Page 68 of 10 Things I Hate About Mistletoe

“Pike, hold up. It’s not what you think.”

“I’ll bet,” Pike scoffed, twisting around and shoving Anthony backward. Caught off guard, he stumbled a bit but caught himself. “I asked you, point blank, if you were interested and you said no.”

“I can explain everything but I don’t want to do this on the side of the highway.”

“I don’t want to do this at all. I just had to make sure it was you because I thought I was making myself crazy. Telling myself it was a weird coincidence that you changed your mind about visiting your dad.”

“That was all true!”

“When did it start? How long were the two of you fucking around and laughing at me?” Pike asked, his eyes blazing.

There was no use trying to tell Pike that wasn’t what they’d been doing. “Wednesday night.”

“After she rejected me? So, while I was waiting at the bar for you to show up, you were together?”

“It wasn’t like that—”

“Then explain it to me, man, because I knew you liked to razz me, but I always thought you respected me.”

“I do respect you, which is why I didn’t tell you about us over the phone. It’s why I said I wasn’t interested when you asked, even though I’ve been into her for almost a year.”

“The fuck are you talking about?” Pike asked.

“We kissed last year at Merry and Clark’s party. I knew she liked you so I stopped it, but I didn’t forget.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that when I was going on and on about dating her?”

“Because I thought she wanted you, too!”

Pike scoffed. “And the minute you found out she’d turned me down, you made your move.”

Anthony wanted to deny it, but that was exactly what happened. “I honestly didn’t expect you to be so invested, man. It had only been a couple of days.”

Pike laughed. “I can’t believe you’re trying to turn this around on me. Forget the fact that you made a move on her behind my back, you’re my business partner. My brother. And you fucking lied to me. That’s what I can’t get over.”

Anthony let Pike return to his car, at a loss for what to say. Pike wasn’t wrong. He’d lied. He hated liars and yet he’d become one because he wanted Delilah.

Her door opened and closed and he heard the crunch of her shoes on gravel before her hands covered his arms, lips pressing into his back. “He’ll get over it. We weren’t dating, so it’s not like we cheated.”

“I did worse. I lied to him, repeatedly.”

“Anthony, you’re both blowing this up way bigger than it needs to be. When he calms down, he’ll call and the two of you will patch this up.”

Anthony couldn’t take her cheerful optimism, not right now. “Let’s get you and Leia home.”

He started to walk back to the car but something hard connected with his butt. Anthony whirled around, his jaw hanging open. “Did you kick me?”

“Yes, and I almost fell over trying to reach your freakishly tall ass cheeks, but you needed it! The two of you are acting like children fighting over the same toy and it’s partly my fault. I should have told Pike when I turned him down it was because of you, but I didn’t know you cared until you tracked me down at the store that night. We can’t go back and fix our mistakes, but we can move forward. We’ve already let the horse out of the barn. Just”—her voice shook with emotion as she continued—“please don’t toss us aside because you think it will fix things.”

“I’m not tossing anything aside.”

“Really? So, you’re not thinking of cooling this off while you fix things with Pike?”

It had been at the back of his mind but hadn’t fully formed yet. “Not necessarily.”

Delilah laughed bitterly. “Wow. Just like that?”

“No, I just—my whole life, it’s been Nick, Noel, and Pike. Always the four of us, having each other’s backs. I fucked that up and I gotta fix it.”