Chapter 16
Sixteen
Leo
“How long is this going to take?” Shannon mutters as Harper sets a plate in front of her. “I’m meeting up with some friends later.”
Harper freezes for the barest second, her eyes shooting to mine and then rocketing away.
Then, as though she hasn’t heard my “girlfriend” continuing to be a total bitch, she keeps distributing plates.
“Are you going to eat with us?” Luna asks when Harper turns for the kitchen. “We can squeeze in another chair.”
Shannon’s expression turns icy.
Hell, I wasn’t even sure she’d show up today.
Or maybe I was just hoping she wouldn’t.
But she texted this morning asking me what time dinner was…and if I bought her the purse she wanted.
I had.
Which makes me a sucker, I know.
But I’m thinking of it as a…parting gift.
“No,” Harper says. “I have some finishing touches to put on the next course and I,” she adds when it looks as though Luna is going to protest (and let’s face it, she probably will), “already ate earlier.”
Luna narrows her eyes. “As long as you’re sure.”
“Why does that sound like a threat?” Harper quips.
Luna grins. “Because it is.”
Bri snorts, and Kailey buries a smile. Meanwhile, Faye does her best to engage Shannon in conversation.
And I’m embarrassed to say it doesn’t go well.
“Ugh, no,” Shannon says right after finding out Faye is a romance author. “I think reading is a waste of time.”
“Oh,” Faye says, her eyes flicking toward Gray’s, something silent passing between them.
Silent.
But disapproving.
“Shannon,” I begin.
Her phone rings and she reaches into her purse, snags it. “I have to take this. If she comes back”—a sneer toward the kitchen—“I’m done.”
I glance down at her practically untouched plate and smother a sigh.
“Dude,” Sawyer mutters when she’s gone.
“I know,” I mutter back. “I’m going to break up with her, I just…it’s her birthday and I didn’t want to cancel last-minute on Harper—”
“Just saying, it doesn’t much seem like Shannon cares about anything except that purse you got her.” A shrug. “My guess is you could have dropped the soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend portion of the evening and still kept the dinner part.”
I sigh, rub the throb in my temple. “You’re not wrong.”
“Shit happens.” Another shrug as he reaches forward, snags Shannon’s uneaten plate, and starts hoovering in her uneaten pasta. “Either way, I’m so here for this pasta,” he says through a giant bite of the garlicky, buttery dish.
I scoop up another forkful, nearly groan in pleasure. Sawyer’s not wrong about the pasta either.
Because, fuck, Harper can cook.
“You’re done with her?”
I lift my brows in surprise. “Absolutely, but I don’t think you want to deal with the mess that’s Shannon either, man.”
“I don’t mean Shannon. I mean Harper.”
I whip toward him with a glare. “What the fuck?”
“Hey,” he says, lifting one palm in surrender, but the other is still holding the fork, still shoveling food into his mouth.
“You made it pretty clear you didn’t want anything serious with her.
” He sets the empty plate back at Shannon’s place setting.
“But a woman like Harper isn’t anything but serious.
Her body. Her personality. Her chops in the kitchen.
Fuck man, you put a ring on a woman like Harper, not just have her for one night. ”
The food is delicious—Harper made it, so of course it is.
But right now, it tastes like fucking dirt.
“So yeah, if you’re cool with it, I’m going to ask her out—”
I spin in my chair, grab the front of his shirt. “You touch her and I will fucking kill you.”
The conversation stutters to a halt, silence descending on the room.
Sawyer just calmly peels my hand free.
I want to throttle him, especially when he smirks and says, “Whatever you want, Ricky.”
But Shannon comes back into the room right then. “All right, let’s get this show on the road.” She claps her hands together. “I have tequila to drink tonight with my real friends!”
My friends look at each other, and I wrack my brain for something to smooth over the awkwardness, but, fuck, I don’t know what to say.
Thankfully, Smitty’s big mouth saves the day. “Tell them what you told me, Ry Guy.”
Ryan pauses with his fork halfway to his mouth. “About what?”
Smitty leans in like he’s imparting state secrets. “About the matchmaker.”
“Oh, Christ,” Gray mutters. “Here we go again.”
“Honey,” Kailey begins but Luna shushes her. “It’s not just a rumor?”
Smitty shakes his head. “According to Ryan’s friend, it’s a real thing.”
Shannon starts typing on her phone, not even bothering to pretend to listen.
“Someone is poaching on our matchmaking territory?” Luna’s expression is a lesson in outrage.
“Can you really say you have a matchmaking territory?” Bri points out.
“Um, yes,” Luns says dismissively. “Yes, I can.”
Bri rolls her eyes. “Do you even have any real matchmaking experience, Luns?”
Her chin lifts. “Did I or did I not play a part in Gray and Faye getting together?”
Bri sighs. “I hardly think you can take credit for the house fire, Luns.”
“Rude.” She jabs her finger at Bri. “I definitely can’t take credit for the fire. But I did help with other stuff.”
“Like what?”
“She helped,” Faye interjects. “You all did.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Luna waves a hand. “We’re all great, blah, blah, blah. But the really important thing is who the hell does this matchmaker think she is?”
“Take a breath, Tiny Tornado,” Aiden murmurs.
“She’s taking our jobs!” Luna declares.
“Fucking hell,” Sawyer mutters.
“She seems perfectly nice,” Ryan says firmly. “A friend from the Hawks says she comes with glowing recommendations.”
“Who is this friend?” Smitty’s question is full of suspicion.
“Ace Ambrose.”
We all freeze.
“Didn’t he get engaged recently?” Aiden asks.
“Yup.” Ryan nods. “And he attributes his newfound happiness to the Blue Line Matchmaker herself, apparently.”
Smitty blinks once. Twice. Then his scowl is nearly as thunderous as Luna’s. “Fucking Ambroses.”
“Come on,” Ryan says. “You know Ace is a good one.”
“No, I know that all Ambroses are assholes,” Smitty counters. “It’s just that Ace is sometimes almost human.”
“Well, he’s very much in love with his fiancée,” Ryan says.
Smitty ignores him and turns to Luna. “We need to figure out who this matchmaker is and put them out of business.” He sweeps his hand across his neck like he’s slicing an imaginary throat. “STAT.”
“How about my wife focuses on growing my baby and you focus on being there for your wife while she’s growing yours?” Aiden says and though his tone is light, his eyes are steely.
He’s pretty much the most easygoing guy around.
But fuck with Luna or his baby…
Beast Mode.
Yeah, he’s one of the best.
Smitty opens his mouth, but Kailey leans close and murmurs something in his ear.
Something that has his scowl deepening…but his words drying up.
“Um, well, that was weird,” Shannon says.
“First thing I’ve agreed with her about all night,” Sawyer stage whispers.
He’s not wrong.
“Are we all ready for our next course?” Harper asks, a pair of plates in her hands and a dash of amusement at our friends’ antics in her eyes.
“If it gets this nightmare to end sooner then yes,” Shannon gripes.
Harper’s amusement fades.
But she doesn’t comment, just passes out plates.
Then disappears into the kitchen.
And it takes every bit of control I possess not to follow her.