Page 3 of Playing Flirty

William was tall—like really tall. Thor-tall, except Shaun was the blue-eyed, blond-haired brother. William’s eyes were dark, nearly as dark as his black hair and long eyelashes, and probably as dark as his soul.

“Where’s Sexy Stacey?” I took a few steps back and picked up the almost-empty piping bag as Shaun came back inside.

William’s eyebrows drew together, and the line dividing them deepened. There was a shadow cast across his irises, but I imagined them going a shade darker.

“We broke up.” He gave a half shrug, placed the glass on the counter, and turned on his heel before walking across the living room to his bedroom.

“Aaaah,” Shaun groaned, stumbling to lean against the kitchen island. “Forgot to tell you she’s been hooking up with her manager, and when William called her out, she said some nasty things to him and blamed him for a bunch of stuff that wasn’t his fault.”

“Maybe it was true.” As soon as I said the words, I regretted them.

Shaun raised an eyebrow in warning.

William reappeared holding a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, his eyes narrowed as they always did before he said something snarky. But Shaun raised a hand, silencing him, and gestured for him to join us.

“What now?” William asked.

Shaun released a long sigh. “Since the two of you can’t communicate like adults unless it’s a game, tonight’s game is: Play nice and don’t ruin my proposal or I am going to kill you both.”

William was shaking his head at the same time I’d started nodding.

Play nice.I could do that. I could win that.

“Sure.” I flashed William my nicest smile.

“Yeah, that’s it,” Shaun said, pointing at my face. “Now you.” He looked over at his brother.

William only sighed. A quick eye roll let me know I’d won this round.

Round 2

My best friend and roommate had a habit of knowing everything—which is probably why Neema arrived carrying a two-tier cake.

She placed the vanilla-frosted cake on the table and straightened to her full height, only a couple inches shorter than Shaun. The dark brown skin of her legs contrasted beautifully with the hem of her yellow summer dress. Her short, black, curly hair bounced around her smiling face.

The second she reached me, she leaned in for a hug and whispered, “I’m going to say yes.”

“Uh, duh,” I whispered back.

I peeked over her shoulder at Shaun, who’d been scratching his blond hair every few seconds—a nervous tic I’d noticed during meetings. The poor man would be bald on one side by his midthirties.

“Wanted you to be the first one to know.” She let go of me and threw herself into her soon-to-be fiancé’s arms.

I pressed my lips together tightly to keep from grinning—until William interrupted it.

“She’s going to say no,” he whispered.

How did he get next to me without making any sound? Not a single creak. Maybe niceness was what weighed regular people down.

I closed my eyes—my patience-o-meter for William’s nonsense had reached capacity. “You know they’re happy. Why are you being such a wet blanket?”

“Love is temporary. Why would anyone pretend otherwise?”

I looked up at him, ready to hit him or curse, but he stared down at me with his shoulders slumped and his gaze dropping from mine to his feet. The smirk that usually resided on his mouth was nowhere to be seen.

Putting my daggers away, I managed a gentle, “Sorry about Stace.”

He shrugged and ran his hands over his face while exhaling. “It’s okay. Wasn’t serious.”

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