Exposed (VIP, #4)

by Kristen Callihan

Rye and I can’t spend more than ten minutes together before wanting to kill each other. I guess we both get off on it. It isn’t productive, but we haven’t found a way to stop.

LOL you will

I’m not going away either. So you might as well hear what I have to say before you slap me upside my head.” Brenna rolls her eyes. “I detest physical violence.” “Uh-huh.” “But for you, I’ll make an exception.”

“I want it to be me,” I blurt without any finesse. I breathe deep and say more calmly, “I want to be the one you use.”

HOT

“What bothers you more?” he murmurs idly. “Accepting that I might not be a total asshole? Or the possibility that we might start being nice to each other?”

“Rye is not mooning over Brenna,” Whip says solemnly. He is no longer my best friend. “Right.” Killian nods, playing along. “He never does.” “Fuck you both.”

Scottie’s eyes narrow a fraction, then his expression smooths out. “I loathe the very idea of matchmaking.” “Then why are you doing it?” Rye retorts. They’re both staring at each other like gunslingers in a cheap Western. I want to run away from this nightmare, but I’m pathetically frozen in place. A sly curve twists Scottie’s lips. “I’m a problem solver.”

“I can’t believe that’s Marshall Faulkner,” Libby says with a dreamy sort of sigh. “I had no idea he was so hot. He knows everyone.” “Even Chris Evans?” Sophie asks with wide eyes. “Yep.” All three women sigh then.

“The ultimate question. Hemsworth or Evans?” Libby grills her. Sophie shrugs. “Why not both?”

I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve fallen into an episode of The Twilight Zone. Scottie’s matchmaking for me too? What the actual fuck is going on here?

He’s up to something the sneaky bastard 😏

“I can’t…” I swallow thickly. “I might not make it for long this time. It’s been too many years of wanting you.” A small, purely feminine smile curls her lips. “You can take it.”

🥵🥵🥵

True, Scottie keeps giving me disapproving looks, but Scottie’s go-to expression is disapproving, so I don’t think twice about it. I’m setting my strawberry shake down on the table just at the edge of the park area when Scottie launches his attack. “You’ve gone and slept with Brenna, haven’t you?”

“He didn’t tell. Give me a little credit. I can read you guys like a headline. It was obvious you two are doing the bump and grind. The Humpty Dance. Netflix and chillin’. Etcetera, etcetera.” “You sound like an Urban Dictionary page,” I mutter.

“Look, I don’t want to fight with Bren anymore, all right? But we’ve been stuck in this…thing. It’s like we can’t help it. Whenever we’re around each other, we react like…” “Angry alley cats?” “Vinegar and bicarbonate?” Jax grins. “Way to science it up, Scottie.” I glare at both of them.

It’s Rye. He’s always been your weak spot. Not that I blame you. Few can resist that aw-shucks grin. The beard thing is a surprise. I didn’t think it would work for him, but it’s like when Chris Evans went from wholesome, cute ‘how do you do, ma’am?’ Captain America, to ‘who’s your daddy, you’re gonna like the spanking I give you’ Cap.”

“Only because I don’t understand. You’re freaking out because I asked why you don’t groom your beard.” He snorts derisively. “What are you, a beard detective?” “Yes. I have a badge and everything. My unit specializes in unchecked beard growth violations.” His glare is cutting. “Cute.”

When I finish, Whip sighs. “What made you think getting physical with Brenna without the possibility of any kind of real relationship in the cards was a good idea?” I stare blankly at him. “My dick?” He chuffs. “Yeah, I just bet your dick was doing all the thinking.”

“I was trying not to wake you.” “And that I’d eventually wake up to find a man in my bed? That wouldn’t freak me out?” “Well… Okay, when you put it that way, this wasn’t one of my best plans.”

Chapter Twenty-Five Rye Well, that was a disaster. Chapter Twenty-Six Brenna What have I done?

Y’all are silly

“Love, why do you think I set you up with Marshall, who happens to look far too similar to a certain dithering idiot here? I’d had it with all the sexual tension dressed up as antipathy. Thought you both could use a little motivation.” “That’s some Machiavellian shit right there,” Jax says with a laugh.

“Right then. Scottie’s moonlighting as the manipulative love fairy.