“Respect? I’ll show you respect,” he said as he flipped me the bird, walking to the passenger seat.
Following Mr. Bossman, I got into the driver’s side of the car. Since I hadn’t switched the ignition off previously, I didn’t need to turn it on again. I knew we still needed to be careful aroundthis neighborhood, bearing in mind the possibility that Eli’s men could still be on the hunt. We had no idea just how much his family knows about his death, if we’re even on their radar.
“But seriously. We’d be equal in every sense of the word when we get out.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. I’ll start toning it down,” Siege grumbled, and I rolled my eyes.
This diva.
I pulled out of the driveway and started heading back to Cosette’s place, knowing she would treat us to a nice dinner once we got there because it was her turn tonight. Siege cooked yesterday, and I cooked the night before.
The three of us had felt oddly comfortable over the past couple of weeks, and I was not thrilled that we had reached the halfway point of this arrangement because her dad would finally end his business trip in two weeks. While I suggested for us to tell her dad together, she wants to find the perfect time for that talk, and there’s no way she can just tell him she’s dating two guys at the same time right away.
After making turns, knowing these streets like the back of my hand now, we parked in front of Cosette’s place. I shut off the engine, then checked on Siege, wondering why he hadn’t gotten out, and noticed he was looking out the driver’s side’s window. I followed his gaze, and I realized he was looking towards Nero’s place.
“What?” I asked, wondering what kind of thoughts were brewing in his head, knowing for sure he’s thinking about something so serious if he was stuck to his seat like this.
He mumbled, as if in a trance, “I think we should help them fix things,” his voice barely audible, lost in thought.
I made a weird face at him that I’m not sure he can even see. “The fuck do you mean?”
Siege turns his deadpan look to me at last. “Use your computer skills and find a way to show Nero the truth. Maybe, I don’t know, try to see if you can hack into Andy’s phone and show him the things that Cosette talked about earlier.”
“And why the fuck would we do that?”
“Because our girlfriend’s hurting? Because you know their friendship runs deep, and she doesn’t enjoy being enemies with anyone?” He told me in a tone that sounded like his words were common sense.
I hated to admit it, but I knew what he’s talking about. Cosette would sometimes sit on the edge of the bed after showering, drying her hair with her towel while staring at the curtain on her window that was directly in front of Nero’s as if she had x-ray vision and wanted to see through the fabrics to see him.
I knew she was yearning for her guy best friend. But, I also knew that there’s something more than friendship with those two. I wasn’t sure about Nero, but our girl definitely still has feelings for him.
“You do know that she’s in love with that fucker, right?” I said, wanting to take back my words and re-tell them in another way because even I could tell that I sounded bitter.
“No shit. I think he is developing feelings for her, too, but that doesn’t mean we should just sit back and let her go through this when we can make it better for her,” Siege argued, and I couldn’t help but have the strongest urge to punch him straight in the face.
How could he be so accepting that his girl—ourgirl—can love someone other than him?
I mean, I know he did the same for me, and for that, I was fucking grateful. But he trusted me not to try and take Cosette for myself, and I trusted him that this is really something that he’s okay with. That’s why this thing with the three of us works.
“Look. Just because we help them fix their friendship doesn’t mean Cosette will suddenly have three men as her boyfriends,” Siege said, looking at me like I was overthinking this.
Was I?
We both have guesses about how this will end.
“And if it does end up like that? Cosette’s known him for so long. She’s loved him for so long. What if we get kicked to the side?—”
“Shut the fuck up. You should have more trust in her than that.”
Fuck. I guess he’s right.
I do know Cosette better than that.
I mean, shit. She and I, we’re fairly new. But not once did she make me feel she loved Siege more than she loved me.
“If this all goes south, I’m fucking blaming you,” I mumbled, already grabbing my iPad from the back seat.
Andy wasn’t really hard to hack. She has so much digital footprint, and very little security that I had her message archive downloaded on my iPad not even thirty minutes into digging.
