“It’s Pittsburgh-style! They put fries on everything.” Mia happily poured dressing over the whole mess and chomped away.
“Are youfromPittsburgh, Mia?” Matt asked in confusion.
“Nope! I’m from Los Angeles. But Mom had to work in Pittsburgh for a while. I miss their salads.”
“That’s just weird,” Rosie muttered.
“Yeah,” Matt agreed. He slipped her hand back into his under the table and smiled shyly. Rosie forced herself to eat with her left hand, so she didn’t have to break the contact. Her heart did somersaults in her chest. She was still shocked this handsome, gentle giant was hers.
Olivia bent down to get something out of her purse, then snapped her head above the table. “What thehellis going on here?”
Rosie gulped down her bite as Matt almost choked on a piece of chicken. She looked around the table, as confused as anyone else. What was Olivia talking about?
“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath. She was the only one that heard it.
“What are you talking about, Olivia?” Jade pressed a hand on their friend’s shoulder. “Take a chill pill.”
Her left eye twitched. A tic her friend only developed when she was on the borderline of berserker mode. Rosie gulped. Olivia waspissed.“I’m talking about Rosie holding hands with mybrother,Jade.”
Six pairs of eyes all snapped to the two of them, and Rosie wished the earth would open and swallow her whole. Instead, she turned to Matt, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “You said you’d talk to her,” she said, her voice low and trembling.
“Itried.” He pleaded for forgiveness with his eyes. “She neverletme talk.”
“Great.” Sarcasm dripped from her voice. Now her friend was mad at her, and Rosie couldn’t blame her.
But Matt apparently wanted to make up for his colossal mistake. “I’ve been trying to tell you forweeks, Liv. I’m seeing Rosie.” He held on tight when she tried to slide her hand away.
“What?”
Olivia glared. Her gaze darted back and forth between them like she couldn’t figure out who she hated more. Rosie had never seen her so mad. It wasn’t from alcohol either, since Olivia was still on her first cocktail and eating dinner. Which only made the guilt worse.
“Howcouldyou?” Now Olivia was talking directly to Rosie, her face turning red. “He’s mybaby brother!”
Rosie’s voice refused to work, but she tried anyway, only managing to make herself look like a fish out of water. Which coincidentally, matched the way she felt.
“I’m twenty-two and I’m only two years younger than you, Liv. Stop acting like I’m made of glass.”
“Great,” Jade groaned quietly as the argument continued. “Now we’rethattable.”
“I’ll handle the tip. All these people need now is popcorn,” Mia added sarcastically.
Rosie’s face burned as she fought tears of shame. She’d known Olivia would react badly. Every time Matt had started dating someone, Olivia would rant and rave at the squad about why that girl wasn’t good enough for him. And now one of her best friends, hersquad sister,had crossed that line. And thanks to her, Olivia was making a scene. Jade and Nadia were hiding their faces, embarrassed by the drama. Mia seemed to be on their side before, but she squirmed in her seat, unable to look at them. Dear God, shecouldn’tlose her squad.Why couldn’t Matt have just told her like he said he would? Why hadn’t she just told her herself?
Why did Olivia have to be so stubborn?
Wrenching her hand from Matt’s, she ran for the bathroom despite the people calling her name. The rest of the restaurant was staring at them, and she couldn’t take it anymore.
“Wetalkedabout this. My. Friends. Are. Off. Limits.” Olivia had come to their side of the table and was punctuating each of her words with a jab of her finger into his chest. All Matt wanted was to go after Rosie, but his sister was standing in the way.
“She’s not going to use me like Willow did.” Rosie had disappeared into the corridor for the restrooms. Damn it, he couldn’t follow her there. Anger swelled in his chest at the way Olivia treated them — as something terrible. “If you’d stopped tolistento me foronesecond, I would have told you after our first date. You know this has been a long time coming.”
Mia rose and patted him on the back as she followed Rosie. Matt breathed a sigh of relief. At least they hadheron their side.
“‘A long time coming?’ What are you talking about?”
Matt rolled his eyes. “Don’t you remember me asking you whether she had a boyfriend back when you first brought her to your birthday?”
“No.” Olivia blinked. “Wait. You were inhigh school. You were still a minor, for fuck’s sake. Are youseriousright now?”
