Gigi’s eyebrows rise as she throws down her purse and comes to stand by us. She looks at Lily and then to me, her lips tipping upward. “Did you fuck her yet?”

  I roll my eyes. “Again, no.”

  “Kiss?” Gigi asks, going down the same route as the other one.

  “No. Jesus, you two are a perfect match.”

  “How’s he falling in love with her?” Gigi asks, looking back at Lily. “If he were, he’d at least touch her.”

  “Arlo said he stayed over last night and snuggled with her too.”

  Gigi’s eyes grow wide. “You snuggled?”

  I grunt. “I don’t see what the big deal is.”

  Gigi mimics my stance, crossing her arms, head cocked to the side. “You don’t snuggle. You don’t do sleepovers either. You also fuck everything that walks.”

  “I checked on her ink, and we watched a movie and fell asleep.”

  “While cuddling,” Lily adds.

  I snarl. “Well, since we weren’t fucking, I dozed off.”

  “Uh-huh,” Gigi mutters, laughing and elbowing Lily. “He dozed off from boredom. Is that what he’s saying?”

  “Yep,” Lily says with a small giggle.

  I wave my hand at them and stalk toward my workstation. “You two can fuck off.”

  “He cleaned her tattoo and brought her Chinese, too,” Lily tells Gigi.

  “Did she tell you everything?” I ask, not bothering to look at them.

  “No. I didn’t know if you did anything more, but you confirmed it. She was cagey with her answer, which was odd.”

  “She was cagey?”

  “Yeah.” Lily shrugs. “Figured I’d get the rest out of her later since it’s literally her job to get the goods on you.”

  “Right. I forgot,” I mutter, honestly forgetting that nothing that was happening between us was real.

  It felt real.

  Every moment I had been with her felt natural and not like we were acting a part as practice for the big event with another person.

  Being with Arlo is easy, and I hate her for it—and Lily too.

  “Did you want to kiss her?” Gigi asks as she plops down in the chair nearest me.

  “Fuck yeah. I’m not blind. She’s gorgeous.”

  “She isn’t your usual type,” Gigi tells me. “But there were definitely some sparks when you brought her to Mammoth’s shop to get her car.”

  “There were not, and I have no type, cousin.”

  She taps her chin, studying me. “If any woman is ready, willing, and able, along with having a very open vagina policy, you are game to hit that shit.”

  I cover my eyes with my hand, shaking my head, hating her and Lily right now. “Not with Arlo.”

  “And yet, you still went to her house,” Gigi says. “You’re smitten with her. Just admit it and save yourself some grief.”

  “It’s fake, Gigi. I’m a pet project, and that’s it, babe. Let’s be real. A classy chick like Arlo isn’t going to be interested in a guy like me.”

  “A guy like you?” she asks, jerking her head back, her eyebrows drawn down. “What the fuck does that mean?”

  “She’s like the best of the best, and I’m…”

  “A playboy?” she asks.

  “That’s one way to describe me.”

  “You’re a single guy who’s living his life. There’s no shame in that. Hell, Pike had a colorful past, and Jesus, look at Jett. We all have pasts, and they don’t define the person we are or who we will be in the future.”

  “I don’t know,” I mutter.

  “Do you truly like Arlo?” Lily asks me, coming to sit with us. “Like like her, like her?”

  “I think so, babe. I don’t know how I feel. Maybe my head’s just foggy because I haven’t fucked another chick and it’s messing with my mind.”

  “Then go fuck someone else and see how you feel afterward,” Gigi tells me like it’s no big deal.

  “Technically, it’s against the agreement, but I’ve never seen you so grouchy and bent out of shape. Maybe you should. We can keep it our little secret,” Lily says, touching my shoulder.

  “I like that idea,” Gigi agrees. “Go out tonight and see how you feel after. It may give you a new perspective on things.”

  “Wait. I have a better idea,” Lily announces, her eyes widening before she claps her hands. “We’ll meet you at the bar and bring Arlo. You do your thing, and we’ll do ours. You’ll figure out if she really has some pull over you, and we can see if she feels the same. She was a little weird on the phone earlier and had me wondering. So this will be perfect.”

  I stare up at her, confused as fuck. “You want me to hit on other women with Arlo watching? Do you even know how fucked up that is?”

  Lily paces in front of me. “Just flirt with some girls, be your usual self. I want her to see how you work a room.”

  “Dumbest shit I’ve ever heard,” I grumble.

  Gigi twirls around in her seat and comes to a dead stop, her boots slamming against the tile. “Have you ever seen one of the women you’ve slept with at a bar and still left with someone else?”

  “Well, duh. There are only so many bars and women in this town.”

  She lifts her hands. “Point proven. Arlo shouldn’t be any different from the others. You’re not dating, and hell, you haven’t even kissed her. It shouldn’t be a big deal. Unless it is…”

  “It’s not,” I bite out.

  Gigi smiles. “We’ll see.”

  “Absolutely not,” I say, putting my foot down. “You’re not bringing Arlo to watch me hit on random chicks, trying to get laid. That’s not how shit is done, and it’s not right. It’s a hard no, and there’s no debate. Got me?”

  Gigi tilts her head, a small smirk twitching on her lips. “You hearin’ this?” she asks Lily, but she keeps her eyes locked on mine.

  “I am, and I’m shook.”

  Pike, Rocco, Rebel, and Trace walk into the shop, talking back and forth, shooting the shit, and come to a dead stop when they see the three of us.

  “What’d we miss, because, by the looks of the standoff, it’s a lot,” Pike asks his wife.

  “Tell them,” I say, looking back and forth between Lily and Gigi. “Tell them all your amazing idea.”

  “We want Mello to go to a bar and do his normal thing.”

  “Which is?” I ask, because she’s being evasive with her answer for a reason.

  “A one-night stand,” Gigi replies.

  “And this is a problem because…?” Rocco asks me, but I point to Lily.

  Lily sighs. “Because we want to bring Arlo to watch.”

  The three guys all jerk their heads back, understanding the problem without knowing the full extent of the fucked-upness of it all.

  Lily’s officially lost her mind. In what alternate reality is her idea a good one? None. Fake dating or not, I don’t want Arlo to watch me hitting on and trying to tag other women. That shit isn’t cool, no matter the circumstances.

  “Bad idea,” Rocco mutters, rubbing the back of his neck. “Really bad.”

  “Super fucked up, babe. You don’t do that shit,” Pike adds, confirming my feeling.

  “Sounds like a delicious recipe for a catfight. I’m there for whatever happens,” Trace announces. “Count me in.”

  Rebel rubs her temples before covering her face with her hands. “You two come up with the craziest shit,” she mumbles, talking to Gigi and Lily but not looking at them when she says those words.

  “It’s a fact-finding mission, and this is why Arlo’s here. I don’t get the big deal,” Gigi tells everyone. “Let’s remember, they’re not dating. It’s all fake to teach Carmello how to land a forever relationship.”

  “Still fucked up,” Pike tells her. “You don’t have the new piece of ass, real or not, watch you find a different piece of ass, without causing a whole lot of headache and misery.”

  “Fake ass shouldn’t have an opinion on or be an issue for the real ass,” Gigi replies.

  I shake my head, questioning my life choice to work with my nosy-ass family and for getting Lily involved in my personal life.

  “Wait,” Rebel says, and I close my eyes. “I’m getting a vibe.”

  “There’s no vibe,” I tell her, lifting up my hands and leaning back into my chair. “None. Zero. Zilch.”

  She smiles. “You like this woman. Like really, really, really like her.”

  “I don’t.”

  “It wasn’t a question,” she says. “You do. Because you’ve never cared about feelings or blowback when it came to any other piece of ass.”

  “Can we stop saying piece of ass?” Lily asks, having all sets of eyes turn to her. “I mean, she’s our friend, and we know she’s more than that.”

  “I’m with Lily. Be respectful.”

  “Right now, she’s tail,” Pike argues. “Unless there’s something you aren’t telling us.”

  “There’s nothing,” I say, pushing my chair back and getting up. “Drop it.”

  Everyone’s quiet, staring at me with their mouths open.

  “Oh boy,” Pike mumbles.

  “Yep,” Rocco adds.

  “Shit, he’s gone,” Rebel says. “Knew it.”

  “Totally,” Gigi says with a smile. “I told you this would happen.”

  “Fuck that,” Trace tells them then turns his gaze on me. “You need a wingman tonight, I’m there.”

  I turn, glaring at them all. “Everyone can fuck off.”

  Gigi places her hand on her chest, leaning back. “Touchy bitch, ain’t he?”

  Lily pulls out her phone. “Let’s get another opinion.”

  “What are you doing?” I ask her, everyone’s eyes on her as she lifts the phone to her ear.

  Lily waves me off. “Hey, Arlo.”

  “No,” I whisper, moving toward her, but she spins, holding the phone away as I try to snatch it.

  “You want to go out tonight and grab a drink?” Lily smiles, staring at me as she listens to Arlo’s answer. “It’ll be later, after I finish my last appointment. I’ll bring my cousins too.”

  “Fuck,” I mutter, glancing upward.

  “I’m in for a ladies’ night,” Rebel says.

  “Who said it was ladies only?” Rocco asks. “I thought we agreed it would be all of us.”

  “I just want a night out. I don’t care who’s there,” Gigi tells everyone.

  “No. He won’t be there.” Lily smiles, waggling her eyebrows at me. “He has other plans.”

  I roll my eyes.

  “You still game?” she asks Arlo and pauses, the room quiet, waiting for the reply. “Perfect. I’ll text you where and when later today.”

  “I’m not telling you where I’m going,” I tell Gigi immediately, letting her know their scheme isn’t going to go as planned.

  “Whatever,” she says, looking smug. “I want to see Arlo, not spend time with you.”

  The sad thing is, I want to see Arlo too, and I hate myself for it.

  12

  Gigi: You bitches coming?

  Lily: Almost there.

  Tamara: Parking.

  Jo: Nick’s driving like a snail.

  Gigi: You got Arlo?

  Lily: No. She said she didn’t feel well.

  I stop moving, having found out what I needed to know.

  Arlo didn’t go with them and is at home…alone.

  A second later, I open a new text, shooting off one to her.

  Me: Hey, Ar. How’re your ribs?

  Arlo: Better.

  I wait for more, but nothing comes.

  Me: You pissed at me?

  Arlo: No.

  Another one-word answer. She’s pissed. I’ve been around enough women in my life to know the difference.

  Me: Sorry I left before you woke up. Had to get home and ready for work.

  Arlo: No big deal. You don’t owe me an explanation.

  Me: Want me to come over?

  Arlo: Not tonight.

  So, “no big deal” is a lie. It is a big deal to her, and although she says I don’t owe her an explanation, the one I gave her isn’t good enough.

  Me: Tomorrow?

  Arlo: I’ll let you know.

  Yep. Pissed.

  Me: Got it. Sleep well. Talk soon, babe.

  Arlo: Night.

  I immediately close that text and open back up the group text with my cousins, having missed dozens of texts in the last few minutes.

  Me: Where are you assholes?

  Gigi: Neon Cowboy.

  I roll my eyes. Not my typical haunt, but it is good in a pinch. The women are…different from my normal taste.

  But pussy is pussy, and they serve a cold beer.

  Me: On my way.

  Mammoth: Someone got cockblocked.

  Pike: Totally shutdown.

  Me: Can’t shut down what isn’t real, jagoffs.

  Gigi: Oh boy. Someone’s butthurt.

  I grab my keys, pull on my boots, ignoring their bullshit. They’re going to talk shit about me until I get there, so there’s no use in replying.

  The roads are empty as I make my way to the little bar in the middle of nowhere. The entire ride, I only think about Arlo and how I have fucked up. But I’m not going to let myself feel guilty about leaving her place without saying goodbye. We are nothing to each other, not even friends. We are an arrangement with no promises.

  “Fuckin’ A,” Mammoth says as I make my way through the crowded bar, heading straight to the back where they always sit. “’Bout time, brother.”

  “I wasn’t planning on coming,” I tell him, grabbing a chair and spinning it around before straddling the back.

  “You were, but not here,” Rocco adds, giving me a chin lift, laughing his ass off at my expense.

  “Fuck off,” I tell him.

  “You need this more than me,” he says, pushing a fresh beer in front of me.

  “I thought for sure you’d be with Arlo tonight and not here since you made such a stink at work earlier,” Gigi tells me, snuggling up to Pike’s side.

  “She’s sick, babe. Lily put that in the text.”

  “That’s what she said, but is she really?” Gigi stares at me, her lips flat. “You go to her place one night, and the next, she’s sick.”

  “Happens,” I mutter, lifting the bottle to my lips.

  “What did you do to her?” Lily asks me.

  I shrug, beer to my lips. “Why did I have to do something?”

  Lily leans forward, elbows on the table and hands clasped. “You stayed overnight at her place, and tonight she’s still weird. Are you sure you didn’t take things too far?”

  “Can’t believe you’re asking me that shit, babe,” I mumble against the rim.

  She crosses her arms and stares right back. “When was the last time you slept at a woman’s house?”

  “Never.”

  She cocks her head to the side and raises an eyebrow. “But you slept at Arlo’s?”

  I guzzle half the beer before wiping my lips with the back of my hand and grunt, “Yep.”

  “Wait.” Mammoth shifts, moving Tamara back in his embrace and turning to face me fully. “So, you slept at the chick’s house and didn’t bang her?”

  “We’ve been over this,” I tell him before downing the rest of my beer.

  “Some of us don’t work at Inked, bro. I hear everything hours later and secondhand.”

  “Didn’t kiss her either,” Gigi adds, making a face when she says that too.

  Mammoth slides his eyes from me to her. “No shit?”

  “No shit,” she replies.

  He slides his eyes back to me. “No action at all and you slept over. What the fuck, man? Your shit broke?”

  “Nope,” I growl.

  “Head’s fucked up, though,” Nick tells him. “She’s got him all twisted.”

  “Sounds like you not too long ago,” Mammoth says to Nick, smiling. “Told ya, and you didn’t see the light until you were sunburned.”

  “Have you hit your head recently?” I stare at Mammoth, blinking a few times.

  Mammoth’s jaw ticks as he moves a toothpick around his mouth. “No. You?”

  Nick runs his hand down his face, peering at Mammoth over his palm. “No, but you keep talking like you’ve been reading riddles all of a sudden, and it’s weird as fuck, man.”

  Mammoth laughs. “Sounds better than saying I told you so, but I told you so.”

  Nick nods. “True that.”

  “But you,” Mammoth says, pointing at me with a beer in his hand. “You’re fucked, brother.”

  I jerk my head back, furrowing my brows. “How am I fucked?”

  “A chick already got you acting like another person.”

  “No,” I snap.

  “Yeah, he is,” Gigi says, laughing.

  He keeps that finger pointed at me when he says, “Just lock that shit down and move the fuck on with life.”

  “Lock it down?” I ask.

  Pike nods. “Yep. It’s easier if you come to terms with it now. Accept your fate and then move forward.”

  “I’ve literally known the woman a few days,” I argue. “I’m not locking shit down. It’s not even a real relationship or friendship. I’m a test subject.”

  “Whatever,” Pike mutters. “I saw the way you two looked at each other.”

  “Means nothing,” is my only answer.

  “I still can’t figure out how Arlo went from piping-hot to ice-cold in a flash, Mello. What really happened?” Lily presses me.

  “Lily, swear to God, I didn’t do shit. We fell asleep, and then I hustled my ass out of there before she woke up.”

  Lily makes a face, sucking in air between her teeth. “You just left?”

  I nod. “What the fuck else was I supposed to do?”

  “Idiot,” Lily whispers.

  “Total dumb-ass move,” Gigi adds.

  “Fucking moronic,” Tamara says.

  Rebel nods. “Fucked up big, brother.”

  “Men are so clueless.” Jo throws in with the other insults being hurled my way.

  I glare at them as they sit in judgment, but their men remain silent. “What was I supposed to do? Wake her up and tell her thanks for the movie?”

  “Did you at least leave a note?” Jett asks, suddenly finding feelings and adding something to the conversation.

  “Uh, no.” I roll my eyes, polishing off the last sip of beer before motioning to the waitress and pointing at the table.