Page 4 of Matched

Silence falls between the two of us again and I glance at Taya to find her chewing her bottom lip. Time to change the subject before she starts sobbing. I bump her with my shoulder and chuckle. “Just think, this time last year, you and Jim were trying not to kill each other and now you’re thinking about babies. Who knows? Maybe if I stop bitching for five seconds, I, too, can achieve marital bliss.”

Taya bursts into a loud, harsh cackle of laughter. “I can’t even picture the two of you surviving the night, let alone having kids. I’ve already started planning how to hide his body.”

“You and me both.” I blow out a puff of air to chase away a strand of hair from my eyes. All those trainings Taya and I did with the cadaver dogs on our search and rescue team may actually come in use. I snort and shake my head. Guess the dark sense of humor from the K-9 handlers is rubbing off a little too much on me. I turn back to my best friend and flick an upturned hand in the air. “On the bright side, I guess I won’t have to worry about how to pay for my rent increase once Tony moves in.”

My landlord died a month after I’d been accepted into the program and his son had taken over, springing the little surprise on me and the tenant upstairs that he’d be increasing our rent. Doubling it, in fact. For the past three months, I’ve had to take extra shifts at work and still can barely cover my bills. In fact, last month I had to borrow money from Mami. I love my place and I hate the idea of moving. And two days ago, when I came home to the envelope in my mailbox, I’d taken it as an auspicious sign that I’d found a solution to my problem.

Ha! That’s what I get for being optimistic.

Taya arches a brow. “Pretty drastic step for finding a roommate.”

I sigh, too embarrassed to vocalize my main reason for signing up with the Issued Partner Program because it sounds so stupid right now, given that I’ve been matched with Tony. “You think? You know he hit on me back at the hospital.”

Taya snorts. “Hello, I might have been on pain meds, but I do remember that whole STD line.”

My palm strikes my forehead and I groan. “That’s only half of it. So, check this out, Tony follows me out to the vending machines, right? I’m minding my business, trying to get a coffee when this hijo de las mil putas struts over and continues to drop cheesy pick-up lines for another five minutes and then asks me what shampoo I used because—and I quote—’I want to make sure I have a bottle waiting in my shower for you come morning.’ I shot his ass down, of course. But then tell me why the next time I see this fool, he’s spitting the same game to the nurse at the counter?”

Taya’s eyes grow wide and she presses a hand over her mouth. Granted, Tony isn’t the reason I signed up for the program. That honor belongs to the guy I’d met shortly after, a financial advisor. He’d been respectful, considerate, and even attended Taya’s wedding as my plus-one. And then the shit hit the fan. Waiting for us in the parking lot of the reception was the idiot’s wife.

My jaw clenches at the memory, at the embarrassment. And, of course, my soon-to-be husband was the only one of the group to bear witness to the catastrophe, making sure I got into my car safely. None of the group knows exactly what happened to my former boyfriend, not even Taya. I’m too ashamed to tell her and Tony’s kept his mouth shut on the subject so far. A fact I appreciate. Then, two days later I signed up for the Issued Partner Program because my own instincts on men can’t be trusted.

The doorbell rings, interrupting my thoughts and making my entire body go rigid. The only company I’m expecting is the marriage officiant, and Jim and Tony, and neither option is especially welcome. I sigh. Not like I have a choice in whether or not to answer the door.

“Here goes nothing.” I rise to my feet and meander around the coffee table, stopping at the window to peek through the blinds. The first thing that catches my eye is a black Durango with tinted windows sitting in my driveway. In the street is Jim’s pickup, so I’m pretty certain I can guess the Durango’s owner. As I’m taking the last few steps to the door, the doorbell rings three more times in rapid succession.

I curse under my breath. If I wasn’t one-hundred-percent sure of whose Durango it was before, I am now. I yank open the front door, my lips pressed into a tight line. “Tony.”

“Wifey!” Tony grins, his bald head practically glowing beneath the sun, but he doesn’t seem to mind. He grabs me around the waist, lifting me off my feet so he can wrap me in his enormous arms.

Before I can quell it, a thrill works itself through my middle. Tony is physically mouthwatering. He’s six foot and made of pure muscle. His features are chiseled and his thick, black brows only draw attention to those sultry brown of his eyes. His lashes are longer than mine and, coupled with his easy smile and penchant for troublemaking, he always looks as if he’s about to get into mischief. Maybe, if he can keep his mouth shut and just let me look at him, we might be successful in the program. But that happening is about as likely as pigs flying.

The thrill fizzles, leaving behind a growing determination. Guess I’d better work on finding some pig-sized wings and teaching the bigmouth when to zip it because damned if I’m going to let this marriage fail.

“You looking to get tased?” Over Tony’s shoulder, Jim hovers in the doorway and hefts a cardboard box a little higher in his arms. “Because snatching a woman out of her house while screaming ‘wifey’ is how you get tased.”

Tony leans back far enough to put down at me and then winks. “Ignore him. He’s just cranky because he hasn’t gotten laid today.”

I arch an eyebrow. “And you have?”

Tony opens his mouth, only to shut it abruptly. He brushes my shoulders and adjusts the hem of my T-shirt until I slap his hands away while heat rises to my cheeks. Between his muscled body and Jim’s, the foyer is suddenly unbearably warm and cramped, so I edge away until my legs hit the back of the couch.

“Where do you want this?” Jim interrupts and makes his way over to the kitchen island.

I frown as I finally focus on the box in his hands. “What are you talking about? What is that?”

Jim glances between Tony and me and then closes his eyes while he takes a slow, deep breath, as if searching for patience. “You didn’t call to tell her you were moving in today.”

Tony shrugs. “Didn’t think about it actually.”

While my mouth gapes open, Tony breezes past me to the other side of the couch to say hello to Taya. I cross my arms over my chest and turn my attention to Jim.

“Don’t glare at me.” He strides forward and I grumble beneath my breath as I move out of his way and bump my hip on the counter I previously used as a karate block. “I told him he should call first. Wifey.”

I hit Jim’s arm as he passes and he chuckles. The two of us step into the living room as Tony grabs the bag of popcorn and plops onto the love seat sitting perpendicular to the couch. Jim drops the box in the corner of the room and Taya, Tony, and I all wince as something inside shatters.

“Dude, not cool. What if it was something important?” Tony eats the popcorn one buttery puff at a time, which strikes me as odd. He’s so obnoxious I would have expected him to shovel it in by the handful.

Taya glares at her husband and turns back to Tony. “What was it?”

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