Page 92 of All Bets Are Off

My heart seized in my chest.He knows.Was he about to call me on the fact that I was sleeping with his sister? Was he going to ask me to go outside so he could pummel me? Worse, was he going to drop me as a friend? Was he going to demand I pick him over his sister?

“What do you mean?” I asked in a voice that I hoped didn’t sound squeaky.

“She’s driving you insane because of the stripper nonsense. I told her to drop that. She won’t listen, though.” Rex clucked his tongue as he shook his head. “She is a lot of freaking work. I’m sorry if she’s making things difficult for you with your father.”

I let some of the panic I’d been feeling dissipate, and I was grateful when a server arrived with our drinks. I took advantage of the momentary lull to guzzle half my beer. I was much cooler and calmer when I spoke again.

“Actually, I’m fine with her involvement with the dancers,” I said. “I wasn’t at first—I thought it was a terrible idea—but she has a level head. She sees when our side is putting in real effort and she responds. She might not always agree with everything we say, but she thinks on her feet. I hear they’re making real progress in the negotiations.”

“That’s good I guess.” Rex’s gaze was on the television, where they were showing brief highlights from the fight. “We really need the regular dancers back. ‘Scab’ is not a word you want to hear in conjunction with strippers.”

I made a face and threw my napkin at him, which he swatted away playfully. “That was downright gross,” I complained, shaking my head. “I can’t believe you said that with a straight face.”

That charming grin I’d known all my life came out to play. “I thought it was pretty funny.”

“Youwouldthink that.”

“Well, if you don’t want to talk about scabs, perhaps we should talk about the fact that you’re sleeping with my sister.”

I froze with the bottle halfway to my mouth. He’d delivered the line with studied nonchalance, so at first it washed over me. Once the words hit, however, I froze in place.

What did he just say?

“Take a breath, Zach,” he chided, his voice still easy and calm. “I’m not going to kill you or anything.”

I lowered the beer back to the table. “I can’t believe she told you,” was all I could say.

“She didn’t tell me.”

“Who did?” A horrible notion filled my mind. “Tallulah wouldn’t have ratted on her.” I said it more to myself than him. “That’s not okay if she did.”

“Tallulah doesn’t know about it.” Rex rested his elbows on the table. “We talked about it just yesterday. We both had our suspicions, but Livvie isn’t talking either.”

“Then how did you know?” I felt sick to my stomach.

“You just told me.” Rex smirked before taking a swig of his beer. He was serious when he regarded me, and yet there was a twinkle in his eyes. “You guys are shitty actors, just for the record. Neither one of you has been hiding it all that well.”

“But…” I didn’t know what to say. I was genuinely at a loss. “How long have you known?”

“I had an inkling about three weeks ago,” he replied. “I knew for sure not long after. How long has it been going on?”

It felt like he was laying a trap for me. “Oh, well…”

His face hardened. “Longer?”

He knew, so there was no point not telling him everything. Well, noteverything. I could not go into details regarding his baby sister. “It started the night we went to the rooftop bar,” I admitted, bracing myself.

“Oh, no.” He threw his hands in the air. “Now I’m going to have to pay up on the bet with Ruby. She said you were going home to do … well, you know … and I thought I had inside information and that was out of the question.”

Now I was confused. “Wouldn’t Ruby think we were always doing it?”

He glowered at me.

“I’m just saying, from her point of view, we were newlyweds. That’s what newlyweds do.”

“Right.” Rex tapped his fingers on the table. He looked caught between annoyance and amusement. “What’s the plan here, Zach?” he asked finally. “Are you two really married now?”

“I don’t know.”

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