Page 76 of The Fake Out

His girlfriend pulled him to her, trying to get him to calm down. That guy could be a little much sometimes, but he was always a fun time. Max knew how to placate him, though, because now they were making out against the bar.

Next to me, Noah wrapped his arms around Dinah, resting his chin on top of her head. Dinah wrinkled her nose in TJ and Max’s direction. “Gross.”

“Lovey, you remember how we were when we first started?” Noah asked her. “Remember when T caught us making out against your front door?”

The tiny woman laughed. “Oh, yeah. I wanted to fuck you senseless, but you wanted to take me to dinner first.”

I smiled at them.

Dinah looked up at me with a serious look in her eye. “Are you and Veronica okay?”

“Why?” I grumbled and took a sip of my beer to avoid the question.

She cast a glance toward her fiancé, who shrugged. “Because she didn’t come to the game.”

“So?” I tried to play coy. “She doesn’t have to come to every game.”

“Okay, but—”

“D, can you please drop it?” I snapped at her.

She looked taken aback at my snippy attitude, and Noah glared at me. Noah was a mild-mannered guy. Quiet and a little sensitive, but a good dude. Right now, he looked at me like he was ready to drop the gloves, and I felt like a dick. I saw Dinah squeeze his hand in warning.

“She wouldn’t answer any of my calls. You know you can talk to us, okay?” Dinah reassured me.

“I know,” I sighed and ran a hand down my face. “I’m sorry.”

“Bro, what’s up?” Noah asked.

“Nothing. It’s fine,” I lied.

“Blaise, what did you do?” Dinah demanded.

For a cute little thing, Dinah Lace could be scary.

“I was trying to be helpful,” I grumbled.

I still didn’t get why Veronica had been pissed at me. I hated that she didn’t have a railing on her steps, but it was easy enough for me to fix it for her. All I had been doing was trying to help her out, but she lashed out at me.

“With what?” Dinah asked.

“You’ve been to her place, right?”

She nodded.

“I installed a railing in her stairwell.”

Noah and Dinah shared a look.

I took a sip of my beer. “What?”

Noah rubbed his hand across his bushy beard. “Bro, that’s like a husband move.”

Dinah nodded. “I love Veronica, but her ex hurt her.”

“Okay, but what does that have to do with me putting up a railing for her?”

“Because it scared her.”