Charming as Puck(18)

“You. Know. The. Rules.”

“She was helping me with charm school, and things just…happened.” I hold up my hands, realize I’m wide open for a racking, and cover my dick again. “I didn’t sleep with anybody else while I was with Kami.”

“That’s level one of human decency, Nick. Level. One.”

“I—”

“She called her cousin Muffy for matchmaking because of you. Do you know Muffy?”

I shake my head, do my best not to snicker at the name, and make a mental note to look up Kami’s cousin Muffy.

“She’s the worst matchmaker in the entire country. There’s a dog with a matchmaker website who has a better success ratio than Muffy does. And do you know what the worst part is? The worst part is that she’s determined to let Muffy set her up because you couldn’t keep your dick in your pants.”

Please note that I don’t tell Felicity that Kami never complained about my dick. But I do angle a look back at Ares. “Can you put me down?”

“No.”

If anything, he holds me closer to Felicity.

“What do you want me to do?” I ask.

“I don’t know,” she snaps.

Ah.

So that’s the problem.

Felicity never doesn’t know something.

“I apologized,” I mutter. “For forgetting her birthday.”

“You talked to her again?”

“I fucked up, so I apologized. Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do?” Naturally, I don’t mention the kissing part.

“No.”

“Women,” I mutter.

Ares flips me upside down and dangles me by my ankles. I flail like a Muppet and he heads for the pool. I can’t even try to rack him in the jewels to get out of this, because he’s holding me facing away from his body.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” I yelp, because that pool will be wicked cold this time of year, and if anyone can lift the cover with his mind, it’s Ares. “I didn’t mean it.”

“Do you have any idea how long Kami’s had a crush on you?” Felicity says behind us. “Years, Nick. Years. She would do anything for you.”

I twist, trying to see my sister while all my blood rushes to my head. We’re getting close to the pool, and I actually don’t know that the cover’s rated for the Berger twins either. “What? No, she hasn’t. She’s just nice to everyone.”

“No one is as nice to everyone as Kami is to you.”

Ares grunts in agreement.

And now I’m even more confused. And I apparently owe her another apology.

I know I probably shouldn’t have kissed her today, but I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.

That I could kiss Kami and not end up naked with her.

Because if I can kiss her and then not talk her out of her pants, it clearly means she’s something more than my normal brand of friends with benefits.

Although I’m still not ready to face the implication that it might mean Lavoie’s right.

That Kami might actually mean something more to me, and that her being mad at me is affecting my game.

Like maybe she’s a special friend with benefits.

And that’s as far as I’m willing to commit to, except I’m definitely down with committing to testing this theory that she could be my good luck charm.

“Do you remember the dick cookie incident?” Felicity demands.

I nod, upside down, because everyone remembers the dick cookie incident.

How many other older brothers could pull off having a thousand dick cookies delivered to his sister’s ex-boyfriend’s place? But for the record, I don’t smirk with pride. Even though I want to.

“Kami was the only person who said you couldn’t have been behind that.”

“She clearly doesn’t know me very well.” Thank god. Because I was getting worried for a minute there that she was right.

That Kami might actually like me as more than a special friend with benefits.

Which is way different than a girlfriend.

And yes, I’m going to keep telling myself that.

“Dunk him?” Ares asks.

“That would be lovely,” she replies.

Zeus comes flying from the side of the house, and I mutter a curse word my sister’s unborn baby probably shouldn’t hear.

Zeus must be done having phone sex with his wife, which we could all tell he was eager to get to throughout dinner. Since he’s here alone, and since he’s Ares’s twin, Mom and Dad invite him over as one of the family anytime we get together.

“I got the pool cover!” he yells.

“I can’t undo it,” I yelp at my sister. “What do you want from me?”

“I want you to leave my friends alone.”

That’s a challenge if I ever heard one. “But your friends love me. That’s not fair to—erp! Okay! Okay! I’ll leave her alone!” For tonight.

But I still owe her an apology for her birthday, because saying I’m sorry clearly didn’t cut it.

Zeus is hopping around the pool, flipping the cover off.

“Give me your phone,” Felicity orders. She’s stalking around the stamped concrete patio, fingers held out.

“No fucking way.”