Page 2 of The Merger

He came toward me and put his hands on my shoulders. “Why won’t you give us a chance? We could be good together.”

“We were just talking about your track record with women, and you think I should trust you? You literally just told me you were interested in Jana.”

Malcolm shot me a look that told me he thought I was being stupid. “Surely you’ve noticed the strong resemblance between the two of you.”

I crossed my arms. “What am I, a replacement for her? She’s unavailable so you move along to the next best thing?”

He shook his head. “For a smart girl, you’re pretty obtuse.”

Malcolm took a deep breath. “You’re my best friend. You don’t throw away a lifetime of friendship for sex. When I was a teenager I knew all I wanted was a quick fuck, but the problem was I couldn’t get your face out of my head. I did the next best thing, and found a way to scratch that itch without risking what we have.”

“I’m going to ignore the fact you treated one of my best friends like a scratching post. Why now, Malcolm? If you spent years screwing random women who reminded you of me—which ew, by the way— what’s different now?”

He groaned. One thing he hated above almost everything was explaining himself. Tough shit, when it came to the fate of our friendship, he could give me an explanation.

I didn’t let him off the hook while his anxiety built. He paced back and forth and shoved his hand through his hair mussing up his carefully coiffed blond locks.

“I’m twenty-eight, almost twenty-nine. I’m done fucking around. I’m ready for more. I didn’t want to risk anything between us, still don’t, but don’t you think we deserve a chance at having more? Because I don’t think I can have more with anyone but you.”

My heart pounded in my chest, and part of me, a big part, wanted to take the leap. There was just one lingering issue. “What about Waverly? We might not be close, but she’s still my sister.”

“You’re giving her too much credit if you think she’d give you the same consideration. She knew how I felt about you from the beginning. She pursued me anyway. It worked for a while because Waverly doesn’t have emotions like a normal person. We used each other.”

“I don’t know, Mal—“

“Give us a chance,” he begged.

I took a deep breath. I hadn’t allowed myself to think of him that way for a long time, but I couldn’trefutethat the curiosity was always there, in the back of my mind. “If we’re going to do this, we take it slow. We start with one date, and if it doesn’t click we talk to each other and save our friendship.”

He held out his pinky to me. The corner of his mouth curved up. “I swear.” I hooked my finger around his and we shook on it like every agreement we ever made until I was ten.

“I’ll pick you up tonight,” he promised and left before I could find a reason to postpone for another night.

* * *

Istared in the mirror while I got ready for my date with my best friend. Halfway through curling my long blonde hair, I heard Waverly enter the apartment. She always came in full of drama, as she did everything. Like, if she wasn’t noticed every second she might disappear.

She huffed outside the door, but I continued to ignore her. Giving her attention was like feeding a stray animal. Once she had a little taste, she’d be yowling for more.

Fed up with my lack of attention, she pounded on the door. “Are you almost done? Ugh, I’ve got to get ready.”

“Calm your tits, I’ll be out when I’m out,” I snapped. Damn Colter and his insistence I let Waverly live with me. It wasn’t worth the portion of the rent he was paying for her.

She made it a full five minutes before starting her pattern of banging on the door and sighing again. I grabbed my phone and shot Colt a text.

Me: You owe me big. Waverly is a giant pain in my ass.

He wouldn’t answer because he was still with Jana in the Florida Keys to try and win her back. I had faith they’d work it out. They were both stubborn idiots, but they loved each other.

I put the last few curls in my hair and then ran my fingers through it to soften the look. I wanted to look slightly more put together than when I usually hung out with Mal, but not like I was trying too hard.

Once I was satisfied with my look I exited the bathroom. I’d chosen a knee-length dress with three-quarter sleeves. It was a vibrant blue and made my eyes pop.

Waverly scanned me up and down. “You’re several hours late for high tea.”

I rolled my eyes. She liked to think of herself as some kind of fashion expert, but her fashion choices tended to look more like lingerie than anything else. Don’t get me wrong, I liked to put on a sexy little dress when I went out to a club, but my clothing choices had more thought than how much skin I could legally show in public.

I shook my head. This wasn’t me. I wasn’t a judgmental cow who slut shamed other women, let alone my own sister, but Waverly brought out the worst in me. Hell, bringing out the worst in people might be her superpower.

---