Downstairs, an argument between Sebastian and Ryland is raging, but that’s not unusual. They’re always arguing aboutsomething. Ryland just goes quiet and glares while Sebastian yells. The fact that Ryland doesn’t yell back just seems to make Sebastian angrier.
I navigate to the match website and get to work setting up Levi as the contact. I’m just finishing when boots creak on the hardwood floor behind me.
“You know that’s a Murphy bed, right?” Levi asks.
I focus on the screen, trying to get everything done before Levi realizes what I’m doing.
“If I fold it up, where am I going to work?” Cash asks.
“I don’t know. How about anywhere other than my bed?”
“Sebastian says he’s going to look for office space today,” Cash says, his sympathy for Levi clear in his tone. “You’ll get your house back soon, baby brother.”
“I need my computer, Deac,” Levi says, still on the other side of the room.
I keep typing, not even looking up. I’m so close to having this all set up. “When you abandoned us last year, I learned how to do all this business crap, Levi. I’m working.” I didn’t, and I don’t. Levi handled all that stuff remotely, but I don’t have a better excuse. It’s possible there’s some business stuff I took care of that he doesn’t know about.
“Leave him be, Levi,” Cash says. “It’ll be worth it.”
Levi’s boots tap on the floor behind me, and then his heat is at my back. “You’re setting up a profile on a dating site? I thought you were declaring a moratorium on romance.” I did say that. But mostly to get him to stop whining to me about how much he likes Gentry and how sad he is that she hates him. I might have also pretended I fell in love and had my heart broken during the two months we were living in separate towns.
I lied to my brother. I’m not proud of it. But he did stop mentioning Gentry around me.
I scroll back up and scoot to the side so he can see what I’ve done. He leans in closer to look.
His laugh is sharp and hard. “He is going to murder you.”
“He’s going to thank me. Dude needs to get laid. He’s been a huge dick since Skyler dumped his ass, and I’m sick of it.”
“What are you going to do if someone decides to date him? Are you going to tell the poor woman this is a setup?”
“Hell no,” I say. “You know me better than that. This is a well thought out, finely tuned operation.”
“Uh-huh.” Levi looks over at Cash. “You part of this?”
Cash shrugs. “Can’t do any harm. Sebastian is miserable.”
“This isn’t going to fix that. When he finds out, I want you to tell him I had nothing to do with it.”
I grin. My plan is so awesome. “Unless he loves it and is deliriously happy, then you want credit for it?”
Levi drops his head, chin to chest, and lets out a long sigh before pinning me with a calculating look. “If this actually works and Sebastian is actually grateful, I’ll cook dinner for a week for both of you.”
Levi’s a great cook, and I’m going to love eating his meals, so I nod.
“And…” he says.
I go back to the dating app, looking it over to make sure everything’s perfect.
“If Sebastian doesn’t find happiness with a new woman, you two will do my laundry for a month, including folding it.”
“Two weeks,” Cash says.
“Four weeks,” Levi says. “I don’t have that much laundry.”
“Fine,” I say, without looking up from the screen.
“And get your own computer,” Levi says. “I need mine.”
