whatever works.”
“No.” I looped my hand through his arm as we kept walking. “He said, and I quote, ‘How is a seven supposed to help me get a ten?’”
Lex jerked to a stop and I stumbled forward, nearly tumbling head over heels onto the itchy grass.
“Come again?” he whispered hoarsely.
“Lex,” I groaned. “It’s fine. He’s always been an ass like that. I was offended for maybe a minute.”
“I’m offended for you,” Lex snarled, throwing his hands into the air as if he was ready to charge one of the nearby trees and break it down with sheer body weight and will. “What the hell kind of person says that? Does he even realize how gorgeous you are? What a little prick!” The more he talked, the angrier he appeared, and then he turned on his heel and started marching back toward the coffee shop.
“Lex!” I yelled. “Client! He’s a client!”
“Son of a bitch is gonna need someone to chew his food for him in five minutes.” Lex’s fists clenched at his sides as he took purposeful strides back toward the building.
“No!” I jumped onto his back. “Lex, be reasonable!”
“This is me being reasonable,” he said in a deathly calm voice. “I’ll ask him if it’s true, he’ll say yes. I’ll give him maybe sixty seconds to defend himself, and then I’m going to kick his ass clear into next year and wave as his head detaches from his body.”
I was still banging on his muscular back when the door to the coffee shop opened and Ian stepped out.
With a sigh, he looked at me, then Lex. “We’re in public, guys, show a little decorum.”
“He, uh”—I slid slowly down Lex’s back—“was being mean.”
I rolled my eyes and covered my face. Really? That’s all I had? He was being mean and pushed me off the swing? Good, Gabs, real good.
“Dipshit in there”—Lex jabbed his finger at the door to the coffeehouse—“called her a freaking seven.”
Ian’s eyebrows drew together as though he was trying to process what Lex had said. “And you’re pissed because the only one who can insult Gabi is you?”
“He’s a total asshole!” Lex yelled as the door opened and a customer scurried by.
Ian burst out laughing. “Yeah, okay. Look in the window, Lex. What do you see?”
“Huh?”
“It’s your reflection . . . and yet another asshole. Sorry to break it to you, but you’re kind of a dick.”
“But—”
“Gabs.” Ian held up his hand for a high-five. “I was in the area when we got an e-mail from Mark—seems he’s super impressed with how things went down, so good job. Now . . .” He slipped on his sunglasses. “You guys want pizza?”
“Sure!” I forced a giant smile because I didn’t know what else to do, but Lex didn’t move. It was like someone had put glue on the bottom of his shoes and told him to stay while it set. “Lex?”
“Ian”—Lex’s nostrils flared—“we’ll meet you there. I need to talk to Gabs real quick.”
Ian looked between us. “You do realize she was just beating you, right? With her bare hands?”
“I can handle Short Stack.” Lex clenched his fists.
“Alright,” Ian said, grabbing his keys. “I’ll grab pizza and meet you guys at the house, cool?”
“Yup,” we said in unison.
As soon as Ian drove off, Lex reached for my hand and jerked me toward his car. Once we were inside, he didn’t say anything, but I could tell he was still pissed by the way his jaw kept clicking. Any minute, I truly expected him to start spitting out teeth.
We drove for two miles in silence.
He stopped down the road from the house at one of the neighborhood parks.
And turned off the car.
“Lex.” I reached for him.
“Don’t,” he hissed. “Just—give me a minute.”
My anxiety tripled because I had no idea why he was still so pissed, but I was a bit terrified that it was my fault.
Chapter
Thirty-Six
Lex
I will not punch my best friend, I will not punch my best friend. I’d been serious as hell, repeating that same mantra over and over again in my head as my fists clenched at my sides while Ian continued insulting not only me, but the entire freaking situation!
If a dude calls your best friend a seven, you sure as hell do something about it, right?
He’d brushed it off.
The way Ian brushes off everything that has to do with Gabi and me. I was sick of it, sick of having to pretend in front of him.
“You”—I found my voice, unbuckled my