Page 71 of Dare Me

“Um…”

“Dude, you’re dating my sister!” he hissed. “I sat with the two of you at dinner a couple of weeks ago while you were making plans to go out!”

Ugh…

Raking a hand through his hair, he tried the reasonable approach first. “You know I’m only doing that to appease your mother, and Ryleigh’s only doing it to get your mom off her back.Neither of us are seriously interested in each other. You know how she is. There was no way to say no to her.”

“Are you sure Ryleigh feels that way? I mean…the two of you looked really cozy at dinner and I’ve been hearing all about the dates you’ve been going on.”

“Pfft…just a bit of a show to keep the peace. And we haven’t done any of those things…um…together. We just make sure we have our stories straight if anyone asks.”

“Still…it’s a shitty thing to do.” He sighed. “But…I get it.”

Stepping around his friend, Will pulled his key out and opened his door. “Can we talk about this inside? I’m kind of…you know…not dressed to be hanging out like this and there’s no need to give anyone else in the building something to talk about.”

Wordlessly, they stepped inside and, after shutting the door, he quickly jogged up to his bedroom and grabbed a shirt before joining Liam in the kitchen.

“You want some coffee?”

Shaking his head, Liam sat on one of the stools with a weary sigh. “I can’t believe you’re sleeping with your neighbor. Who is she?”

“Oh, uh…she just moved in and…you know…”

“You gonna fake break it off with Ryleigh before my mother catches wind of this?”

Good grief was this ridiculous and way too early in the morning to have to think of excuses. “Are you planning on ratting me out?”

With a laugh, Liam shook his head. “Hell no. If she thinks you’re available, she’ll start looking for someone else to fix you up with.”

“Is that why you went away again? Because you keep disappearing on these long weekends,” he reasoned. “Maybe if you stay in town too long, she’s going to put her focus on you.”

“She’s about as subtle as a Mack truck. And you are one hundred percent correct. If I linger around town on the weekends, she’ll definitely start throwing single women my way.”

“You’d think she’d realize how much all of you hate her matchmaking and back off.”

“I don’t think she’ll be happy until at least one of us is married. And she’s basically harmless.”

So clearly that’s a family observation, he thought, because Arianna says it all the time.

If it were up to Will, they could all be planning a wedding right now. After Arianna said she loved him the other night and he was finally free to say it back, it seemed like they couldn’t stop saying it. It felt incredible and he was happier than he ever dreamed possible. Unfortunately, this little run-in was going to set things back more than a little and he hated the thought of breaking that to Arianna.

“Why isn’t she puttingallher focus on you?” he asked. “After all, you’re the oldest.”

With a sound that was part laugh, part snort, Liam shook his head. “If I had been living at home for the last twelve years or so, she would totally be all over me. The military saved me from all that. She’s so happy that I’m finally home that I thought I’d have at least a year before she started making noise about my personal life. But I think because my sisters aren’t exactly falling in line, she’s starting to set her sights on me. Still, she’s going to keep trying.”

“I thought you were pissed about that,” he reminded his friend.

“About what?”

“About everyone trying to fix your sisters up.”

“No, I was pissed thatJamiewas trying to fix Ryleigh and Arianna up with his friends. At least the guys my mom picksare decent guys. You know, like you.” He paused. “Are you sure you’re not interested in Ryleigh? She’s a little uptight, but she’s great. You could do a lot worse.”

Will was pretty sure his eyes were bugging out right now. “Are you seriously giving me permission to date one of your sisters?”

“Just Ryleigh.”

He inwardly groaned. “Okay, I have to ask, because there seems to be a collective opinion about your youngest sister. Your mother wants her to date someone, but she seems rather specific about what kind of man qualifies. Now you’re telling me I’m good enough for one sister but not the other. I mean…I don’t get it. How am I good enough for Ryleigh and not Arianna?”

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