Page 99 of Unraveled

“Okay. He texted. Now, leave the guy alone.”

She dropped her head back against his chest with another huff and then rolled it to face me. “So, where’s Annie?”

“She got too hot and took a walk.”

Izzy eyed me suspiciously. “She’s had too much to drink, hasn’t she?”

I shrugged. Boyfriend code. I wasn’t spilling, but Izzy raised an eyebrow at me, pressing. I was about to look away when I remembered.

“Hey, just so you know. If you see Megan, you might want to let her know I think David’s only been bringing Ruby around to try and make her jealous.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No. I’m pretty sure, though.”

Tucker shook his head, his jaw jutting with his scowl. “Which means Ruby is here to get toyou. You know that, right?”

I grimaced. “Yeah, probably. She already targeted Annie earlier.”

Izzy glared at me. “Yeah. She already told me. It’s because you haven’t told her you’re not interested yet. And yes, Iknowyou shouldn’t have to. Igetyour standpoint. I do. But Ruby doesn’t seem to care. You need to fix this, Jet. Annie has enough she’s dealing with.”

“You’re right. I know. I already told Annie I’d talk to her if I saw her again.”

“Good.” Izzy nodded and then pushed off Tucker’s legs to stand. “Come on, whiskey. I’m ready for another round.”

“You got it, princess.” He scooped her up as he stood, grabbing her phone before it fell, and she laughed over his shoulder as they went to line up for the next race.

I sat there for a few minutes, just staring out past the race to the water. Wishing I could go back and handle the whole Ruby thing differently. I usually read people so well, but I’d fucked this one up. Like Izzy said, Annie was going through enough. She didn’t deserve to feel jealous or worried about another girl, whether she needed to be or not.

But sheisworried. And it’s my fault.

So, the rest didn’t matter.

Getting up, I almost bumped directly into David.

“Whoa.” He took a step back, balancing his beer, and then grinned when he realized it was me. “Hey, man. Been a while.”

“Yeah.”

David frowned when he saw my expression. “We’re not cool, are we?”

“Not really.”

“Come on. Mateo knew what he was getting into when he came to me. There’s always a risk.”

“It’s not about that.”

His brow furrowed again. “Then what?”

“Spying on Izzy for Zane, for one thing. I know he’s your friend, but fuck, man, after Izzy’s accident, hell, after hehither last summer, did you really think she needed him messing with her? Not to mention Megan. You used her, and if I’m right, you’ve been bringing Ruby to shit to try to make Megan jealous and win her back. Is that for Zane still? Because if he’s still trying to spy on Izzy, I need you to be a decent fucking human and tell me.”

I watched as surprise, frustration, and then resignation played over David’s face, and when I was done, he released a rough breath through his nose.

“I didn’t realize you knew all that, but shit. Yeah.” He stuck a hand in his pocket as he shifted. “Zane has a way of twisting things, but yeah, I figured out a few months ago I shouldn’t have helped him. Not with Izzy. And definitely not by using Megan.”

“So, you actually want her back? Not because of Zane?”

“I fell for the assignment.” He shrugged a single shoulder. “Ruby offered to help.”

---