answered the phone with, ‘Hi sis, guess what? This morning I got a neck rub from a porn star handyman.”
“He’s not a porn star,” Mia said, casting a wary glance around to make sure no one was in eavesdropping range. “He just sort of looks like one. Only not, because he’s much more attractive than most adult film actors.”
“Right. Of course,” Holly said dryly. “So? What happened next?”
“Nothing, because Josh walked in.” Mia glanced up and realized her meandering had inadvertently brought her past the King Food Science Building. A building no doubt paid for by Wyatt’s wealthy family. She turned the other direction and kept walking.
“What? In the middle of the back rub?”
“Yes.” Something uncomfortable tightened in Mia’s stomach at the memory of Josh’s expression.
“And? What did he do?”
“Nothing. He just acted really cold. To both of us, even though allegedly he and Wyatt are friends.”
“That is so awesome!”
“It wasn’t,” Mia said. “It was the opposite of that.”
“You’ve got two hot men fighting for your attention! Girl, maybe I should move to Texas.”
“They’re not fighting.” Mia frowned. “There was no fighting. Neither of them care enough about me to fight.”
“Okay, first of all, hot handymen do not just go around giving innocent neck rubs.”
“Some of them might.”
“Shush. That dude was interested in you.”
“Maybe,” Mia was willing to allow. “But he seems like the kind of guy who’s interested in every woman with a pulse.”
“Be that as it may, the fact that your hot farmer didn’t like seeing you get a neck rub from the hot handyman means something.”
“He’s not my farmer.”
“But it sounds like maybe he wants to be.” A loud bus rumbled by in the background, and Holly paused until it had passed. “You know what this means, don’t you?”
“No.”
“You’re in a love triangle! Oh my god, I’m so jealous. This is so much better than Twilight.”
“You’re reading way too much into all of this.” Mia had begun to regret telling Holly anything.
“You said it yourself: the hot farmer guy got all salty when he walked in on you getting a back rub from the hot handyman. It’s obvious he was jealous.”
“Is it?” Mia hadn’t found it obvious. Did jealousy look the same as disinterest?
“Yes! My god. He wanted to be the one giving you a sexy back rub.” Holly let out a theatrical sigh. “I’m so envious. What even is your life?”
Mia honestly had no idea. She’d never been in a situation like this before. Assuming she was even in one now, which seemed like an awfully big assumption.
“Okay, but here’s the big question,” Holly continued. “Which one of them do you want?”
Mia bit her lip as her stomach tightened again.
“Don’t think about it,” Holly said. “Just listen to your gut. In a perfect world, if you could have your choice of either of them, which one would you want?”
Josh.
There was no contest. As stunningly good-looking as Wyatt was, he didn’t stir anything in Mia but shallow lust.
It was Josh who made her stomach alternately flip and clench up, and Josh who had been haunting her thoughts for the last month.
“This is pointless,” Mia said, reluctant to admit she had feelings for either of them. “This isn’t a movie, and it certainly isn’t a love triangle.”
“Everything’s a love triangle when you love triangles!” Holly trilled in a singsong voice.
“You’re ridiculous,” Mia said, but couldn’t help laughing. She wished Holly had more time off work so she could come visit. Her sister would find a way to make even a place like Crowder seem fun.
“Just promise me you’ll do something. Make the most of this amazing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and pick one of them before they both decide you’re not interested and give up.”
“I’m not promising anything” Mia said.
She didn’t entirely trust Holly’s assessment of the situation. Not enough to act on it.
And she definitely didn’t trust her own instincts.
When Mia came home that night, it was to an air-conditioned apartment. In her absence, Wyatt had removed the old unit and replaced it with a brand-new and much quieter one. It hummed efficiently, cooling the apartment to a pleasant seventy-six degrees without sounding like an overburdened steam engine chugging up a hill.
She sent Birdie a text thanking her and asking her to pass her gratitude on to Wyatt as well.
Mia slept exceptionally well that night in her cool, quieter apartment on her own comfortable mattress. She awoke in the morning feeling refreshed and newly resolved to put both Wyatt and Josh firmly out of her mind.