Page 37 of My Three Rivals

“Then I guess we better go to Atticus and convince him it’s worth the hassle.”

Maverick drew in a deep breath as we turned toward the house. “I don’t know if he’s going to go for it, but we’ll stay united, right?”

He cast me a sidelong glance, and I nodded. “Yeah. In the long run, I think it’s less of a pain than keeping up this fight with Tegan. This could drag on forever.”

We both fell silent, ignoring the elephant in the room. If we did manage to convince Atticus to help Tegan and give up this battle, we would still have a much bigger problem to deal with.

Lou wouldn’t like the loss of our development one bit. The only question was, what could he really do about it? Maybe this was exactly what we needed to sever ties with him once and for all.

But first, to get Atticus on board with our shift in plans.

CHAPTER16

Atticus

Ironically, I’d been thinking about Lou DiMarco when Maverick and Wyatt returned to the house, their heads low. My mind had been on how to get rid of the greedy mobster with whom we had been unwittingly tied since acquiring our half of the Five Penny.

Fucking Emerson Pickett,I cursed as my partners headed toward me, but my thoughts moved from the late vineyard owner to the subterfuge between my college friends. There was something different in the way they were walking, slower, more deliberately, as if they were taking their time reaching the house.

I leaned forward on the porch, my eyes narrowing slightly at the sight of them walking together and talking in quiet tones. They didn’t see me on the patio until I called out to them in the near darkness, silencing the crickets with my voice.

“Why do you two look like you’re up to no good?” I asked astutely. Instantly, their heads drew back, and they peered at me through the night.

“We were just coming to talk to you,” Maverick replied, stepping onto the porch. His weight made the stairs groan, and he glanced back at Wyatt, who sighed, nodding like the two were sharing a private joke.

“About dinner, I hope,” I replied. “I’m starving.”

“I’ll cook tonight,” Wyatt suggested, reaching for the door, but Maverick cleared his throat, stopping him.

“Dinner can wait a minute. Let’s get this resolved, yeah?” Maverick urged.

My brow furrowed as I realized that they had something on their minds, and my game face fell over me. I sat back, reading their expressions to gauge what I was up against.

“First,” Maverick began, gently placing himself on one of the rotted pieces of furniture. “I want to come clean about something—my relationship with Tegan has turned physical.”

My head twisted up, a smidgen of something rushing through me, but I quickly realized that it wasn’t jealousy, which was strange. I would have expected jealousy.

Maverick looked as if he was going to say more, but stopped himself as he waited for my response, and I glanced at Wyatt, who met my stare before shifting his gaze away.

Is he jealous? He wasn’t when we were together with Tegan.

“Atticus?”

I cleared my throat and looked back toward Maverick, collecting my thoughts.

“Ours, too,” I informed him without any emotion. “Is that what this is about?”

I noted he didn’t look surprised by the confession, and I again shot Wyatt a glance, but this time, his dark eyes didn’t meet mine. I returned my stare to Maverick, who shook his head. Relief overtook his expression, like he had been worried we might react badly to the news.

“No, and yes,” he replied slowly.

I raised an eyebrow expectantly. “You know how much I hate riddles, Mav,” I remarked dryly.

“I just mean… if you are… if we’re all, you know—”

“Fucking Tegan?” Wyatt suggested flatly, and I shot him a reproving look.

“Seriously?” I growled, oddly protective of her.

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