically, wondering why he looks so nervous all of a sudden.
Perhaps I’ve hit the nail on the head, and he does have some residual feelings for Violet. But that wouldn’t make sense. Surely if he still liked her, he would be with her, but with how shaken up he looks right now, I can’t help but wonder if something is going on that I’m yet to be made privy to. So with that in mind, I decide to push the conversation further. “Maybe you see me as a threat? I mean, you were justsoooooin love with her in high school. Perhaps you’re secretly hoping to rekindle what you had.”
Even though my words are meant to be a playful taunt, I can’t seem to stop the bitterness of the words from rolling off my tongue. The thought of those two rekindling whatever they had makes every muscle in my body wind up so tight that I feel like I could snap, and with the way his green eyes light up with intrigue, it would appear it hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Folding his arms across his chest, he studies me for a beat, and heat prickles along my skin at being captured so intensely under his stare.
“First, I was never in love with her,” he finally speaks and for some reason, hearing him say that sends a warm rush of relief flowing right through me. “And second, if I didn’t know any better, I would thinkyouwere jealous. But the question is, who exactly were you jealous of?”
