Page 60 of Hard to Forgive

“That seems more likely than him showing up twenty minutes late and rushing,” Holden agreed.

I was really curious about this Matt guy. How late did he have to be before they actually sounded annoyed by his tardiness?

Jonas seemed to pick up on my thoughts and grinned. “We don’t even start to worry until it’s been more than thirty minutes.”

“Remember that time he was forty-five minutes late to my birthday party?” Holden asked.

“Okay, that time he had a good reason,” Eli defended. “Who hasn’t been late to something because they were getting laid?”

Seb snorted. “Pretty sure most of us can plan our time better than that.”

“Well, that’s just a sad indictment on your own sex life that you don’t lose track of time during the act,” Eli countered immediately.

I was starting to realize that the blunt way he’d spoken to me might not have been personal. Maybe he didn’t actually dislike me. Maybe that was just who he was. I kind of hoped that was the case, because it would make winning him over that much easier. Blunt was something that I could relate to. I’d been called blunt by more than one person in my life.

“My sex life is just fine,” Seb argued.

I leaned back in the booth and listened as Seb and Eli bickered back in forth and Holden tried to play peacekeeper. Jonas just watched, amused, before he rested his head on my shoulder. In the end, they ended up changing the topic to who was getting the first round. Holden beat me to the punch, offering before I had a chance, and slid out of the booth.

When he came back, he was joined by someone else. “Look who I found?”

I took one look at the too-tight shirt the man was wearing and guessed that this had to be the final member of their group: Matt.

Matt took the drinks from Holden while Holden slid back into his spot next to Eli. He put them on the table and all of the men around me reached out to grab a cold bottle of beer while Matt settled in the last spot on their side of the booth. I was a bit slower in grabbing my own beer, mainly because I was too busy trying to make out the faded print on the man’s shirt.

127.0.0.1 is where the heart is.

I laughed.

“What?” Matt asked suddenly, looking at me like he’d just noticed I was there.

“Your shirt. I love it.”

“See! I’m not the only one who finds this shirt funny,” Matt beamed. He looked pointedly at Holden. “And you said the joke was too nerdy and too niche.”

“He’s a developer too,” Jonas reminded Matt.

“One with a great sense of humor, clearly.” Matt turned his attention to me and extended a hand. “I’m Matt. Sorry I’m late. I couldn’t figure out what to wear.”

“And that’s what you went with?” Jonas asked with loving humor.

“I’m ignoring you,” Matt informed him before turning his attention back to me. “It’s nice to meet you. Especially since you have a sense of humor, unlike your boyfriend.”

“I can promise you, he’s got a sense of humor.”

Eli gave me another look. This one was more appraising than threatening, like he couldn’t quite make his mind up about me.

I figured that was okay. If I had my way, I was going to be around for awhile. He’d have enough time to figure me out, to make up his mind on if I was good for Jonas. They all would. By the end of the night, I’d thought we’d made good strides.

“Thanks,” Jonas whispered as we stepped out of the bar, hours later.

“For what?” I asked him.

“You got along with them. Which I know isn’t always easy. So thank you.”

I gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. “They’re important to you. That means I’m going to try my hardest to get them all to like me. Even Eli.”

Our ride pulled up and we climbed in. It was time to go home—or at least back to my place.

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