With a sigh that makes me smile, he relents. “I’ve never really been known for my subtlety. It’s something I’m working on.”
“Please don’t,” I say suddenly. He’s too close to miss the heat I can feel warming my cheeks. “I mean, unless you want to. But I like it. Subtlety is overrated.”
“Good, because I don’t want to stop spoiling you.”
He will, someday.
CHAPTER36
THE WORST PERSON (IT’S PROBABLY ME)
LINCOLN
When Manny and I coexist on the same soil, we only ever need to phone when there’s a problem.
Which is why dread blooms, quick and bloody as a black eye, in my gut as soon as his name flashes up on my screen.
“Problem?” I ask, clinging to unlikely hope.
“I’d say a big fucking problem, yeah.”
There’s weight in the silence between every word, a language I recognize as the warning it is. “I’m on my way. Whatever it is, keep it there.”
“Mate, if I could get it to leave, we wouldn’t be talking.”
Oh, hell.
As soon as I see Kyle, I know it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Much, much worse.
“Ah, the lord of the manor has arrived,” he says, a grin splitting his face open in a way my fist is jealous of.
He’s never been here. It’s a shock to see him in all his polo-shaped glory, dirtying up a space reserved for all the best parts of my life. I want to drag him out of here by the collar of that ridiculous shirt.
There’s a glint in his eye that says he really wants me to ask what he thinks of the place, pretty painted insults sitting ripe on his tongue, ready for flinging.
As if I’d give him the satisfaction.
“What do you want?”
“Hey,” he says, faking offense. “Is that how you greet your favorite cousin? No hello? How are you? I mean, this place isn’t much to look at,” he sneers, “but you don’t have to be ashamed. We’re family.”
Manny steps out from behind the bar, and it’s a good thing he isn’t set to open for another hour. “I swear to god, if you don’t shut your mouth right now?—”
“It’s all right. I’ll take care of this.” I hold a hand up to Manny, who shakes his head at me and grumbles.
“Smart man,” Kyle says, making my skin crawl. “Now, how about we head upstairs so we can talk? I’ve got something that might interest you.”
I fucking doubt that.
“Spill it or fuck off, Kyle. I don’t have time.”
As kids, we never managed to be in the same circles. I’m not sure if that was Mum’s doing or pure luck, but I’ve always been grateful. Every second spent in Kyle’s presence has been a test of patience and a lesson in fuckery.
All three of us had our own way of dealing with him. Reed ignored him (typical, that). Darcy spoke back, wielding words like weapons until Kyle was riled up.
I dared him to try me. He never did.
Until now.
