Page 188 of Just for the Plot

My hands slide under her shirt and up her back. “I do have something I want to talk to you about, and I know if I don’t mention it, it will eat away at me, and I want to be as transparent and honest with you as possible.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

“Okay, and this might be the jealous asshole coming out of me, but it’s driving me nuts that Cougar helped you with your book truck.”

Her expression frowns. “How do you know about that?”

“Gabby told me. She called me and raved about Cougar and how great he is and how he’s been helping you. It fucking ate at me.” I rub her sides, not wanting to sound like a jealous fool, but knowing that’s how this will come off. “Why didn’t you come to me? Gretchen has been asking about everything, and well, I feel like I could have been helpful.”

Her fingers play with my hair, sending goose bumps over my arms. “It was nothing against you, Bennett. It was me trying to fixate on something, anything that wasn’t you. Although, it made me think of you all the time. I was trying to put distance between my thoughts about you and just trying to focus on something, anything besides the feeling of letting my friend down because I was falling for her brother.”

“But why ask him?”

“I didn’t seek out his help,” she says. “Not sure if that makes you feel better, but I was at the coffee house, just trying to get some work done, and he happened to run into me. A few times, and well, he’s nosey and asked what I was doing, so I showed him. I will admit, he gave me some good advice.” That makes me go still, anger pulsing through me, and she must feel it because she tries to soothe me by rubbing her thumbs over the back of my neck. “It was nothing too big, though, and if I wasn’t trying to compartmentalize, then I would have asked you.”

“You should have,” I say, irritated by the conversation. I knew I would be. I’ve been so irritated by anything Cougar has had a part of in her life. If anyone should be helping her with the book truck, it’s me.

“Bennett, don’t get angry.”

“I am. He’s an idiot. He shouldn’t be having a hand in your dreams.”

“You’re the one who set me up with him,” she says, pulling away slightly.

“Yeah, because I wanted to set you up with an idiot to make me look better.”

She blinks and then gets off my lap. “Are you serious right now?”

Shit, probably shouldn’t have said that.

I reach for her hand, but she backs away, so I stand, not wanting her to take off. “Bower, it was self-preservation. I was desperate to get you to notice me—”

“So your plan was to set me up with someone who could have possibly hurt me?”

“No.” I push my hand through my hair. “The intention was to make him seem like a douchebag so when you hung out with me, you saw me for who I am.”

“And who is that?” She crosses her arms over her chest. “A conniving little punk?”

“No,” I say, panic starting to surge through me. “I wanted you to see me for the man I am, not the boy I once was.”

“Well, that was a very boyish thing to do, Bennett.”

“I was desperate. What did you want from me? You were hanging all over me, asking me to set you up with someone.”

“Yeah, and you could have asked me out instead.”

I sarcastically laugh. “Please, Bower. If I asked you out when you were looking for me to set you up, there is no way you would have said yes. You would have booked it out of here so fucking fast. Don’t act like you would have treated the situation any differently.”

“What, so this entire thing was some sort of slow, drawn-out plan to get me into your bed?”

“No,” I say, not quite understanding how we got here when moments ago she was on my lap.

“You’re unbelievable, Bennett.” She shakes her head and moves toward the entryway of my apartment.

I chase after her, not wanting her to leave like this.

I step in front of her, blocking the door. “It was not some plan to get you into my bed. It was to get you to fucking notice me, Bower. I had no goddamn chance at getting you to even look at me other than as a friend without a plan. If I came up to you and told you how I felt when you first moved here, you would have gone running. I had to take my time. I had to slowly help you realize that I’m the guy you deserve, and if I had to use someone else to do that, then I don’t fucking care, because it means that I was able to bring you closer. I don’t understand why that makes you so upset. I did what any hero in your romancebooks would have done, or any other man with a massive crush would have done.”

She crosses her arms over her chest but doesn’t respond, making me believe that I might be able to put out this fire.