Page 88 of Unmatched

We pull up to the curb in front of our childhood home, and Seth hops out, leaving the engine idling as he retrieves her suitcase from the trunk. Lydia climbs out of the back seat to meet him on the front walk, giving him an earnest hug as he hands over her luggage. For a minute, I just sit in the passenger seat, staring through the windshield with my hands in my lap, not sure if I should be grateful or annoyed they get along so well.

Seth opens my door and waits for me to climb out. “Think I’ll go find myself a nightcap.”

I narrow my eyes, pretty sure I know what he’s thirsty for. But I also can’t blame him for wanting to make himself scarce.

“Night,” I say, peeling myself out of his SUV.

The air is warm and calm as he drives away, and I shuffle up the walkway behind Lydia. Definitely not watching the sway of her gorgeous hips in those jeans.

She pauses at the stoop and opens her mouth like she wants to say something, but closes it again. Taking a step back, she puts a friendly distance between us, like strangers on the street.

I bite my lip, unlocking the door and holding it open. Lydia reaches for her suitcase. I don’t know what she packed in there, but when she struggles to heft it off the stoop, I grab the handle, relieving her of the burden. Lydia hesitates, with an uncomfortable glance at me. “Um...if you’d prefer, I can book a hotel.”

Her voice rises like a question at the end, and I freeze on the doorstep. Mom’s two-bedroom ranch isn’t exactly huge. Seth’s in the master bedroom, but I’ve been crashing in the room we shared as kids—the same one Lydia and I have stayed in together every time we’ve visited.

I raise my head to stare at her, the word “hotel” ricocheting through my mind, lighting up memories of her lace-framed ass and the heated texts of a fantasy girl who doesn’t exist.

The instant our eyes meet, I can tell she’s having the same flood of memory.

She opens her mouth, face flushed. “I just thought—I mean, I wasn’t sure whether?—”

“You’ll stay here.”

My words come out gruff and commanding. No room for argument or debate, just directive. And I know if my brother had stayed, he would tell me I’m an ass or just punch me in the face. I flex my fingers, waiting for Lydia to object. But thank God, she doesn’t. She studies me, arching one eyebrow the way she does when she’s trying to strategize. Then she nods slowly, and I carry her suitcase inside.

Mom’s old orange tabby cat, Bruno, greets us with a broken-sounding meow as soon as we walk in, and Lydia goes right to him, rubbing him gently behind the ears.

“Seth been taking good care of you?” she asks, and it’s a second before I realize she’s talking to the cat.

Bruno struts along the back of the couch, wailing a string of lies about being underloved and undernourished. Lydia takes him at his word, walking straight to the pantry in the kitchen. It doesn’t take long for her to find the giant stock of sardines my mother has always kept and my brother now maintains just for the mangy cat’s benefit.

“That’s better, isn’t it?” she asks as he devours one of the headless silver fish off a plate.

“That’s his third one today,” I mutter, opening the fridge for some sweet tea. Mom always used to brew it herself, but Seth is lazy and buys the bottled kind that never tastes quite right. Remembering my manners, I hold one out to Lydia, though she’s never been a fan. As expected, she wrinkles her nose and declines.

I retrieve a glass for myself, watching her out of the corner of my eye. She’s removed her hoodie and is studying a snapshot Mom stuck on the fridge years ago of Lydia and me embracing at the top of Quandary Peak in Colorado. It was our first fourteener—mountains over fourteen thousand feet high that you can scale in a day. We had plans to climb more, or at least I did, but that had to be five or more years ago and we still haven’t summited a second.

“Remember that?” she says with a wistful half smile.

I look more closely at the image. We’d driven to the mountains for the weekend, taking a much-needed break from the work grind right after she got Ooh La Pooch up and running. You can hike to the summit and back in half a day, but above ten thousand feet, it was a more strenuous hike than either of us was used to. Once we got there, it felt amazing standing on top of the peak, looking out at the entire world. After we’d made it back to our campsite that night and were curled up in our tent, I’d reached for her, ready to cap off a fantastic day by making love deep in the forest. There was no one around for miles. But she’d shut me down, rolled over, and pulled away because “someone might hear us.” Some raccoon, fox, or bear that might object to the sounds of animal pleasures, I guess.

She raises her eyes to mine when I don’t answer, and her smile fades.

But as I think about that trip some more, Jess and Izzy’s voices start whispering through my head, and I wonder if I could’ve approached her differently. Made her feel more comfortable, relaxed, instead of turning away and giving up.

“What are you really doing here?” I ask, clearing my throat. I know she wanted to see Mom, but after our exchange on Unmatched, I’m more confused than ever. I just need to know what’s going on.

She straightens. “I needed to come.”

I can’t help noticing she has her phone gripped in her hand, ready to answer any Pooch demand at a moment’s notice, like always.

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” I say, somehow unable to dial down my inner jerk.

She opens her mouth, a strange look crossing her features. “Actually, I am also here for a business meeting.”

My shoulders slump involuntarily. I should’ve known. I clench my jaw, wishing I hadn’t asked.

“With you,” she says, stepping toward me.

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