Page 17 of Fall at Once

I heaved a sigh. “I know you do. But judging by their reaction to her earlier this morning, they’d probably love it.”

“I could see that. She’s great. But it doesn’t matter. I’m a vault, like always. You can talk to me.”

“I appreciate it.”

“Doesn’t mean I won’t keep giving you shit, though,” he muttered. “I’ll just keep it private between the two of us. I give respectful shit, brotherly shit.”

An exasperated smile escaped despite my resolve to remain stern. “Do what you gotta do.”

“But she could be good for you. I’ve always liked her. Just saying.”

“She would be good for him.” Kenzie pulled up a chair and set her coffee on the table. “Gentlemen. I trust your breakfast was stellar, as usual. Gigi’s Confectionery always aims to please.”

“Delicious.” Tate chuckled. “You have a way with egg whites and turkey bacon that is unmatched.”

“Of course I do. But we have bigger fish to fry. I’m sure they’ll be down any second. There’s zero chance of Madi not working the rest of the day, with Gigi hobbling around like she is.”

“Okay…” The oddest sense of anticipatory dread combined with a spark of hope shot through me. For some reason, I couldn’t wait to hear what she had to say.

“Madi has been through a lot lately. It’s not my story to tell, but you should know that she’s skittish. She’s been hurt, Cole. Take that into consideration before you ask her out. Be extra sweet. Like, get her flowers, make a thing of it, make it special.”

Who hurt her? I wanted to know his name so I could teach him a lesson. Gigi had mentioned a breakup, but I had my own stuff going on, so I hadn’t paid much attention.

“Who says I’m going to ask her out?”

Tate burst into loud laughter. “This is hilarious. You are so obvious. I told you.”

“On that note.” I slid my chair back with a loud squeak. “I’m leaving. I hope the two of you have a great rest of the day.”

Kenzie put a hand on my shoulder. “Nope, stay. She’ll be down in a few minutes. You need to say a proper goodbye to her. She needs one more hit of your sexy self before you go. You know, to keep the idea of you fresh in her mind. Give her something to think about for the rest of the day. Do you know what I mean?”

“I do not know what you mean. Not at all.” That was a lie. I sort of knew, but there was no way I would admit to it.

“Yeah, keep it fresh, Cole.” Tate had tears running down his face from trying to keep his laughter under control. It was more of a spectacle than if he were outright laughing at me.

“You are both ridiculous.” I shook my head and tried to dissociate from this entire bizarre conversation. But my happy place had been out of commission since the divorce. I had been living with the pain and the failure for too long.

“We’ll keep it subtle,” Kenzie tried to reassure me. “Madi isn’t fond of attention either.”

“You call this subtle? Thanks a lot.”

She tilted her head toward Tate. “You need to practice your poker face, bro. Do better next time.”

“Next time?”

“Dude, really? I thought we were in this together now.”

“This?” His face scrunched in confusion.

Her eyes rolled before closing as she shook her head from side to side. She was the classic picture of the annoyed female praying for patience.

I shrugged, silently commiserating. Tate could do that to a person. But it was best to keep them from getting ideas aboutinterfering in my business.

“Let me get something straight,” I interrupted. “This”—I waved a hand between them—“is not happening. Just like I told the kids on the way to school, we will not be discussing my love life?—”

Kenzie held up a hand with a smirk. “Oh, don’t worry, we won’t discuss itwith you.”

“I give up. This is too much. I’m out of here. Talk to you later, Tate. Kenzie, it’s been a real pleasure.”

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