Page 72 of Official

“What’re you talking about?” Teddy asks. “She’s going to tell everyone you two were a lie, even though you weren’t?” He searches around him, holding his head in both hands until he finds a chair behind him. Taking a seat on the edge of it, he grumbles, “Now I’m just getting fucking dizzy.”

“I’m the one who’s dizzy.” I sit on the chair next to him and grab my drink. The bottle has dew running down the side of it, and the beer inside is warm. But I drink it, anyway. I need something—anything—to wash down the guilt knotted in my throat. “I can’t believe you’re not trying to drown me in this pool right now. Why are you helping me? That is what you’re doing, right—helping?”

“Of course, shithead.”

“Because you’re such an expert in the love department?” I ask sarcastically, relieved as hell to be joking with him when I was positive this afternoon would go the opposite way.

In a much darker way than I could imagine, even as a writer of suspense and mystery thrillers.

“It’s much easier to help other people than it is ourselves.” He shrugs, but the gleam of amusement fades from his expression. “Love is scary as hell, man. But I think it’s because we’re afraid to give it to the wrong person, so we keep ourselves closed off to it until the right one comes along. Even then, it’s not simple, but with the right person, it’s worth it.”

I hang my head, the beer sour on my tongue from the mix of emotions coursing through me.

“Why would you want her to tell everyone you’re not together? Are you embarrassed of her like JasonDouche?” Eyes ablaze, Teddy lurches forward in his chair, and even though he’s sitting, he still looks ready to rip my tiny head off, if needed.

“God, no. Please tell me you know I’m nothing like him,” I plead.

His eye roll is naturally enough to convince me.

I rub a hand down the side of my face and pick my beer up again. “It’s just… It’s a long story, and it doesn’t matter since she didn’t post it this morning like she said she would.”

“That’s because Rico bit her.”

I choke on my sip.

“Mom and Dad called her earlier to pick up their reptiles because they were too hungover to do it themselves. I had a situation of my own with a cougar’s daughter who confessed she’s in love with me—I’ll explain later.” He holds his hand up when I start to ask my many questions. “So Sam picked them up from the boarding facility, and when she tried to feed them afterward, Rico slithered his scaly ass to the top of the cage and bit her.”

“Is she okay?” I jump up, my fight-or-flight kicking in like I’m the one who got bit.

“Rico isn’t a venomous snake, although I wouldn’t be surprised if Dad gets one of those too someday. He seems to be an equal-opportunity type of reptile owner. In any case, Sam’s fine. Just scratches around her finger. We thought a piece of tooth might’ve actually gotten stuck in there, but the doctor ruled it out,” he explains, seemingly unaffected by any of this.

“Fucking hell,” I mutter, pacing next to him.

“You should talk to her,” Teddy says.

“Of course.” I grab my phone and scroll to our open messages. “I need to check on her and her hand. See if she needs anything from the store. She likes those skinny margaritas…”

“Right. And after that, you should attach a note to the margaritas to tell her how much you love her.”

I freeze with my thumb hovering over thesendbutton. “I can’t do that… I mean, I’ve never… What would I…” I glance up at him, my head officially a pile of mush. “That’s crazy, right?”

Teddy’s tone is devious with a hint of cynicism when he says, “Ah, love is crazy, haven’t you heard?”

“You should tell her that you’re proud of her. I think she’d appreciate it,” I suggest, recalling how hurt Sam was when she talked about how her brother didn’t always understand her choice to be an influencer.

“You first,” he tosses back.

I scratch my chin, and before my fucking nerves get the best of me, I send the text to Sam and try not to stare at it until she responds.

Teddy said she’s okay, and although I believe him, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m antsy to hear from her, especially after our run-in last night.

We need to talk and figure things out.

And I need to apologize for blaming her when I’m at fault too. Because I am. How could I have been such a dick last night?

My best friend was right about love. It is scary, and opening myself up to it means I’m setting myself up for possible heartache.

But no matter what she says, I need an answer from Sam about her feelings instead of letting my imagination run rampant with all the doom it’s drummed up since the festival on Maui.

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