Page 30 of A Perfect Match
My heart rate picks up again.This definitely falls on the list of things I do not want to talk about tonight.“I know.I just wanted…more space.A backyard.”
Shit.That word reminds me of Kru and the fence and all those kisses that I absolutely must forget about.
Griffin keeps up his end of the deal when he adds, “I might have sweet-talked her into it a bit.I told her I wanted someone to help keep an eye on my house during the season.”
“I’ll do anything for family,” I add with an over-the-top smile.Griff laughs but rolls his eyes.“Until Griff gets a girlfriend.Then I’m definitely moving out.”
“What about if you get a boyfriend?”Mom asks slyly.
“Not happening,” I quickly say, and my brothers are quick to reaffirm why.
“No chance he’d make it through my front door,” Griffin says.
“I’m pretty sure we already learned what happens when Piper has a boyfriend,” Jett adds.
I groan, thankful that I’m focused on loading the dishwasher.They’re talking about the time in ninth grade when I tried to take poor Marcus Smith to Homecoming.My brothers spooked him so badly at the front door that he took off running back into his Mom’s car.I ended up going to Homecoming with my besties, nary a Marcus in sight.
“If I were dumb enough to try to have a boyfriend around this family, I can assure you I’d never bring him to the front door.”I slam the dishwasher shut with more force than I intended.It doesn’t dissuade my brothers.
“You can have a boyfriend,” Asher says.“He just needs to be vetted.”
“Vetted, cleared, and approved,” Jett adds.
“With a full mental-health evaluation,” Griffin pipes up.
“And a minimum of ten references,” Dane says.
“No, twenty,” Asher butts in.
“And one evening alone with me and the rest of your brothers just so we can perform our own tests on him.”Jett’s devious smile grows wider.
“Tests?”I squeak.
“Yeah.With our fists,” Griffin finishes for him, and all my brothers burst into laughter.
Mom snickers, which I don’t understand.These men would never let her date anyone either, which is probably why she’s never tried since my dad passed away.
“Thank you all for reminding me of the process.You bunch of heathens.”I grab the deck of cards on my way back to the table, eager to get this show on the road.My heart is thumping.“Can we start playing now?”
I team up with Mom, while Griff and Asher pair up against us.Dane and Lia migrate closer to the television at Lia’s request for a princess show, while Jett hovers over Asher’s shoulder, nodding while he assesses his cards.
“Let’s go,” I snap.
Jett squints over at me.“What’s got you in such a hurry?”
I'm not about to admit that my head is full of Kru—his hands, his mouth, the way he looked at me as he handed over the best taco I’d ever eaten.Nope.That's staying locked in the vault.It has to, because my brothers have just confirmed they’d either send him into a bureaucratic sinkholeorbeat him to a pulp for daring to date me.
But you’re not trying to date him,I remind myself.So this is completely irrelevant.
“Nothing,” I lie.“Just ready to win.”
We play the first hand in relative peace.Mom and I win, which earns the expected chorus of groans.I point at the hourglass, so Dad knows that win is for him.Jett deals the next round while Mom taps out to watch TV with Lia, and the conversation drifts to local gossip.
“So the side street we’re on is closed for construction,” Jett says.
“Oh shit.”Griff deftly deals out the next hand.“How’s that working for customers?”
“They’ve got some back entrance set up, but nobody knows about it,” Jett grumbles.“It’s just pure chaos all the time.I swear we get twenty calls a day asking how to find us now.”
