Chapter 6
Arlo
I’m tipsy. It’s bliss. And as Reynolds pours out another shot, I consider turning it down but I like this floaty feeling and the warmth spreading through my limbs.
“Ah, don’t worry,” Matti says, clearly loving the attention that comes with hitting such a big milestone. “We’re doing the garter toss. Maybe that will decide who’s ready to settle down next.”
Reynolds throws back his shot and thunks the glass back onto the table. “Oh, I’m ready, my friend. I’m waiting to find a guy worthy enough.”
He’s … ready? Since when? Oh goodness, there’s way too much in that one sentence for my frazzled brain to sort through. Was that last comment for Matti’s benefit … or mine?
My heartbeat kicks up a notch, and I can feel my cheeks getting warm. I’m worthy. I’m ready. And I can’t say any of those things in front of my brother, which is totally unfair when all I want is to pull Reynolds away and make him explain, dammit.
If you want to settle down, settle down with me.
Damn him and his no-feelings rule.
Because feelings, I got ’em.
Waiting two more days to tell him that I want a permanent place in his life is near impossible when he goes dropping little comments like that.
I pour the both of us another shot, and he doesn’t hesitate to throw it back.
I’m well aware we should both be taking a little more care with our alcohol consumption when we’re supposed to be going incognito with the schmexytimes.
But … it’s been a long time since we got properly drunk together.
Maybe not even since my first break from college?
And drunk sex with Reynolds was fucking wild.
Hello, I’m here for it.
Especially because if Reynolds does choose to settle down, and not with me, the time I have to get fucked by him is limited.
And I’m not liking that.
I try not to pout as we file out of the room and head down to one of the bars in the resort.
The whole thing has been transformed to look like a casino, and real money or not, I can already tell tonight is going to be fun.
Reynolds looks like he’s worth a million dollars in pants that sit snugly around his thighs and cup his groin in the sexiest way possible.
I want to pull him away into a shadowy corner and make him feel how keyed up he’s getting me.
But like always, Matti barely lets Reynolds out of his sight. I’d say he had a crush of his own if he wasn’t so in love with Olive, and if I didn’t know that those two were probably closer as brothers than even me and Matti are.
It doesn’t stop the slightest niggle of jealousy though.
Not because I think there’s anything there, but because I’m so bloody sick of hiding how I feel about him.
I want to be the one playing roulette by his side.
I want to be the one making him laugh, and grabbing his shoulder, and wrapping my arm around him every time one of us wins.
And why can’t I?
The voice is hard to argue with.
There has to be at least fifty of us here, and since none of them know the history between me and Reynolds, what would some seemingly innocent flirting hurt?
I smear on a little lip balm, plaster a smile on my face, and slide in beside where he’s just taken his place at the blackjack table.
“Hey, handsome.” I tug at one of the buttons on his shirt.
Reynolds’s lips quirk in amusement. “What are you doing?”
“Thought we could make a wager.”
“Oh yeah?”
“I mean, if you’re game.”
His eyes dart quickly to Matti, who’s talking to one of our uncles on his other side. “What are you thinking?”
“Nuh-uh. You have to agree first.”
“Well, that sounds dangerous.”
I push my bottom lip out a little and run my fingers down his forearm. “You don’t trust me?”
“Nah.” Reynolds’s gaze drops to my lips, hovers there for a moment, and pulls back to meet my eyes. “I know you better than that.”
“Pity.” I turn away, pretending like I’m about to leave the table.
“It’s game over, then, is it?”
I stamp down my smile before I turn back to face him. “You know I like to play by my rules.”
He studies me for a second. “Fine.” He holds out his hand. “Let’s do it.”
I could spin this so many different ways to get what I want, but I push the thoughts of sexual favors aside. If I want sex, Reynolds will give it to me without games; he’s never not followed through before.
No, what I want is something that, in all the years we’ve been sleeping together, I’ve never had. A relationship. Out loud and in public.
But I know to tread carefully. I can’t push too much too soon.
“If I win, you’re my date to the wedding tomorrow.”
Reynolds blinks once, twice. “We’re both in the wedding party.”
“So?”
“We’ll already be there, ah, together.”
“I don’t only mean physically. I mean that we get ready together, we straighten each other’s ties, and hold hands, and dance, and do anything and everything you do on a date.”
“My dates usually consist of a few exchanged words on an app before he’s wearing my balls as a hat.”
Jealousy stirs in my gut. “That would be interesting wedding attire. I can’t say my family would approve.”
“Maybe you should find yourself a date who’s more … your standard.”
My standard? What the hell does that mean. “Or maybe you already agreed to the bet, so if you lose, you’ll shut up, take me on a proper date, and then when the night is over, I’ll let you put your balls wherever the hell you want them.”
He hums and steps closer so he can lean down until his lips are near my ear. “It’s cute you think I won’t anyway.”
I’m not going to confirm it even though it’s so, so true.
“And what about your brother?” he asks.
“What about him?”
Reynolds chances a quick look over his shoulder, but Matti has moved farther away. “You think he’s going to be okay with that? Us, on a date, at his wedding?”
“Of course. He’ll be too busy being all loved up to worry about what we’re up to.”
He eyes me skeptically. “You could have at least tried to be convincing.”
My flirty pout dies on my face. This is Reynolds.
Always way too concerned about what Matti and everyone else thinks.
“Fine. Here’s this for convincing. I don’t care.
” I step right into his personal space. “I don’t care what anyone thinks.
I don’t care if Matti throws a tantrum at his own damn wedding. ”
His dark eyes bore into mine. “That’s not exactly fair.”
“No, what’s not fair is that just because he saw you first, he gets to have you and I get nothing.”
“Nothing? What the hell do you call last night?”
Oops. Abort. He’s not ready for that conversation yet.
“Are you backing out or not?” I ask.