Page 105 of Love or Tequila in Unexpected Places

“Please,” he interrupted, shooting her an exaggerated look of offense. “Give me some credit. I called someone you trust.”

Allison blinked, taken aback. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’ll see,” he said cryptically, still typing away on his phone.

She groaned, already dreading whatever scheme he had up his sleeve. “This is going to be a disaster, isn’t it?”

Angelo stood up, stretching his arms above his head in a way that made his muscles pull at the fabric of his shirt. It was ridiculous how attractive someone could be while simply existing. “Only one way to find out.”

“I hate it when you say things like that,” Allison muttered, but a small part of her couldn’t help but feel a twinge of excitement at the impending chaos.

“No,” Allison blurted the moment Angelo’s ‘idea’ materialized at the door. “No way in hell.”

“Aw, come on, shrimp.”

Her brother, Johnathan, stood in the doorway, smirking down at her with that irritating big-brother energy that she hadn’t missed at all. He was dressed casually—toocasually for her brother, who usually looked like he’d just walked off a corporate battlefield. The light blue polo shirt, black pants, and sneakers felt almost surreal.

Wait, sneakers? Who is this man?

“Aren’t you going to give your big brother a hug?” Johnathan’s grin widened as he leaned against the doorframe like he hadn’t just appeared out of nowhere.

Allison was still too gobsmacked to respond. How Angelo had even gotten Johnathan’s number was beyond her. The idea that Angelo had not only texted her eldest brother but that John had actuallyshown up?Her brain was short-circuiting.

Angelo, meanwhile, was clearly enjoying the spectacle. His snickering behind her was like nails on a chalkboard. He looked like a schoolboy who had successfully placed a whoopee cushion under her chair.

“Did I… miss something?” Allison finally managed to ask, her eyes bouncing between the two men like she was watching the world’s weirdest sports match. “When did this happen?”

Angelo grinned even wider. “I think you broke her, John.”

“John?” Allison echoed. Her mind felt like it was lagging five seconds behind reality. The last time these two had been in the same room—at least to her knowledge—they’d barely tolerated each other. Now they were on a first-name basis?

Since-a-when?

Johnathan smirked as if they were all in on some great joke—except, clearly, she wasn’t. “What? I wanted to surprise you,” he said with a shrug. “Consider me a very efficient moving crew.”

“Oh, yeah,” she muttered, still trying to wrap her head around this. “Because that’s exactly what I needed today—you showing up.”

“Ali, you wound me,” Johnathan replied, but his smirk remained firmly in place. “You really need to get better at surprise hugs.”

“What’s going on?” Allison demanded, finally pulling herself together. “Since when are you two all buddy-buddy?”

Johnathan waved his hand as if to brush off her concerns. “We’re not buddies. We’re just getting along.” His tone was so nonchalant it made her want to scream.

Angelo, still leaning smugly against the wall, decided to chime in. “You remember that lunch we had? The one where your brother and I, um, didn’t exactly hit it off?”

Allison snorted. “‘Didn’t hit it off’ is putting it lightly. You both acted like territorial lions fighting over a gazelle. It was embarrassing.”

Angelo winced but pressed on. “Right. Well, we thought about it afterward and realized we hadn’t handled it well. So, John called me up and asked for a do-over.”

Her eyes flicked back to her brother, who nodded as if this explanation made perfect sense. “A coffee run,” Johnathan confirmed. “It went surprisingly well, actually.”

“Surprisingly well?” Allison repeated, her voice rising in pitch. “You two hated each other.”

“Hateis a strong word,” Johnathan said smoothly. “We just had differences of opinion.”

“On literally everything,” she snapped, rubbing her temples. “Okay, but why are you here now? Isn’t there a company somewhere waiting for you to boss it around?”

“I cleared my morning to help you out,” he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Family first, right?”

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