the third wheel.
After the second group of people, Alex excused himself while Noah was in the middle of a conversation with some guy with glasses. Pete? Paul? Something like that. He’d had enough of listening to Lacey’s giggles at everything Noah said. Plus, Alex had come here with a goal. Get in, find a hookup, get laid, get out. Short and simple.
He grabbed a drink from one of the coolers and migrated to the edge of the terrace, where it was calmer, since most people had gathered around the pool. The terrace was also high enough that it gave Alex a nice overview of everything that was going on. He leaned his elbows on the garish balustrade that surrounded the thing and took a sip.
He observed the crowd for a while, content with being left alone for the moment. At one point, he was going to have to go and mingle to find his target for the evening but not yet.
The afternoon was hot and muggy, a perfect day for lounging by the pool. Maybe Alex would jump in later, too? Hell, if he followed his usual pattern, he’d coax everybody into skinny-dipping by the end of the night.
“Had enough of socializing already?” a voice asked from behind him. Alex glanced at the speaker. The guy standing behind him was tall and blond and ridiculously good-looking. Alex slowly ran his eyes over him. He was not going to be subtle. He had no patience for it. If the guy turned out to be straight, he’d get lost the moment Alex’s shameless perusal registered.
But the guy stayed put and answered with a look that was one part hesitation and nine parts clear interest.
“I’m trying to come up with mnemonic devices to remember all the names,” Alex said as he shifted to his left. A subtle invitation to come and test the waters.
The other guy stepped forward and leaned his own elbows on the balustrade, making sure his arm was against Alex’s. Alex smiled at his beer bottle. This was going to be easy.
“Matt Evans,” the guy said.
“Alex.”
“Just Alex?”
“I don’t think last names are that important right now.”
Matt chuckled softly. “All right, just Alex.”
They looked at the party before them for a bit.
“I haven’t seen you before,” Matt said.
“I should hope so, otherwise I’m really not as memorable as I like to think.” Alex winked, but where flirting usually came naturally to him, it felt strained right then.
“Oh, I’d definitely remember you,” Matt said, and Alex forced a smile. This was not even shooting fish in a barrel. This was a fish flopping out of the ocean, right into Alex’s palm, begging to be eaten. It was all so very easy. Too easy, a voice in his head whispered, but Alex gave it the finger. He was not going to talk himself out of a hookup just because he was maybe still a tiny bit hung up on somebody else. Speaking of… That somebody was currently standing by the pool, glaring at Matt. As soon as Noah saw Alex was looking at him, he snapped his eyes away.
“I’m here for the summer,” Alex explained, concentrating on Matt. “I work at the wildlife center.”
As soon as the words had left Alex’s mouth, Matt nodded. “I know. We’ve all heard about you. You’re the criminal.”
Alex sighed. “I hate this town,” he grumbled. “That’s what it says on my card, yes. Alex Ellison, criminal. For my home address I put down the Metropolitan Correctional Center. It’s where I spend most of my time anyway, plotting how to best take down the human race.”
Matt laughed. “So what you’re saying is I should be aware of the risk that you’ll take off with my wallet to finance those villainous plans?” he teased.
“You can never be too careful.”
Matt sidled even closer. Now, even their sides were touching. “I guess I’m going to have to make sure to keep a close eye on you, then,” Matt said in a low voice, but his lips were so close to Alex’s ear now that Alex had no trouble hearing him.
“It might be wise,” Alex agreed. There weren’t any shivers of excitement or anticipation, but Matt’s broad shoulder against Alex’s felt nice enough. So what if it wasn’t the frantic need Noah caused to claw on Alex’s insides like the desire was a living, breathing entity that wanted to smash out of Alex’s body and destroy everything in its path? It didn’t matter because Noah didn’t feel the same way. If nothing