Page 144 of Faking it For Summer

“I think there’s got to be at least one,” I say. “Is there anyone that you fancy or have your eye on?”

“Not at all,” she says, shaking her head. “Not at all. There’s no one.”

“Wow. That was kind of a fast response.” I narrow my eyes. “You mean, there’s no one you’ve ever seen at Cocktails & Chaos that you thought,Wow, he’s cute?”

“Nope, not at all.”

“Really? What about that dude who was talking to us? What was his name? Matt?”

“Who’s Matt?” Luke asks.

I laugh as I see the jealousy in his expression. “He wasn’t interested in me. He was trying to chat up Juniper. I flashed him this absolutely gorgeous diamond ring that my fiancé put on my finger.” I grin at him. “And he was not interested.”

“I’m not interested in Matt. We were just talking, and he was going on and on about comic books.” Juniper gives me a look. “And you know I am not interested in comic books or men who are interested in comic books.”

“I know”—I laugh—“but maybe give him a shot.”

“Give who a shot?”

I look behind me, and I’m surprised to see Rafe standing there.

“Oh, hey, bro. How’s it going?” I head over to him and give him a quick hug.

“Why are you dripping with water?” he says as he brushes some drops off of him.

“It’s my fault. I’m sorry.” Luke holds up his hand, and Rafe laughs.

“I should have known. So, what were you talking about just now?”

“Oh, I was just talking about this hot guy who’s into Juniper, and I was telling her that perhaps he’ll be the love of her life.”

“Oh.” Rafe frowns. “And who is this exactly?”

“His name is Matt.”

“His name is Matthew,” Juniper says, clarifying like there’s some sort of big difference.

“Matt, Matthew—same difference. And he was totally trying to bang our girl. He was all over her, and she was like,I don’t know. Really?”

“Mia, I was not saying?—”

“I know you weren’t saying, but you did have a high-pitched voice. Anyway, I was trying to convince her that maybe she should invite him to game night this weekend.”

Rafe looks at Luke. “But don’t we have an even set of numbers right now? And if we’re going to play group games, we’d rather have an even set of numbers and not odds. So, I don’t think that’s a good idea. And plus, you don’t know this guy. He could turn out to be a serial killer or a psychopath.”

“I’m not going to invite him anyway,” Juniper says quickly. “So, it’s okay.”

“Well, that’s good then. That’s settled.” Rafe folds his arms. “Anyway, I was just dropping by to see how everyone was doing.”

“Really? You never drop by to see how we’re doing.” I question my brother. “What’s up with the shirt that you’re wearing? It looks like it’s brand-new and formfitting, and my brother does not wear formfitting shirts.”

“Nothing. I’m just headed back to the vet clinic, and I decided to drop by to say hello.”

“Well, hello.”

Something about his story doesn’t make sense, but I’m not going to call him out on it. If he’s come to check up on me and find out if it’s going well with Luke, I’m not going to give him the answers that he seeks. He’s my brother, and I love him, and I love that he cares about me, but he does not need to be in my business.

“Luke and I are doing well, if that’s what you came to ask me.”