Page 2 of Betting on the Brainiac

She’d squared away Sami first, matching her up with Josh when he moved in next door. Then, in a series of moves so diabolical she’d made me nervous for a couple of weeks, Ruby connected Joey and Ava. It made sense on the surface. Her childhood best friend and her brother? Who could possibly know what either of them needed better than Ruby? But Ava is a real, actual scientist who lets me wear her lab coat sometimes when I want to feel smart, and Joey is one of Austin’s biggest playboys. Make that a reformed playboy. Sami and I had suspected Ava was into Joey, but leave it to Ruby to wake up Joey to the fact that the perfect woman had been under his nose his entire life.

I smirk at Ruby. “There’s only four months left in the year. You can try to find me true love, but you don’t have enough time or men I haven’t dated yet to win this bet.”

Ruby smirks back. “I said I have ideas. You should be worried.”

“And yet I’m not.” I give her my serene face. “I’d love it if you could, but there’s no way.”

“It’s true,” Sami says. “Mads loves falling in love so much that she keeps doing the falling part over and over and skipping the rest of it.”

I nod, not offended. It’s the image I’ve cultivated since college. “Yeah. I’m only here for the fun part.”

“I’m shocked to hear this from the woman who can’t commit to owning a succulent,” Ava says.

I blow her a kiss. “They’re too needy.”

“I hear you,” Sami says. “That whole thing where you have to water them once a month? What’s up with that?”

Ava and Ruby are our plant mamas, but even Sami has an air plant on the kitchen windowsill.

“No shame in my game,” I inform them. “Every minute spent watering a plant is one less minute spent flirting with a boy.”

“With awrongboy,” Ruby says. “You will not find your man hanging out in the VIP section of a club, Mads.”

“Too bad, so sad,” I say cheerfully. “I can’t help where I work.”

“You one hundred percent can help where you work,” Ava says.

“Hey. Are you judging me?” I have two jobs, but I know which one she means. I work bottle service at Gatsby’s, the most elite club in the city. I’m the hostess and server for VIP tables, people who spend hundreds—even thousands sometimes—to reserve a table for the night. Luxury tables mean luxury tips. It would probably shock Ava and Ruby to know that I make more money working weekend nights at the club than they do full-time in their lab and library. I also work several shifts a week at a clothing and home goods boutique, but there aren’t too many guys to flirt with there.

“Of course I’m not judging you,” Ava says. “You like going to work, so that’s all I care about. I’m pointing out that it’s inaccurate to say you can’t help where you work. You chose it.”

Ruby points to a framed cross-stitch quote—made by Ava—on the wall. “Stay out of my territory, Ava.”

The quote says “Well, actually . . .” and it’s attributed to the very Ruby Ramos now pointing it out, who truly does use that phrase a lot. Very a lot. So much a lot. It’s a job hazard.

But so is my flirting. “I wasn’t being literal. But I do spend all my time either here or at work, and you’re all gorgeous and worthy, but I don’t want to date any of you. So, hot guys at the club it is.”

“Which is why you need me,” Ruby says. “I can find you a man.”

Sami snorts. “Madison can find herself a man. A new one a day if she wants to.”

I smile. “Sometimes I do want to.”

Ruby, who has been curled in an armchair through all of this, leans forward to fix me with a look. “We know. But I meanthe prince.”

I ignore a prickle of anxiety and give her the smile of a poker player holding a winning hand. “Never going to happen, but sure. Bring it.”

“Terms?” Ava asks. Ruby won Ava’s room with the en suite bathroom in their bet. Ava “won” Joey, and Ruby maintains it’s Ava’s own fault she came out worse in the deal. Ruby’s joking. I’m not sure anything has made her happier than her best friend and brother getting together.

“Madi’s bed.” Ruby names her stakes without missing a beat.

Zero surprise. Ava and Sami don’t look surprised either. Saying I have the most comfortable bed in the house is both a fact and a criminal understatement. If they knew how muchmy mattress cost, I’d probably witness their souls leaving their bodies.

I only smile at Ruby. “Accepted. But you made a critical mistake. There is no man worth giving up that bed for.”

Sami grimaces. “She might be right, Ruby.”

“It’s a really good bed.” Ava’s voice is reverent.

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