I’d been standing as I explained everything, but I sat now. Mason shifted his legs so I could perch on a footstool cushion with him behind me.
“You never got ahold of the sister you dated?” Mason asked Nate.
“No.” Nate raised a finger and pointed it at me. “I think I must’ve pissed her off more than I thought. Pretty sure that’s a dead end for us.”
“Well, that sucks.” Logan glanced to Matteo and pursed his lips together. “Feeling up for infiltrating the enemy’s bed again?”
Nate grunted. “This time on purpose?”
Matteo grew wary, lifting his hands up in a helpless gesture. “Come on, guys. I felt horrible. And no, I’m not doing that. Not even on purpose this time. Feels too dirty to me.”
Logan shrugged. “All this brainstorming got me thirsty. I think we should plan this girl’s demise over drinks.”
Nate turned to Mason. “Maybe we could do more best friend bonding?”
Mason nodded. His hand slipped under my shirt to rub my back. “Yeah. That sounds fun.”
Matteo held his hand up again. “Best friend bonding? I want in.”
“Pub crawl. We haven’t done that in a long time.” Mason kept rubbing his hand up and down my back.
“I think it’s high time we get it done.” Nate pretended to crack his knuckles. “If we’re really nice, we could invite some hangers-on.” His grin deepened as he nodded his head to the side, indicating Logan.
“Wait.” Logan jerked upright on the couch. “Am I the hanger-on? I had the idea, asshole! If it’s anyone, you’re the hanger-on.”
“Oh. Okay. That’s how it is.” Nate stood slowly. “I’m the one hanging around you? I remember when you were the scrawny little kid who’d steal Mason’s bag just to get attention from him.”
“Things changed.” Logan stood too. They grinned at each other, but there was a cockiness in the air. It started to feel heavy. Logan tilted his head, challenging Nate. “I grew up and became awesome.” He flicked his eyes up and down. “What happened to you?”
Mason’s hand paused on my back. “This is the stupidest mock-fight I’ve heard from you guys. You’re funnier when you pretend to be gay husbands.”
The tension that had started to fill the air eased. Nate and Logan went back to laughing, and then Logan put Nate in a headlock.
He tightened his arm. “Who’s the awesome one, huh? Who’s got the hashtags?”
“Shut up.” Nate got one of his arms between Logan’s arm and his neck, and he reversed the hold. But instead of pulling Logan in for a headlock, he shoved him back a few inches. He was laughing, breathing deep. “No one would ever assume you and Mason have one of those hated-sibling relationships.”
“My sister has one of those hated-sibling relationships,” Matteo suddenly said.
Everyone stopped and looked at him, sitting on one of the far couches. He wasn’t really looking at anyone. He seemed lost in his own thoughts.
When he noticed the looks, he blinked a few times. “Oh. I mean, her cats. One’s called Chloe, and the brother is Dingbat. Chloe hates Dingbat. Every time he runs through the house, she takes off after him. The girl cat kept beating him up, so my sister has to keep them separated, but Dingbat always gets loose. Every time he runs past her, she just says, ‘There goes Dingbat.’ It’s pretty funny. But yeah, those cats hate each other.”
The silence from everyone held for another beat before Logan snorted. “Speaking of dingbats . . .” He placed a hand on Nate’s shoulder. “I think I found your new nickname.”
Nate shoved his hand off. “You’re such a dick.” But he was laughing.
So was Logan, and he lunged for Nate again. As the two started to wrestle, I leaned back to rest against Mason’s chest. His arms curved around me, and he kissed the top of my shoulder.
“Did you want us to keep pushing the sister?” he murmured.
“No.” It was a dead-end. Nate said so. I watched Taylor as she moved out of Logan and Nate’s way. “Maybe instead of you guys asking my mom for that favor, I ask her.”
He tensed.
Logan and Nate stopped wrestling, and Logan looked over. “What’d you just say?”
“I said, maybe I should go ask my mom to ask James for that information.” Or . . . “I could also just ask James. He won’t try to hold anything against me. He wouldn’t dare.”
Logan snorted. “That’s why we didn’t go last weekend.” He gestured to me as he turned to Mason. “You told her our plan.”