She grinned, and every ounce of sibling mischief was obvious in her expression. “Never.”
Neil handed me his beer. “Here, man. I’ll grab another.”
“At least your husband loves me.”
She rolled her eyes. “You can’t have him.”
I scoffed. “You’re just jealous of our bromance because it’s so magical.”
She didn’t dignify that with a response, which was probably fair. Instead, she rejoined Mom in the kitchen. Probably for the air-conditioning. My sister was no fool.
I took a big gulp of beer and went back to the web form pulled up on my phone, using two thumbs to type in answers. It was a little clunky, but I didn’t want to go deal with the paperweight my parents considered a home computer, so I made do.
Neil took a seat beside me, craning his neck. “Matchmaking Mamas? Are you?—”
“Shhh!”
“Sorry.” He lowered his voice. “I didn’t take you for the blind date type. I thought you were seeing that redhead, Anne?”
“Didn’t work out,” I muttered.
We’d had a good first date, a mediocre second one, and a disastrous third. That was about the time I stopped playing the gentleman and let my true colors fly. Most women didn’t dig it. The few who did wanted me for my dick more than my personality. Those relationships were fun for a while, but they were generally a few good fucks to nowhere.
“So your dream date is drinks at The Stag Pub?” Neil sounded skeptical. “I kind of thought you’d be more of a picnic by the river sorta guy. Maybe some stargazing from the back of your pickup truck.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Been thinking about my dating preferences?”
He laughed. “Wendy talks about it enough. She thinks if you’d just be real with people?—”
“Real? I’m real.”
He held up his hands. “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just saying, she thinks you only show people what you want them to see. You’re not open and vulnerable and…” He trailed off with a grimace. “I sound like a damn romance novel, don’t I?”
I chuckled. “Little bit, but don’t worry about me. I’m not signing up for matchmaking. I do just fine.”
“Oh? Then what…”
“It’s for my neighbor.” I grinned so hard my cheeks hurt. “He’s got a little payback coming.”
“No way!” Neil’s eyes widened, and he leaned in to watch as I input a few more details for Maverick’s interests, snickering as I typed out that helovedtrucks, especially big-ass macho trucks, car shows, and sporting events.
It wasn’t like Maverick would accept any matches. Once he realized what I’d done, he’d be totally furious and I’d get to gloat over my superior pranking. My phone flashed with an incoming call from an unknown number. I sent it to voicemail, grinding my teeth.
My prank was way better than advertising a man’s truck for sale. That was just wrong.
Wendy sauntered back over. “What are you two whispering about?”
“Nothing,” I said quickly.
She stared down her husband. “What are youreallydoing?”
“Damon is pranking Maverick again,” Neil said, caving like a house of cards.
“Dude!”
“You might wanna sabotage Mav’s love life, but I’m not going down with him.”
Wendy shook her head. “I don’t get this weird fixation you have on him.”
