Page 24 of The Problem with Perfect

“So, how’s things around town? Who’s back?”

My mind scrambles for something to say, but I must be silent for too long because I can hear the suspicion in my brother’s voice when he speaks again.

“Bellamy,” he says, drawing out the end of my name. “What’s going on?”

I’ve never kept anything from Bishop before—nothing important, at least—and the idea of keeping what’s going on with Connor and Rusty from him doesn’t sit well with me at all.

So I spill.

I start with Connor’s return to town and end with my dinner tonight with Rusty, leaving leave no stone unturned. I even share the hug after dinner and the fact that I’ve never realized Rusty could be so huggable.

When I’m done, I can tell my brother doesn’t know what to say. When he finally does say something, it’s not at all what I expect.

“Don’t let him break your heart.”

I roll my eyes. “He already did,” I mumble.

“No, not Connor. He’s a little shit who isn’t good enough for you. I’ve never liked him. I’m talking about Rusty.”

My mind trips over the fact that Bishop hasn’t ever liked Connor—that’s news to me—but then comes to a complete halt on his comment about Rusty.

“What? You heard the part about this being fake, right? I don’t actually like Rusty.”

“Sure.”

“What do you mean,sure?” My voice sounds as incredulous as I feel about whatever point he’s trying to make. I push myself up into a sitting position and grab my phone, taking it off speaker and putting it up to my ear.

“I mean…emotions are complicated, and Rusty is a good guy. I can see someone like you falling for a guy like him.”

“Someone like me?” I hate that I keep repeating his words back to him, but I continue to feel like I must be misunderstanding what he’s saying.

“You know, it’s that whole ‘good girls who want to fix up a bad boy and take him home all for herself’ thing.” He pauses, then he begins to sing poorly into the phone. “Tale as old as time…”

“You’re an idiot,” I say, unable to keep from laughing at how tone deaf he is. “And I’m not trying tofixRusty. I’m not interested in him.”

“Sure.”

I let out an irritated sigh.

“You’re trying to tell me, in your whole life, you’ve never looked at Rusty with any kind of interest?” Bishop asks. “The guy who sacrificed his entire life to take care of his younger sister. The man who donates his time and energy to the seniors at The Pines. You don’t find anything about him attractive?”

I snort. “Sounds more likeyouthink he’s attractive.”

“Come on, I’m serious.”

I make the mistake of pausing. I’ve never actually considered it before.

Objectively, I’ve always knownotherpeople find Rusty attractive. Clearly that’s the case or else he wouldn’t be jokingly referred to as Cedar Point’s most attractive tourist destination. Every joke, even if it’s in poor taste, has at least a little bit of truth behind it, right?

So, while Rusty might not bemycup of tea, he is certainly a perfect cup for others. He’s got that slightly burly mountain man thing going on with a full strawberry blond beard and an obsession with flannel. His eyes are nice, the green of them something I’ve always thought was beautiful.

Sure, he’s handsome. But doIfind him attractive? Definitely not.

Though even as I think it, part of me can’t help but admit how nice it was to be wrapped in his arms tonight, even just for a minute. And when his eyes were on me, listening as I shared more about myself than I ever thought he’d be interested in knowing, I loved what it felt like to keep his attention.

“Earth to Bellamy.”

I blink. “What?”

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