Page 77 of Rivals Next Door

“Linc, help me out here.” I turned to Lincoln who hadn’t said a word the entire time. Come to think of it, he’d been unnaturally quiet for a while.

He looked up from his phone screen, which he’d been staring at, and blinked. “Huh?”

“Are you okay, man?” I asked.

“Fine.” He cleared his throat and shifted on his chair. “Just fine.”

“Are you sure?” Jamie asked. “The last time you got so distracted and looked so troubled was when you got it into your head to go to Hawaii to win Charlotte back.”

Charlotte jabbed Jamie in the side with an elbow and gave him a pointed look.

Michael and I exchanged amused glances. Last year, Lincoln was going through some kind of weird not-quite-mid-life crisis and suddenly decided to win back his ex-girlfriend. He dragged us all to Hawaii on his fool’s mission. The amusing part was that he didn’t even talk to Charlotte about getting back together first.

If he had, he would have known that she had no interest whatsoever in rekindling their romance and saved himself a lot of trouble. Charlotte ended up falling for Jamie on sight. Things were great between them though. Charlotte and Lincoln were still great friends, and there was no awkwardness between the three. In fact, Lincoln was going to be the best man at the wedding.

Lincoln folded his lips. “How about we not dredge up the time l lost my head and acted as recklessly as Alex would?”

“Hey!” I scoffed.

Michael and Jamie roared. Even Charlotte looked like she was barely holding back laughter.

“See? Lincoln confirms that Alex is a nut job,” Michael said.

“I wish Spencer were here,” I huffed. “He’d take my side.”

Spencer was visiting his parents across the pond, but he’d join us soon for Jamie and Charlotte’s official engagement party. The time for their wedding was quickly approaching.

“That’s because he’s as crazy as you are,” Michael replied.

“Alright, that’s enough,” I said. “The rag-on-Alex-fest is over.” I pointed at Lincoln. “I’ll get to the bottom of your strange behavior soon. I know it involves a woman because I know the look.”

“What? Why… I… There’s no woman,” he denied, yet his eyes skated away from us.

Charlotte, Jamie, and Michael regarded him with amusement and curiosity.

“Right now,” I continued. “I need to ask the bride and groom a favor.”

“Sure,” Charlotte chirped without hesitation. She was such a sweetheart.

“May I bring a plus one to the party?”

Jamie’s eyes narrowed on me. “Is it one of your strippers?”

I threw my arms up. “You make it sound like I have a fleet of strippers at my disposal.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you did,” Michael said under his breath.

“For your information, I haven’t been to a strip club in months.” I had no desire to see random tits and ass. Hell, I didn’t even flirt with every woman I encountered anymore. I was actually tired of the superficial relationships I had with many women…

By God, I think I’m growing up.

That thought sent amusement coursing through me. My mom would be proud. She worried a lot about my rakish behavior… former rakish behavior. The change happened when Olivia came back into my life. How ironic was it that the woman who broke my heart was the one to show up and open my eyes to the fact that I was tired of bed-hopping and meaningless relationships?

“Earth to Alex...”

Charlotte’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.

“Of course, you can bring a plus one even if she is a… dancer,” she said with a gentle smile.

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