of getting through to me and had involved the poor man in my midlife crisis. Then, because Rick was a far better man than Mat realized, Rick had joined my team—or would play at being on my team.
I’d find out soon enough; if Mat contacted me, I’d know who had given him my new number.
“You like me a lot more than you like your brother right now, I’m a trustworthy party, apparently, and they think I can talk sense into you. I think you’ve talked sense into yourself, and I gave my immediate approval of your choice of vehicle. It suits you. I then told them sometimes it takes a baseball to the head to knock sense back into people. I hope you don’t take offense to this, but you struck me as the type to put everyone over yourself. This is just you doing something for you for a change, and you don’t expect much in the way of support, so you’re doing it on your own.”
Yep. Friendship with Fredrick would hurt as much as it helped, and I’d forever envy the woman lucky enough to win him. It might take a few years, but I’d keep reminding myself if one man like Fredrick existed, there were others, too. Billions of people meant surely there was a hot, single guy with good manners and a better personality out there for me. I could live without him being hot, as long as he had the good manners and a better personality. “Hot damn, someone who finally gets me.”
“Been there, done that. My move to the United States is partly bullshit induced as well. Not your bullshit, as nothing you’ve done yet has been even close to being bullshit. There are some others, however, who have dragged me right to the end of my rope.”
“Sounds like we’re birds of a feather right now.”
“That we are. Would you be willing to give me a general idea of your location? Just the state will do. I would find it rather amusing and enjoyable trying to locate you through a series of clues you can leave for me. It’ll be a scavenger hunt. Put me through the run around. I need a challenge.”
“Well, I am supposed to be planning a wedding for you.”
“I’d still like your help with that. The wedding date is still up in the air, but I showed my family the work you’d done on Mat’s wedding, and I even told them about the ball and chain. My mother wasn’t all that happy about it at first, but then I reminded her that the bride was quite prone to running at the altar, and you managed to make the wedding happen, which is a miracle as far as I’m concerned. Actually, I was concerned there wouldn’t be a wedding at all after Mat told me who he was marrying. She has a reputation.”
Yeah, I’d figured that one out on my own. “Well, she’s his problem now—and so is their baby.”
“Baby?”
“Baby. It’s a very young human that is born approximately nine months after the start of a pregnant woman’s menstrual cycle, which is typically two weeks before conception. They cry, drink milk, and make a mess of diapers. After a period of twelve years, they grow into teenagers determined to drive their parents insane. It seems there was an incident with a broken condom.” I shuddered at the thought of my brother having sex with anyone, especially Amy. “And that’s how far I want to go down that particular rabbit hole.”
“Me, too. However much I enjoy sex with a willing partner, Amy is not what I consider attractive. At all.”
“Strangely enough, I don’t consider her to be very attractive, either.”
“Then we are agreed. Mat can deal with his wife, and we will do our best to avoid thinking about his wife.”
I smiled. “It’s nice having an ally in this.”
“We won’t tell anyone what we think about her. So, if you’re willing, I have a few questions for you.”
“Only if you’ll answer my questions,” I countered.
“Deal. Are you game to play a scavenger hunt with me? My goal will be to find you, and you have to leave me a clue at least once a week.”
“That’s a lengthy period between clues.” I considered why he might want so long between clues and came up with no reasonable explanation. “Why?”
“I’m in this pursuit for the long haul, and at first, I’ll have to get settled, so that frequency should work to begin with. After